A pair of friends who face losing their income are aiming to bring some joy to difficult times.

To help those self-isolating, and creative artists who have had all their work cancelled, Katie McGarry of Westgate and Ramsgate-based Estelle Rosenfeld have decided to put on an online festival called Creative Distance.

They will live-stream a series of artistic events throughout the next month, from Thanet artists and those further afield.

Katie is one of the producers of Looping the Loop festival and she is working with co-creator Estelle, who runs arts and performance company What's Coming Out Of The Box.

Explaining how the idea came about, Katie said: "I'm an actor and I've been working on tour in a family show called Bonhomme.

"Estelle and I were in Barnsley at the weekend and watching it all unfold.

"We started brainstorming an idea on the way home.

"It started with a game I had put on my own Facebook page called The 20-second No-hands Challenge - creating a 20-second piece of art based on the handwashing advice.

"I said I would upload them all into one funny video at the end of the week, with the winner receiving £100.

"But that turned into something much much bigger when the news was announced on Monday that Boris Johnson had told people to stay away from theatres, without taking responsibility for us all losing our jobs in the blink of an eye.

"Many of us have lost all our upcoming work, amounting to thousands of pounds."

Katie, of St Bennett's Road, Westgate, added: "So we decided to do something good about it.

"We're putting together Creative Distance - a digital festival where artists can submit their work, such as a radio show in the living room, a Shakespeare reading or an Instagram story with actors rehearsing over Skype for audiences now sat at home."

Katie, 35, says that there is a cost to them to broadcast the festival, which is free to audiences, so the website will include a donate button where people can pay what they decide to.

Any profit will be shared among participating artists to help them pay their bills without their usual income.

Mum-of-one Katie said: "It's a little bit of joy and creativity but it's also a way to make some money for people who have lost their incomes."

Part of Looping the Loop is Theatre Network Thanet where the artistic community in the area.

'Many of us have lost all our upcoming work, amounting to thousands of pounds'

Katie said: "Creative Distance started quite locally with a call to arms for this group but it has exploded in popularity with submissions from places across the UK, including Nottingham and Devon, and even as far as Australia."

The pair launched the website on Monday evening and have been inundated with submissions ever since as social media posts were shared hundreds of times.

Other friends involved in the project are West End and Looping the Loop director Ellie Jones, along with fellow Looping the Loop director Suzy Humphries, the owner of Nice Things in Ramsgate.

The 20-second No-hands Challenge winner will be announced on Friday night and that video will go up on Saturday morning.

And the first broadcast will take place at 8pm on Saturday.

The team is also setting up a live-streamed dance party with a DJ set by Attagirl on web conferencing site Zoom.

Katie said: "It feels very odd and a very scary time but we are going to try and raise lots of money to help people pay their rent and buy food.

"It's a bit of fun and frivolity, and a bit of creativity. We want to bring some joy to the world."

To find out more visit, www.creativedistance.org

For the latest coronavirus news and advice, click here.

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