SWAP'ra has developed a brand new retreat for mothers in the process of returning to their singing careers after a period of maternity leave. The retreat will provide singers with tools and resources are essential for re-building stamina and confidence after a time away from performing and which are prohibitively expensive for most freelance artists after time away from working. 

We have collated a list of helpful resources for artists with information about managing finances, mental health and keeping up-to-date with the latest government guidelines in terms of COVID-19 and other challenges.. We've also included a list of online resources for parents of children who are managing all or some of their education in isolation or online. 

We know that Covid 19 has made life in the performing arts incredibly difficult, with the loss of expected performing and teaching income having both financial and mental health implications.   During the pandemic, we were proud to establish the SWAP'ra Emergency Fund to help alleviate some of the financial stress that our colleagues had been under. 

Throughout the pandemic, we took conversations further through virtual networking events called 'SWAP'ra Makes Space', which helped to inform what might be useful for young artists starting out and connecting with mid-career professionals to help build confidence. We are working on establishing a mentorship programme in the future to help  nurture these relationships.

The challenges of the past few years made our already-precarious careers even more uncertain, and this was exacerbated when artists had caring responsibilities. During the pandemic, we established a regular, 'SWAP'ra Café - a virtual informal support network where people could connect and discuss experiences and ideas or even just experience some contact with other humans!

We're working to create an online network and resource for artists called 'SWAP'ra Connect'.

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This will provide local information about every opera company in the UK (at first) in order to make planning and networking easier for parents working in the profession. We'll be releasing more information in due course.