Fleabag creator donates flat to help early-career writers live in London

Phoebe Waller-Bridge joins stars signing up to scheme aimed at tackling class barriers in theatre

Phoebe Waller-Bridge has donated a London flat so that early-career writers can afford to live in the capital.

The creator of the hit show Fleabag bought the property specifically for Writers’ Block, a new scheme tackling class barriers in theatre. The flat will be offered to writers from disadvantaged backgrounds, who will pay only bills. Waller-Bridge has also made what the initiative described as a “generous financial contribution”.

The screenwriter Jack Thorne, who co-created Adolescence and wrote Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, is also backing the scheme financially. “I was lucky when I started out, my brother lived in Croydon and was able to put me up,” he said. “He did so, rather selflessly, for five years, before I moved to Luton and he got his peace.

“For many writers, the need for a roof makes writing impossible, which is why this pilot is so important. If we want stories told about our complicated world, we need writers of every background writing them. If you’re from privilege, your biggest problem is what to fill a page with. If you’re not, so much of your struggle is about the need to survive.”

Other backers include: the playwright and screenwriter James Graham, who wrote stage shows including Ink, Quiz and Dear England; the Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright; The Crown’s Peter Morgan; and Waller-Bridge’s partner Martin McDonagh, who wrote and directed films including The Banshees of Inisherin and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Research by the Sutton Trust and the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre found that just 16% of people working in the creative industries came from working-class backgrounds. It also found that class imbalances were more pronounced in the sector than in any other.

Graham said the industry’s efforts to improve representation continued to overlook class. “The industry’s urgent pursuit of representation is still letting down the biggest area of under-representation of all, which is class,” he said.

“When I first made it to London, I slept on friends’ floors and worked in call centres and bars while I wrote. Every spare room a scheme like this can give to writers starting out in London, not only helps them write but saves them from giving up completely.”

Writers’ Block grew out of the Adopt a Playwright Award, founded in 2008 by Sofie Mason and Diana Jervis-Read to provide affordable accommodation for writers who need to be in London for meetings, rehearsals, performances and career opportunities.

The scheme invites Londoners to offer spare rooms at reduced rates, capped at £30 a night or £500 a month. It has signed up 15 homes and helped 12 writers find accommodation, from overnight stays to longer-term placements.

The organisers say the scheme could appeal to older people living alone who would welcome companionship and extra income but feel uncomfortable advertising a room to strangers.