{"id":20331,"date":"2020-04-01T11:34:45","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T10:34:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=20331"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:44:28","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:44:28","slug":"charities-funding-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=20331","title":{"rendered":"Charities in funding crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Just as demand for charities\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 services \u00e2\u20ac\u201c from mental health to housing and more — are seeing an unprecedented rise amid the coronavirus epidemic, their fundraising opportunities have collapsed.<\/p>\n

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The voluntary sector is now facing a funding crisis if it does not secure government support soon, with the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) estimating that UK charities are set to lose \u00c2\u01414.3bn in the next 12 weeks.<\/p>\n

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While the government has announced unprecedented levels of financial support for businesses, charities and not-for-profit organisations have fallen through the cracks, especially those dealing with local government, social care, mental health, housing, homelessness, advice, community support, and international aid.<\/p>\n

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Unlike for-profit businesses, many charities have limited cash reserves from which to draw and so face immediate threat of closure.<\/p>\n

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Last Friday (March 27) cabinet officer Michael Gove said the government would soon announce proposals to support charities.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe will be doing everything we can to support them, and my colleague Oliver Dowden in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), is looking at a specific fund in order to support charities in the work that they do,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Gove said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd we’ll be saying more about this in the days to come.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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But with no support yet forthcoming, Unite has joined the NCVO in highlighting the urgency of the situation.<\/p>\n

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Unite is especially concerned for the tens of thousands of its members who work in the voluntary and not for profit sector who, as frontline workers in the coronavirus epidemic,\u00c2\u00a0 are risking their lives to help others — while working extremely long hours, often on low pay and on insecure contracts. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more, many do not have access to personal protective equipment (PPE).<\/p>\n

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One Unite rep has raised the particular issues facing domestic violence charities.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSpending more time at home is catastrophic for those experiencing domestic abuse, and the advice to remain at home is leading to a rise in the incidents of women experiencing domestic violence and coercive control,” the rep said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s refuges are already working at capacity, and while the advice to women experiencing domestic abuse is always to reach out to support organisations such as Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Aid and Refuge for help, Domestic Violence charities urgently need more funding.”<\/p>\n

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Unite has also highlighted the fact that charities who are keen to continue helping amid a national crisis cannot avail themselves of the furloughed workers scheme, where the government has agreed to pay 80 per cent of workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 wages. This is because in order to be eligible for the scheme, furloughed workers cannot work or even volunteer for the organisation that employs them under current arrangements.<\/p>\n

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In an example of the existential threat now faced by charities,\u00c2\u00a0the Childhood Trust published a study on Tuesday<\/a> (March 31) which found that nearly half of all charities helping vulnerable children in London may be forced to close in the next six months without immediate government support.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Childhood Trust survey found that large majorities working for these charities reported they believed vulnerable children will go hungry (85 per cent), be neglected (79 per cent) or be at risk of abuse and exploitation (57 per cent) amid the epidemic.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite has joined the NCVO in calling for a specific package of government\u00c2\u00a0support for the sector, which should include emergency mobilisation funding for frontline charities and volunteers supporting the response to the coronavirus crisis in the UK and globally through grants with a swift application process.<\/p>\n

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Unite and the NCVO have also called for a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098stabilisation fund\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for all charities to help them stay afloat, pay staff and continue operating during the course of the pandemic which would be\u00c2\u00a0 administered through the National Lottery. They also\u00c2\u00a0want\u00c2\u00a0confirmation that charities should be eligible for similar business interruption measures announced by the chancellor for businesses and access to government rescue schemes.<\/p>\n

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Unite national officer for the community, youth and not for profit sector Siobhan Endean said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur members are keen to play their part in combating the coronavirus which will impact on some of the most vulnerable in society. Demand for charities\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 services, from housing to mental health, has greatly increased.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe voluntary sector is facing a crisis in funding, while meeting an unprecedented demand to support our communities,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur members are working incredibly long hours, with a lack of personal protective equipment and under immense pressure.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need urgent action from the government to ensure that the voluntary and not for profit sector and those employed in it are protected amidst the current crisis we find ourselves in.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Unite has joined forces with the NCVO to call for a comprehensive financial package to underpin the sector at this extraordinary time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bGovernment has rightly identified our members as \u00e2\u20ac\u0098key workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why chancellor Rishi Sunak must unveil specific measures to assist the sector as a matter of urgency.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite is calling on\u00c2\u00a0its members in the voluntary and not-for-profit sector\u00c2\u00a0to contact their MPs urging them to support Unite’s call to help charities help others. A template letter to MPs can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just as demand for charities\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 services \u00e2\u20ac\u201c from mental health to housing and more — are seeing an unprecedented rise amid the coronavirus epidemic, their fundraising opportunities have collapsed.   The voluntary sector is now facing a funding crisis if it does not secure government support soon, with the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12589,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1308,1],"tags":[490,1295],"wps_subtitle":"Unite calls for support package as charities face imminent threat of collapse","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20331"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20331"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24608,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20331\/revisions\/24608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}