Charity's forced Covid cuts
Plea for community to ‘ step up’
Plea for community to ‘ step up’ by Jalón Valley Help
WORRIED charity chiefs face difficult decisions as they look to prune spending in a battle for survival as the fallout from Covid19 continues to bite.
Income from fundraising has nosedived because of new regulations forcing a string of events to be cancelled – even the trusted ringing of tills at charity shops has dramatically slowed.
Elaine Horton MBE, president of Jalón Valley Help, said like charities across the Costa Blanca, the association was faced with a number of difficult decisions.
Help spent € 108,000 over 2019 but it is now looking to make savings to keep essential services going. It means traditional annual grants to other good causes may be culled, at least in the short term.
And she told Costa Blanca News that while she believed Help would ‘ limp’ through the crisis, it needed more volunteers in the near future to keep functioning; in particular to battle problems in the community caused by the lockdown and ongoing coronavirus health regulations.
“There is no doubt that 2020 and I have worked for this charity for 18 years is the most difficult year we have ever had. We are not alone, all other charities are faced with similar problems,” she said.
The Help charity shops in Alcalalí, Jalón and Orba remain open, but income has dramatically dropped and Elaine said it was ‘ a huge worry’.
She said: “God forbid there’s another lockdown, that would cause major problems. We already know there is a drop in funding and so we will have to make some difficult decisions. People who normally get grants from us may have them cut or reduced. Some may not get them at all.
“All the places we donate to are in desperate need of assistance, but we have to look very closely as to who gets what.”
The charity has its own commitments beyond running the shops; these include the Animo dropin centre at Alcalalí – closed because of Covid, the medical equipment loan service, a translation service, the emergency helpline that
summons care, and the two emergency and hospice hospital beds at Fontilles.
Elaine praised the community spirit across the area that saw people turn out to support Help financially – even donating the ticket price of cancelled events to the charity.
“My plea is for the community to step up again. We need volunteers; our volunteers are wonderful, but they need some help – we need people in the community to say: ‘ we will give you a couple of hours’.”
She said many existing team members were of a certain age with underlying health problems and unable to
risk fulfilling their normal commitments.
It means Help needs people to shift furniture and medical equipment; work in the shops; and bring some fresh thinking to the ‘ gang of four’ who plan novel ways of raising money – or just helping to cure growing ‘ isolation and loneliness’ in the community.
Elaine said everyone involved with Help believed the charity had ‘ come too far to go under’ and was prepared to ‘ work their socks off ’.
She added: “We are doing the best we can and will continue to do so as long as we can; we just need some help.”