“We were one of the fastest growing parts of the economy and the government’s emergency package for the arts acknowledged that huge contribution,” said the Arcola Theatre’s Jack Gamble, who heads the Public Campaign for the Arts, a 150,000-strong group that sprang up to articulate a response to Covid-19.

“We must make sure freelancers, who are the majority of the workforce powering the cultural sector, are supported alongside organisations. If we don’t, we will lose skills and talent forever, and set our recovery back even further.”