Coronavirus: Small charities face 'slow death'

Thousands of smaller charities across the UK could cease to exist in the new year, experts fear, following a shift in the nature of giving.

Fundraising data and recent polls have shown a surge in donations to new NHS charities since March.

But campaigners say funds to a variety of grassroots causes are down, leaving many on the brink of existence.

The government issued a £750m bailout to the sector in April but there are now growing calls for more support.

Why are smaller charities struggling?
A new report by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) said overall giving in the UK had increased by £800m in 2020, compared to the previous
year.

But it says that increase has not been felt by a swathe of the 110,000 smaller charities in the UK, many of which would normally rely on
events such as abseils, skydives, village fetes and quiz nights to top up their funds.

BBC analysis shows almost eight out of ten charities have an income of less than £100,000 a year, but account for just 3% of the total
income.

The foundation's chief executive Neil Heslop said the "Protect the NHS" slogan and support for Captain Tom Moore's bid to walk 100 laps
around his garden in April for NHS Charities Together led to an outpouring of support for causes considered on the the frontline of
the pandemic.

But he said other causes - particularly animal shelters, disability support groups and homeless shelters - are being left at risk as a result.

"NHS charities and hospitals themselves have seen a huge upsurge in support and that's been wonderful to see," he said.

"The challenge has really been for many other charities, especially the smaller ones that do not have much by way of reserves, that saw
their normal fundraising drives completely shut down."

Two of the biggest fundraising sites in the UK have reported a similar trend.

Between March and August, Just Giving saw donations to charities concerning education and disability drop by 46%.

More by the Shared Data Unit
"But we were making hundreds rather than thousands.

"We used to make around £10,000 a month.

"If we have a successful virtual quiz, that's great - but it might be at the expense of a charity ball that raises £8,000.

"It's put us back a decade."

Mrs Atkinson said there were dedicated grants available for animal charities, but she said they were "massively oversubscribed".

Many foundations were prioritising giving funds to causes that were "directly Covid related", she said.

"They maybe don't realise that we are taking cats from people that are ill, people that have lost relatives or that have lost jobs.

"We are running around picking up the pieces of people's lives."

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