With blockbuster cinema making only the most cautious of returns, the biggest names in theatre on hiatus and live music unplugged for the rest of the year, you’d be forgiven for considering the rest of 2020 a cultural washout. But it is possible to have a good time this autumn while helping out the independent businesses, arts and culture organisations that need our support to survive.

We’ve already seen the cheering response to crowdfunding efforts in lockdown across the arts and leisure sectors. Now it’s time to get creative again. Below are some ways in which we can all dig deep.

Support your favourite restaurant by showing up. No-shows cost the sector £16 billion in the UK in ordinary times. Michelin-star chefs Mr Tom Kerridge and Mr Paul Ainsworth say disappearing acts are crippling their survival efforts. While you’re there, tip generously. Restaurateur Mr Danny Meyer, who runs New York institutions such as Gramercy Tavern, has reversed a restaurant-wide no-tipping policy to help staff regain as much lost income as possible. You can champion your favourite kitchen staff, too. APT is a new initiative that brings chefs, including Ms Skuko Oda of Koya and Mr Jackson Boxer of Orasay to you, in a private dining experience at the Town Hall Hotel in east London, with more venues in the city to follow.

The comedy sector’s challenges during the pandemic are no joke. Live comedy doesn’t enjoy the same status as other art forms in countries such as the UK, so has missed out on public funding. Stand-up shows are some of the cheapest, accessible and inclusive nights out, but more than 75 per cent of comedy clubs risk permanent closure, according to the Live Comedy Association, which is campaigning for direct support. You can sign its open letter to the government, support local venues through membership programmes and check out independent streaming platforms such as Next Up Comedy, which gives 50 per cent of membership fees to the acts. Or go straight to the punchline and pay your favourites for their digital shows.

When watching films, we’re often rooting for the little guy. In Japan, the country’s 100 or so small independents – locals call them mini-theatres – use Stay Home Mini-Theater, a streaming platform you watch from home that distributes profits between the cinemas and distributors. In Sweden, the video-on-demand platform Draken Film runs a similar initiative, where subscribers can select a cinema to receive revenues from streaming. Check in with your local cinema about how best to help. Iconic venues such as the Rio Cinema in Dalston, east London, are still crowdfunding for survival. Participating in autumn film festivals is also a great way to show up for new cinema. Toronto, which launched last month, and London, which runs 7-18 October, both present new ways to stream their programming from home.

LGBTQ+ spaces are under threat globally while the need for safe queer spaces remains undiminished. Historic gay venues Julius’ Bar in New York and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in London crowdfunded in lockdown for survival, so put these down for a pint when you’re next in town. Clubs remain closed, but you can still show up for progressive queer party ://about blank in Berlin, which advises clubbers to support its work on Spotify or iTunes and shop at its Bandcamp site, or Bklyn Boihood, a clubbing and activism group for queer and trans people of colour in New York that is streaming digital parties.

Spend your money with black-owned businesses and you help to empower the community, build its economy and repurpose energy from historical trauma. That’s the message behind Black Pound Day, one initiative that aims to build on the activism of the Black Lives Matter movement. Black Pound Day designates the first Saturday of each month for shopping with black-owned businesses. Online directories such as Black2Business are a good source of inspiration. Be prepared to be inspired. Black-owned enterprises such as Ethel’s in New York, a private club for people of colour, or Krewe, a pioneering African-American restaurant in rural Minnesota, are doing great things in lockdown.

Craft breweries also need a leg up right now. Sales have crashed during the pandemic and while pubs, bars and restaurants get government help, craft breweries do not. In the UK, local options such as Bison Beer in Brighton, Art & Craft in south-west London and Grunting Growler in Glasgow need your help. The Society Of Independent Brewers in the UK suggests you can help by getting in touch with your local MP and tweeting #HereForIndieBeer. Whatever your drink of choice, the message is to think artisan. In Melbourne, where coffee is king, buy from local specialty roasters such as Melbourne Coffee Merchants, whose owners co-run six cafés and supply others in the city.

Have a pint and save live music? It’s not quite as easy as that, but sales from every pint of Fightback lager from Salford brewer ShinDigger Brewing Co include a donation to the Music Venue Trust, a UK charity that works to protect grassroots music venues. The joint initiative predates Covid-19, but with the new threat posed to live music, it has renewed focus. Announcements on special events to follow.

No Signal, black Britain’s newest online radio station has been a social media hit this summer. Its flagship show #NS10v10 has brought black communities together during the pandemic and BLM protests. Conceived by brothers Messrs Jojo and David Sonubi, who run black nightlife mainstay Recess, and on air since the start of lockdown, No Signal plays music from across the African diaspora with dancehall party sets, 1970s Afro-jazz and an agony aunt show called Ask Oloni. To help turn a moment into a lasting contribution to black art and community, No Signal’s founders are crowdfunding for a permanent home and broadcast studio for the station.

Art spaces have had to get creative in these unprecedented times. Resourcefulness is a cornerstone of any show that still plans to open in 2020, such as the Hammer Museum’s biennial, originally slated for June. Made In L.A. 2020: A Version opened last month and features 30 emerging and under-represented local artists debuting work that reflects the moment. Elsewhere, multi-disciplinary arts venues are opening up in a piecemeal fashion, with social distancing in the frame. The message from spaces such as Home in Manchester, which opened its bar, café and cinemas in early September, reflects a wider plea: come, hang out, eat, drink and help create the space for art to thrive again.

The biggest drama in theatre this year was a photo of a socially distanced auditorium with 70 per cent of the seats removed. The Berliner Ensemble’s seating plan went viral, but putting bums on seats remains a challenge for most venues. Become a member of your favourite theatre now to help provide a vital source of income while the stage remains empty. Support talent directly with initiatives such as Belvoir’s Artist At Work campaign in Australia and book seats for the socially distanced shows that are planning to open in autumn, including The Ballad Of Corona-V from The Big House production company in London, established to help young care leavers.