£500 bursaries will help with accommodation costs

Comedian Sian Davies has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help working-class performers cover the spiralling cost of accommodation the Edinburgh Fringe.

This year, her Best in Class initiative is setting up a new fund to offer comedians £500 bursaries to offset the eye-watering bills run up over a full festival run.

The initiative – called House Of Class – was kick-started with a donation from the Fringe Recovery Fund handed out by the Fringe Society.

Asking for donations to increase the fund, Davies said: ’This is a tangible way to make a difference to working-class performers within the industry.

‘People make a lot of noise about encouraging more working-class acts to participate in the Fringe. Networking events, regional accents and plays about living under the shadow of a colliery are all well and good, but lived experience shows that the real barrier to participation is financial.

‘I would love to see the big venues, promoters and PR companies contributing to the scheme.’ 

The accommodation bursaries come on top of the existing Best in Class gig which has so far given paid work to 16 working-class comedians at the Fringe.

Davies set up the project in 2018 after she secured an audition for a showcase at the festival – and was then told that if successful she would have to pay £1,800 up front  to secure her place.

As well as hosting Best in Class and the Comedy Queens compilation gigs, Davies will also be performing her debut hour, About Time. She said: ‘I will be grafting on three shows a day to make sure my Fringe is financially viable. As a working-class act there is no safety net, the margins are tighter, the risk is greater. But I believe I deserve to be there, so I make it work.’

Working class performers can apply for a House Of Class accommodation bursary from May 1, but for now donations are being sought here, while comics can apply to take part in Best in Class 2022 here.

Published: 11 Apr 2022