Ticketing company Skiddle and the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) have announced they will grant £50,000 of bursaries for event organisers as part of a new Events Revival Fund.

The money will support events organisers and promoters who plan to put on events in bars and nightclubs in a bid to revitalise the events industry with financial support after a loss of earnings for several promoters and venues in the last 18 months.

The bursaries have been released as part of a wider partnership between the two businesses and will be awarded to new and experienced events organisers in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

New figures released by Skiddle showed there was an extra £1.4m in ticket sales to live events in the last six months as lockdown began to lift, with an increase of 400% in comparison to the same period last year (March-August).

The company said it has seen a huge increase of 442% in ticket sales in 2021 vs 2020, with plans from the Government to scrap Covid-19 passports for nightclubs and live events expected to push the trend even further.

The bursaries are available to promoters, events or venues which are planning events this autumn. They will be able to apply for the bursary via the Skiddle website, with applications remaining open from 1-31 October. The bursaries will be awarded to successful applicants on a weekly basis.

As part of a new, ongoing partnership Skiddle and the NTIA are working on a support package for NTIA members and Skiddle promoters.

The two businesses will focus on initiatives such as discussions and networking opportunities for promoters in monthly socials, workshops and one to one mentoring for young people looking to get into the events industry and promoter focus groups run by the NTIA.

Skiddle CTO Ben Sebborn said, “We know firsthand how hard the industry has been hit in the last eighteen months, and now we are able to host and attend events once more. We want to make them the best we possibly can. We hope that the bursaries enable promoters and event organisers to put on an amazing series of events around the UK that may not have been possible without this financial support.”

NTIA CEO Michael Kill said, “The night time economy and events sector has continually been at the sharp end of the pandemic. We are now able to plan for the future, with the removal of challenging mitigations we are able to really focus on supporting grassroots promoters in building back and re-establishing a world leading industry across the UK. We hope this bursary will help grassroots promoters to re-invigorate their commitment and inspire new entrepreneurs to invest in the future of the events industry.”