Canongate gives £5k to nine UK festivals previously funded by Baillie Gifford

Canongate has donated £5,000 to nine UK literature festivals who have lost funding from Baillie Gifford.

The news comes after a joint statement on Monday (1st July) from the festivals urging for "increased support" following the loss of sponsorship from Baillie Gifford last month. Canongate told The Bookseller it will make a one-off donation of £5000, to be split between the nine festivals involved. 

Jamie Byng, chief executive of Canongate, said: "Book festivals are a key part of the literary ecosystem, not only platforming writers from across our list and at all stages of their careers, but also doing vital outreach work that helps spread the power of books into every corner of the country. 

"We’re delighted to help support them through this tough time, in the hope that a more stable, long-term solution presents itself soon."

Bloomsbury is also donating £100,000 as previously reported on Monday (1st July).

The joint statement calling for support from nine organisations from across the UK: Borders Book Festival, Cambridge Literary Festival, Cheltenham Festivals, Edinburgh International Book Festival, The Hay Festival, Henley Literary Festival, Stratford Literary Festival, Wigtown Book Festival and Wimbledon BookFest.

Many of the festivals had decades-long partnerships with Baillie Gifford, a Scottish asset management firm, which stopped its funding last month after outcry from campaign group Fossil Free Books over its investments in fossil fuels and companies that operate in Israel. 

Both Hay and Edinburgh ended partnerships with Baillie Gifford while the remaining seven festivals had their funding withdrawn by Baillie Gifford.