Charities face £10bn crash as Covid torment continues

The UK charity sector’s exposure to the Covid-19 pandemic has been laid bare by a new forecast which shows organisations face a funding shortfall of more than £10bn over the next six months, at a time when demand for their services will be at breaking point.

Research among over 260 charitable organisations, conducted by the Pro Bono Economics, reveals that the UK sector is expecting income to fall by £6.7bn over the next six months, while demand for their services will rise by the equivalent of £3.4bn.

Nearly 9 out of 10 (88%) of those surveyed said they expected their charity’s income to fall over the next six months, while six out of ten (59%) said they would have to significantly reduce their activity in response.

Late last month, Macmillan Cancer Support said it was facing a £100m black hole in its finances this year as the coronavirus wreaks havoc with its fundraising strategy.

However, Pro Bono Economics said that charities with annual incomes of less than £500,000 were under the biggest threat, with one in eight expecting to go out of business in the next six months, according to the study.

In April, charities secured a £750m Covid-19 emergency funding package for charities, although most in the sector insisted far more needed to be done to plug what had been estimated to be a £4.3bn shortfall for April, May and June.

At the time, Directory of Social Change chief executive Debra Allcock Tyler said the package was “nowhere near enough – not even close” and claimed that “business matters more than vulnerable citizens” who were dying as a result or the crisis.

“This isn’t about charities surviving and it isn’t just about the coronavirus emergency either – it’s about saving people’s lives,” she added.