Always on
This project successfully funded on 30th April 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Stand Up & Give Fund
Manchester, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
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Aim
Stand Up & Give - support grassroots live comedy. Live comedy matters. And right now, it needs your support.
Stand Up & Give Fund – Help keep live comedy alive
Live comedy receives no government or public sector funding. The sector survives because we support each other, and now we’re asking you to stand up and give.
The Live Comedy Association is a not-for-profit organisation, committed to using your donations to support key programmes that strengthen the live comedy community and lobby for additional support for people working in it. We are the national voice for people working in live comedy and we need your support to continue our work and champion what we do.
With your support the fund will:
- Support comedians and workers with training, events and free advice
- Continue lobbying of government and public agencies for funding and recognition. We need money to pay experienced people to help us with this.
- Champion mental health and wellbeing support
- Advocate for those working with children and people with disabilities
- Support comedy projects in hospitals, care homes, and health settings
All funds given out will be distributed with guidance from our Advisory Panel, which includes 20 representatives from the live comedy world.
We often say we’re people who give a sh!t about live comedy. If that’s you too, please consider helping us.
Even with limited resources, here’s some of what we’ve achieved:
- We promoted the SaveLiveComedy campaign during the pandemic and raised just under £80,000 which we distributed to people in need of financial support
- Conducted the first-ever UK live comedy sector survey, in partnership with the Centre for Comedy Studies Research at Brunel University
- Published the sector report at our 2025 Live Comedy AGM
- Lobbied the DCMS Select Committee and spoke at an evidence session in Parliament
- Been featured in media including The Observer, Times Radio, The Independent, BBC local radio, and The Political Party podcast
- Delivered online workshops on funding and hosted regular member meetings
- Received some support from Brunel University, LCB Depot (Leicester), Frog & Bucket (Manchester), and the Edinburgh Fringe Society
What's next?
We’re working on the following, and your support can make it happen:
- Publishing the report from our 2nd annual survey in 2026
- Expanding our training and development workshops
- Raising the profile of the sector through a national Live Comedy day
- Scaling up our lobbying and advocacy work
We’re working on grant applications, but these take time and are not guaranteed. Your donation can have an immediate impact.
Together, we can ensure live comedy is supported, celebrated, and continues.
👉 Donate now and help us stand up for comedy.
Huge thanks to Peril Design for the campaign logo & to Charlotte Horton & Komedia archive for the pictures.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made