Charities left counting the cost of Covid

MORE THAN 50 per cent of charities fear they will have to cut back on their services due to a funding collapse caused by the pandemic, new research shows.

Investment group James Hambro & Partners said that in addition to the 57 per cent that fear they will have to scale back, 55 per cent said their organisations would have to sell assets like property to stay afloat.

And nearly 10 per cent of charity bosses fear they will have to close over the next 12 months due to the steep fall in their income.

Hambro’s research found 56 per cent of charities have seen their income fall by more than 30 per cent since the start of the pandemic, while 42 per cent said they had suffered a 10 to 30 per cent fall. Only 2 per cent had seen either no change or a rise.

The collapse in charitable giving has resulted in 53 per cent of charities making staff redundant over the last 18 months, while 24 per cent had put people on furlough. Hambro warned 45 per cent of senior charity executives fear they will have to make further job cuts over the next 12 months.

Hambro partner Nicola Barber, its head of charities, said: “Many charities have had to endure huge falls in income, but at the same time demand for services has increased.

“This has placed huge financial strain on them and sadly many have had to take drastic steps to continue to offer the services they provide.”

The investment group added that 41 per cent of regular charity donors have cut the amounts they give due to the pandemic, because of pay cuts, being furloughed or losing their jobs.