A crowdfunding campaign set up to support comedians facing financial hardship during the Coronavirus pandemic has quickly reached its target and is now aiming for a higher target.
#HeckleTheVirus was one of the initiatives of comedy streaming service NextUp.
The £50,000 target of their JustGiving campaign was reached in a day and the target and now been increased to £100,000. Larger donors included Richard Herring, Tom Rosenthal and Sara Pascoe. Lee Mack and his wife Tara donated £10,000.01, a penny more than Richard Herring, and said "We just wanted to make Herring look like a cheapskate."
At the time of writing 230 people had donated a total of £53,823.
The team are going to be running various initiatives during the pandemic. These include hosting and programming a virtual comedy venue (allowing comedians to earn revenue during lockdown), offering affiliate links so people can earn revenue by promoting NextUp as a digital alternative to live gigs at the moment, and launching a hardship fund via JustGiving to support comedians who are struggling. They are also helping to publicise other initiatives run by comedians and fans, aimed to help keep the industry afloat during this difficult time.
The founders at NextUp say: "It’s not going to be an easy few months, and because of that, comedy is more necessary than ever. We hope these initiatives will help support the comics who usually give so much, and also brighten the lives of those who are isolated at home."
All details on the various initiatives NextUp are running can be found at www.hecklethevirus.com
You can donate to the fund here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/hecklethevirus
