Free work in the freelance sector has been a curse for years. Now, many furloughed workers, with free time on their hands, are offering up their skills for free, but some freelancers are taking issue with the trend. Freelancer Club spoke with the BBC about the impact this could have on the freelance sector and why furloughed workers should think twice before giving up their time for free.  Read the full article here. 

Today, the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme opened its doors and freelancers rushed in. £340 million in claims were made within hours. The Financial Times spoke with the Freelancer Club's founder, Matt Dowling, to get his thoughts on the situation. [reamore] Read the full article by Delphine Strauss here.

The day the SEISS opened, £340 million was claimed in the first 4 hours. It was a bitter sweet moment for us at Freelancer Club. We had campaigned tirelessly for support and when it was announced, we were elated. However, as the details of the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme emerged, we realised that an estimated 2 million self-employed individuals would be be eligible for financial support.

When the pandemic first hit, we were flooded with worried messages from freelancers who feared they would lose their clients and be forced to pause or close their business. Our first instinct was to support our members on a local level by offering one to one support, the option to freeze membership fees and opening up a lot of the premium benefits to all members. On a broader level, we felt the Government was ignoring the self-employed community and added our voice to demand financial support for freelancers.

The self-employed community can temporarily breath a sigh of relief as Rishi Sunak announced an extension to the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme. The Scotsman spoke with Matt Dowling, founder of the Freelancer Club to get his immediate reaction.

The Freelancer Club sprung into action as soon as coronavirus hit the headlines. As a micro-business, we were able to pivot our position and provide our members with invaluable support during this crisis. We also ramped up our levels of activism and, with the help of our 40,000 members, campaigned hard to pressure Government into providing support for the self-employed. Here's a roundup of just some of the interviews, quotes and features to keep you up to date, with lots more to come.

What is the real impact of COVID-19 on freelancers? Listen to the founder of Freelancer Club, Matt Dowling, discussing the cultural impact #COVID2019 is having on freelancers on BBC News.