- The events industry contributes £80 billion each year to the UK economy
- Two minds come together to raise awareness about the devastating impact of Covid-19 has had on the events industry
December 2020: Charlie McNeill Love, Founder of Love That Media and Joshua Shearman of Spectra DMC, launched The Faces Behind Events! campaign in October 2020 to highlight the devastating impact of Covid-19 on people who work in the events industry.
The idea behind the campaign is to highlight the people, as opposed to the statistics, behind the UK’s £80 billion pound events industry and, more importantly to share the stories of the event planners, musicians, writers, creators, sound & light engineers, caterers, wedding designers, performers, photographers, dancers, composers, florists, stage designers, producers and many more. These highly creative and skilled people have had their livelihoods directly impacted, their businesses are suffering, and many are consequently facing terrible hardships.
Since the launch there have been over 170 faces posted on Instagram @thefacesbehindevents with very personal and poignant stories of their experiences during this pandemic. The campaign has gained close to 1900 followers and continues to grow with new submissions received daily.
Founder Charlie McNeill Love comments, “our mission is to continue to build pressure on the government to act to support the events industry through this unprecedented time. Showing a face behind the numbers, really drums home that individuals have and are been catastrophically effected by this pandemic with minimal support to reach out to”
Co-founder Joshua Shearman echoes this sentiment and states “I have seen friends and colleagues who have spent years in the industry lose their jobs and livelihoods and what support has been offered is too little and too late. Businesses have shut down and skills have been lost which will impact the recovery of one of the UK’s most important and creative industries.”
Our hope with this campaign is to highlight the incredible talent we have within the industry and to continue to raise awareness of the vital importance needed to support the industry.
You can upload your story HERE.
