Lockdown taking toll on charities
All areas: Funding crisis looms with revenue streams cut
Charities are among the sectors that will be hardest hit by a national lockdown as they battle fundraising losses and reductions in staff and volunteers.
The struggle for charities is two-fold – many will be unable to benefit from fundraising events, as these commonly include meeting up with others, while those with retail outlets will be facing a drastic drop in income.
Charity retail stores would expect to be busy at this time of year, with demand for Christmas gifts at its peak.
In the days running up to lockdown, many charities put out pleas for shoppers to visit and support the stores as much as possible, both before and after the lockdown.
Age Concern Slough and Berkshire East (SABE) was one of these. The charity has several stores in Maidenhead, Slough and Windsor, and had only just opened its Christmas shop in Eton Wick when the news of a national lockdown came.
Alzheimers Dementia Support (ADS) will also face loss of retail from its store in Maidenhead – and the reduced number of people out on the town generally will also have a significant effect.
“We have collection tins in
pubs, clubs and shops,” said Nysa Harris, director of operations at ADS. “The loss of footfall will affect how much we take.”
The charity has already experienced a reduction in footfall due to the current refurbishment of the town centre, so the lockdown has piled on to the existing pressure.
In lieu of fundraisers in golf clubs and the like, ADS is appealing for schools to help out, by perhaps using PE classes as a fundraising opportunity.
It is also asking people to purchase its new book ‘A Kids’ Guide to Dementia’ and join in with its sponsored Santa Fun Run.
“We’d love to get everyone to take part,” said Nysa. “Even in lockdown, everyone can still do it.
“If they can get a bit of sponsorship, that’s the biggest thing people could do for us in lockdown – have some fun with our Santa
Fun Run.”
The lockdown will have long-term effects on some charities, such as Absolutely Leisure, which provides activities to special needs children.
“We can’t take any money and we’ve had very little support from the Government, so we’re going to have to cut some of our programmes to a group that’s really in need and have had a tough time throughout this period,” said David Brind, group manager.
A Government spokesperson said: “We are providing an unprecedented multi-billion-pound package of Government support for charities.
“Charities will continue to benefit from this major investment in the sector and the wider government financial support schemes in the coming months.”
There is hope at least for charities with retail outlets – Julie Rowley, retail director for Thames Hospice, recalls that at the end of the last lockdown, customers were happy to queue outside charity shops in order to offer their support, and hopes it will be the same the second time around.
“I believe people will come back out again when lockdown is lifted, but we don’t know what effect it will have on people’s jobs and finances,” said Julie.