The Music Industry Therapist Collective CIC (MITC) has launched the Pay It Forward Fund, a free occupational health program for artists and crew on small and mid-scale tours. The fund is backed by Radiohead drummer Philip Selway and several live music companies, and it aims to make mental health support a standard part of touring rather than a resource reserved for large productions.
Touring professionals face an elevated risk of stress, anxiety, burnout, clinical depression and suicidality. These conditions can be exacerbated on smaller tours, where teams are leaner and travel and work conditions are often more challenging. While a growing number of larger tours offer welfare or pastoral support for members of the touring party, smaller tours rarely have the budget for such resources.
How the fund works
An initial £272,000 ($370,000) has been raised to support 50 tour teams annually over a three-year pilot period. The fund makes specialist mental health support accessible to smaller touring teams. MITC’s Tour Health packages include:
- confidential conversations with qualified mental health practitioners familiar with the touring industry, called Tour Check-Ins, available 24/7 online and in several languages
- a 90-minute occupational health consultation with MITC’s Touring Welfare Officer Sascha Heeney, who supported Dua Lipa’s ‘Radical Optimism’ tour team
- Healthy Touring workshops
- access to MITC’s audiobook Touring and Mental Health: The Music Industry Manual
Backers and eligibility
Contributors to the fund include Philip Selway of Radiohead, AEG, Live Nation, d&b audiotechnik, Fly By Nite, Lockton, The Team, Universal Pixels, and Live Free 999, the charitable foundation established by Carmela Wallace, mother of the late Juice WRLD.
A first round of applications is open to eligible tour teams globally for tours that begin between October and December 2026.
Tamsin Embleton, Founder of MITC, said:
“The Pay It Forward Fund is about making specialist support accessible to tours working within tight budgets, but it’s also about moving beyond the idea that support should only be sought when crisis hits. We want to help forward-thinking teams develop the skills to manage pressure, recognize when something is beginning to take a toll, and intervene effectively before things start to snowball.”
