The pandemic has had a profound impact on everyone’s day-to-day life, but perhaps a sector which has been hardest hit is the charity sector. Whilst these cornerstones of our communities have seen an exponential increase in demand, revenue has experienced a sharp decline, with one charity we spoke to back in November 2020 predicting to end the year with a £50,000 deficit.
According to research by Pro Bono Economics, 75% of charities expect higher levels of demand over the next year, yet many don’t have the resources to cope. The lockdown and social distancing measures of the past 10 months has altered many people’s ability to raise funds for the charities in our communities due to personal financial worries, whilst a halt to the fundraising events we all know and love has had a seriously detrimental impact.
Many of our colleagues have witnessed a huge rise in the number of people who are having to rely on foodbanks, or are suddenly facing up to the very real prospect of homelessness. So, as part of our social responsibility commitment, we allocated £65,000 to help those who need it most. To decide which charities and good causes would receive the funds, we asked colleagues to nominate homeless charities and foodbanks in their local communities who they’d like to benefit from this help, and 25 charities received a welcome financial boost just before Christmas.
A lasting impact
However, we wanted our donation to go further, so we looked at ways we could make a lasting impact and a real difference when the third sector needed it like never before. We asked the charities to talk to us about how they have coped during the pandemic and how it has impacted the way they operate and the people they help. What followed were very raw, honest and striking accounts which made up our Homeless and Foodbank report.
After listening to these charities in-depth, we learnt more than we expected about the reasons people become homeless, the social factors that can contribute and the little changes we can all make that will make a far bigger, collective difference in 2021. They told us that up to 74% of their volunteers had to stand down last year due to being clinically vulnerable or elderly and therefore having to isolate. We also learnt that 97% of homeless people aren’t rough sleeping and the majority who don’t have a home to call their own are ‘sofa-surfing’ or in unsuitable temporary housing.
They talked to us about the ways in which they, like many of us, had to adapt almost overnight to a virtual world of both communicating with the people who need their help and fundraising in order to keep their services going. With many national charities already set up in this way, it was the local charities at the heart of our communities who struggled with this the most, as they simply didn’t have the funds or resources to be able to operate in quite the same way online.
Many charities hope their services will no longer be needed
We also invited the charities to join a special edition of the Irwin Mitchell podcast. Trustee of the Irwin Mitchell Charities Foundation, Maggie Ryan, listened intently as Patsy Davies from Manchester Central Foodbank, Ian Wilkins from Crawley Open House and Ben Richardson from Caring in Bristol shared heart-warming tales and stark figures from the past year. We also asked what the future of charities might look like in 2021 and all our guests remarkably agreed that they do what they do so that one day, their charity may not need to exist, as everyone has the basic human rights of food on the table and a roof over their head.
Possibly the best and most sustainable antidote to poverty is a thriving economy, so we hope that we can bounce back from the economic woes of 2020 and create tens of thousands of properly-paid jobs that allow people to build purposeful lives for themselves and their families.
If reading the findings in our Homeless and Foodbank report and listening to our special edition podcast has had an impact on you, please join us by supporting these charities, or one close to your heart, in whatever way you can. Together, we’ll protect what matters most.
Our commitment to the charity sector in 2021
The findings and insights we gained from homeless charities and foodbanks during the course of this report and podcast has highlighted the struggles that charities across the countries have faced over the past year, and will continue to face into 2021.
If you work for, volunteer for or are a trustee of a charity, we’d like to invite you to join our experts over a two day live conference for a holistic health check looking at planning for the future and the risks and opportunities that the pandemic and Brexit may bring.
On Tuesday 2 February our experts will be focusing on building relationships and your brand, virtual fundraising and engaging with your audience following on from a year of such uncertainty. You can register for this event here.
The second day of the conference on Tuesday 9 February will focus on the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead in 2021 and beyond including post-pandemic real estate issues, GDPR updates and queries around employment. You can register for this session here.
Everyone who joins us live will have the opportunity to win a £500 donation to a charity of their choice and speak to others with a similar passion for the charity sector in our networking rooms.
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