Freelancers Make Theatre Work Secures £150K Funding to Support UK Performing Arts Freelancers
Arts Council England backs the initiative alongside donors including Lloyd Webber Theatres and Cameron Mackintosh Ltd.
Freelancers Make Theatre Work has secured new funding to support the next phase of its development, with a focus on building a more sustainable future for freelancers across the UK performing arts sector.
The investment, including £150,000 over three years from Arts Council England on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, recognises both the scale of the freelance workforce and the need for more coordinated, long-term infrastructure to support it. Alongside support from major industry donors including Lloyd Webber Theatres, Cameron Mackintosh Ltd, Michael Harrison Productions, Empire Street Productions, Nick Grace Management, Jamie Wilson and Trafalgar Global, who for the first time have directly contributed to ensure this vital sector-support service continues, freelancers were asked to contribute where they could, and many leading freelancers joined as supporters. The three-year funding package created will offer stability to develop FMTW’s next phase of operation, with further fundraising required to fully deliver the strategy to 2029.
Freelancers make up around 70% of the performing arts workforce – significantly higher than the wider creative industries, and more than double the UK average for self-employment. Since its establishment during the pandemic, FMTW has emerged as a key sector body working to represent freelancers’ interests, provide practical support, and improve the systems within which they work.
A recent six-month consultation, funded by Arts Council England and conducted with freelancers and sector organisations, has reinforced both the value of this work and the need for it to expand. The next phase will see FMTW take on a more strategic role, contributing to long-term sector thinking on freelance workforce issues, and working closely with partners, including the recently established Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA), to ensure freelancers are reflected in emerging frameworks for standards and support.
Within this Strategic Leadership Project, FMTW will deepen its engagement with theatres and producers, offering workforce insight to inform planning, and strengthening sector-wide training and professional development. By working with partners to shape frameworks for skills development, FMTW aims to support the continued growth of the distinctive expertise on which the industry depends.
Central to this work is the development of better data. FMTW will build on its existing research to create a more reliable evidence base about the performing arts workforce, helping to inform future decision-making across the sector.
This programme sits within a wider three-year plan addressing key priorities identified through consultation, including fair pay, access and inclusion, anti-racism, career development, regional support, contracts and protections, and employer accountability.
The funding will enable FMTW to move beyond a largely volunteer-led model, supporting a small staff team and expanding its digital and training offer. While further fundraising will be needed to fully deliver its long-term ambitions, the new investment provides a foundation for more stable and sustained work.
This next phase represents an important step towards embedding freelance support more firmly within the sector’s structures, recognising that the sustainability of the workforce is integral to the sustainability of the art form itself.
A spokesperson for FMTW: “After six years of dedicated work building FMTW and advocating for freelancers across the performing arts, we are delighted to have secured support for the next phase of our mission. Freelancers are the lifeblood of our sector, yet too often we are overlooked or left out of the conversation. This funding from ACE on behalf of DCMS will benefit freelancers across the country and gives us firmer ground under our feet so we can continue to champion freelancers, strengthen practical support, and keep pushing for a fairer and more sustainable industry.”
Indhu Rubasingham, Director and Co-Chief Executive of The National Theatre commented: “FMTW is a crucial and important body for our ecology. An organisation that advocates and supports the largest part of our sector - the freelancers. It also demands and encourages vital dialogue within our whole industry so that we can learn and grow together with the inherent understanding we are nothing without each other.”
Kate Varah, Executive Director & Co-Chief Executive of The National Theatre commented: "Freelancers are the driving force behind so much of the creativity, innovation and expertise that define our sector. We are proud to support FMTW as it continues its vital work championing and strengthening the freelance community whose skills and dedication underpin so much of what our industry delivers.
What makes FMTW particularly powerful is its ability to bring people together. By creating space for meaningful dialogue, shared learning and collaboration, it helps build stronger connections across the industry, enabling us to tackle common challenges, embrace new opportunities and learn from one another. In doing so, FMTW is helping to shape a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable future for the entire sector."
Paule Constable, freelance Lighting Designer and FMTW volunteer adds, “Our industry is now entirely dependent upon 200,000 freelancers who work across myriad disciplines, with mixed portfolio careers and complex employment patterns. The challenge facing us all is how we work together despite sitting outside traditionally held structures of power. We need to explore and encourage new ways of working as times change. This funding creates exciting possibilities to challenge and learn from each other and make space for freelance voices to be truly heard.”
Michael Harrison, commercial producer commented: “I'm delighted to support the ongoing work of FMTW. Freelancers are the lifeblood of our industry, and creating a healthy, sustainable environment in which they can thrive benefits us all. Supporting freelancers is an investment in the future strength and success of UK theatre.”
Yasmin Khan, Director, Individual Practitioners, Arts Council England said: “We are so pleased to provide this support on behalf of DCMS so that FMTW can continue their vital work as an independent, trusted advocacy body for freelancers. Securing the future of FMTW is a brilliant example of the sector coming together to support freelancers, work which we are committed to continuing through the co-design of a new Service for Individuals which will have a new national funding programme at its heart, combined with improved advice giving and access to more training and skills development opportunities.”
Arts Minister Ian Murray said: “Our performing arts sector is the envy of the world, and a huge part of that is down to the freelancers who make up 70% of the theatre workforce. Their breadth of talent and skills ranges from carpentry to choreography, casting to costumes, with audiences appreciating their incredible contributions every time the curtain rises.
Freelancers Make Theatre Work does vital work to support freelancers with information and guidance. I’m proud that we’re backing their plan to ensure that the people who power our industry can thrive now and long into the future.”
Amanda Parker, Arts consultant, added: “Freelancers Make Theatre Work provides the vital accountability, advocacy and expertise to ensure progress continues. Its value and necessity is unassailable.”
