24/09/2020
Something I haven't mentioned at all here on FB for several months is my mobile DJ and Wedding DJ & Party Host business, well actually two businesses. Many of you will know that I have been DJing for many years, since 2007 actually when I was posted to Germany. It all started off as a hobby and grew to quite a busy little business once I was posted back to UK from 2008 onwards. I invested what money I earned from it back into it, bought bigger, better, more professional equipment, spent thousands of pounds on gear, training courses, workshops, seminars and professional DJ conferences all to make me better and to give my customers, especially the brides, a far better and more memorable experience.
I am a small cog in a massively well oiled machine. Week in, week out, I and countless thousands of other mobile DJs, nightclub DJs,, concert and festival DJs would entertain hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people. Tens and tens of thousands of people are employed in this entertainment industry which includes the wedding/bridal industry, wedding fayres, hotels, venues, wedding dresses and clothing, catering, bands, singers, photographers and videographers, wedding cars, drinks suppliers, venue dressers, lighting, flooring, florists, stationers and many many more.
Yet since March, most of these people have been without ANY income at all!!!! While other trades and jobs have been, in the main, helped with schemes from the Government, the entertainment industry, including theatres, shows, cinemas and all manner of other entertainers, has been left high and dry!! I personally know dozens of full time wedding professionals of all services who have had to hang up their headphones permanently and find other jobs, difficult enough in these unprecedented times.
I personally have not performed as a DJ at a party since mid-February!! Yet I am one of the lucky ones! I have a full time job. I am fortunate enough to not have had a single day off due to not having any work in the plumbing & heating trade. But now, more than ever, I want to show my support to my part-time and full-time DJ and entertainment friends and colleagues up and down the length & breadth of the country. I cannot imagine how worrying these future weeks and months must seem.
The onus must be on the Government to act in support of this multi-million pound industry and start helping these people to help themselves and their families. The Government is quick enough to take the tax pounds of entertainers, it should be just as quick to help them with some ray of hope and support!!
