Charities facing the challenges of Covid-19
One of the major topics of the current pandemic has been funding. The government has responded with a package of resources for businesses.
But what is the impact of Covid-19 on charities and not for profit organisations? The simple answer is, it’s creating hugely challenging times.
Boston Spa-based Martin House has launched an online fundraising appeal as it faces an estimated loss of £1.7m over three months. A figure which could rise to between £4m and £7.4m over the coming year.
It’s a similar story for longstanding charity Simon on the Streets. It has put out an appeal for both individuals and businesses to offer support through monetary donations, and donations of any surplus hand sanitiser. In fact the charity, which has been going for 21 years, is warning that 2020 could be its final year.
Beckie Wynne, director of income generation at Martin House, said: “We don’t have the deep pockets and resources of national charities, so we rely on the goodwill of our amazing supporters and volunteers to raise the money we need to provide our care.
“We have had to cancel or postpone events and activities we rely on to help us raise the millions we need – we only receive around 11 per cent of our running costs from statutory sources, so the money we and our supporters raise is crucial to us.”
Louise Lapish, chair of trustees at Simon on the Streets, said: “Homelessness has risen significantly since Simon on the Streets was founded 21 years ago and this is undoubtedly the most challenging period we’ve ever faced. As an independent charity we rely solely on fundraising events, as well as our supporters and corporate sponsors, to survive, but nearly everything has had to be cancelled, which is really having an impact on our finances and how we work. Unfortunately, if things don’t improve soon, this could be our final year.”
Luen Thompson, CEO of Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice, told me it had seen 97% of its usual income dry up. In fact the reality means the hospice has had to furlough most of its staff but it has been able to keep those in clinical and care roles. Thompson highlighted that hospices are one of the only organisations delivering clinical services that are very heavily regulated without an income stream that sustains them in the longer term, and are solely reliant on the generosity of their communities and donations.
The hospice has however been able to find some ways to support itself during the current period.
These include hiring staff out to other care providers – so their salaries are covered; to working with the local clinical commissioning group (CCG) to take children who were in acute beds at hospital and unable to leave because a home care package wasn’t possible – ultimately helping the system and having the bed paid for through the CCG.
Thompson stated that as it stands and if support offered by Government fails to materialise, they could keep going at Forget Me Not until early autumn, but after that they would struggle. Despite this challenging period however, the chief executive remains positive stating on Twitter that they will, “get through this with grit and determination.”
Educational charities and attractions such as The Deep are also facing a fight for survival due the UK-wide lockdown.
The Hull-based aquarium said it, “is already having a major impact on finances”, particularly as it is happening in one of its busiest months of the year – Easter. The venue is 100% reliant on self-generated income and faces a “closed building” bill of about £6,500 per day.
Katy Duke, CEO at The Deep, said: “This is the toughest financial crisis that our industry has faced, and the unknown length of the shutdown makes it even harder. During the closure, our income has stopped but our costs haven’t. Animal care remains our top priority, but as you can imagine, this isn’t cheap. In addition to food for our animals we must continue to run life support filtration systems, maintain excellent water quality, which involves making salt water for the exhibits and extensive water testing. Veterinary care must be on hand should we need it and of course the associated utility bills must be paid.
“We have furloughed many of our employees under the Government’s job retention scheme across the different departments. However we cannot furlough our animal care staff, who, in the context of zoos and aquaria are our essential workers.
She adds: “The next few months will be critical for us. This really is about financial survival.”
As a response to these challenges, organisations such as Leeds Community Foundation and Give Bradford have launched specialist funds; while the South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation (SYCF) is distributing funds raised by the National Emergencies Trust (NET) Coronavirus Appeal through its Covid-19 Response Fund.
SYCF has awarded its first grant of £25,000 to Sheffield Food Bank Network to help it continue its essential work, which includes providing food parcels for those who are in self-isolation.
Chief executive of South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation, Ruth Willis, said: “South Yorkshire, like everywhere else, is struggling through these unprecedented times and the Covid-19 Response Fund is our contribution to helping communities to maintain services and to meet the needs of those most vulnerable right now and in the coming months.
“The community organisations and charities need our support more than ever. South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation and our partner Community Foundations across the UK are doing our best to ensure they get the help they need.”
The NET Coronavirus Appeal has had over £20m pledged to the appeal, with £7.5m already given out for distribution across the country. Hundreds of organisations are set to benefit.
Rachel Fletcher, managing director at FCS Associates, who is helping to signpost charities to the relevant grants and funding options for them, said: “We’ve certainly seen an increase in visits to our website and we’re trying through LinkedIn and emails to highlight the new funds as they become available. A challenge for many in the sector is that they still have to continue their day to day work outside of the Covid situation and with grant funding being redirected to this crisis, it can lead to challenges in running costs.”
Aside from grant support, one thing every charity I’ve spoken to said was that they value the community support. Duncan Batty, the fundraising director of Kirkwood Hospice, told me: “One of the silver linings of this cloud – and believe me we’d rather not have a cloud – is that people have been proactively getting in touch to ask if they can support us.
“Even at a time of crisis when people are thinking about their own circumstances, whether that’s their health or their family income, we’re still getting calls and people say can we help. And it ranges from making donations of things that we need, so we’ve had local people and businesses here donating things like excess food and drink, cash and also services. We have had some companies who have been kind enough to say for this period, we’ll reduce costs to you or we’ll allow you to pay your invoices a bit later.”
He added that like many local charities they have set up a Just Giving page and are asking people who can’t fundraise to donate instead. However, Batty said there are other ways people can help, noting: “We’ve had to close our charity shops but when we reopen again we’ll need stock that we can use to raise money. So if people are having a clear out of their wardrobe while in lock down, we’re asking people to save it and donate it when we reopen.”
Thompson, of Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice, stressed that one of the biggest donations they can receive at the moment aside from money is time. She explained the hospice is keen to hear from volunteers willing to pick up the phone, help out in the hospice and deliver care packages of toys from its closed shops to local people who would normally access the service.
Ultimately, it’s clear that the third sector like all industries is facing an unprecedented challenge as a result of the pandemic. But what stuck with me from everyone I spoke to was the can do attitude.
Batty summed it up perfectly, saying: “This is why we as a charity were set up in the first place. To protect and help people when they are in their own crisis against circumstances; and we’re great as a sector at finding a way.”
For more information about the support available to charities please click the links below:
Leeds Community Foundation
GiveBradford
South Yorkshire Community Foundation
***
Article update: Since this article was written, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rich Sunak has announced a £750m package of extra funding for charities with £360m being directly allocated by government departments to charities providing key services and supporting the vulnerable during the crisis. A further £370m will be targeted at small and medium sized charities at the heart of local communities which are making a difference during the crisis.
