The PRS Members’ Fund is proud to support our partner charity Turn2Us who is launching a new campaign to ask: How Many More? of us will be plunged into financial insecurity or even poverty.
The PRS Members’ Fund is a registered charity whose charitable purpose is the relief and prevention of poverty. We provide public benefit through the financial help and other assistance it gives to past and present members of the Performing Rights Society (PRS) and their dependants.
In these unprecedented times, our assistance can be crucial in preventing PRS songwriters and composers falling further into poverty and improving their well-being. We need to make sure we’re helping as many members as possible who get hit particularly by the current crisis in mental health and cost of living. If we want to prevent poverty, we have to move with the times, and respond to the situations we are faced with and ensure members can also keep physically and mentally healthy.
In 2021 we awarded £338K to PRS members living in the UK and abroad. But that’s not all! PRS members receiving therapeutic support increased by 57% compared to the previous year.
The Fund can provide crisis grants, information or ongoing help whilst we work to find more longer term solutions to members’ needs. We also work with StepChange Debt Charity, where we can refer members directly for a confidential and personalised service. To check if you qualify for help, you can take a free 60-second test, the StepChange team will let you know if you need debt advice and suggest what your next steps could be. Take the test here.
Furthermore, you can use the Turn2us Benefits Calculator to find out what welfare benefits and tax credits you could be entitled to.
Our refreshed Constitution is also shaped by what preventative support could look like.
We know we have a vital role to play, we are looking at the different causes of poverty and what else we could offer to alleviate it among PRS members. We are continuing to work hard as we aim to be of greater service to the membership community.
“The grant I received from the Fund was crucial to my well-being. Not only did it help immensely in paying bills but had a big positive impact to my confidence and to know that there is support out there when being a self-employed musician can be quite a lonely place was incredible.”
If you want to find out more about Turn2Us campaign click here.
