Charity sector faces collapse, warns boss at Barnardo’s

CHARITIES of all sizes, including household names, are facing imminent collapse without a Government bailout within days, the head of Britain’s biggest children’s charity has warned.

Javed Khan, Barnardo’s chief executive, said those likely to disappear first would be local charities that survived on cash from fundraising events that had been halted by the restrictions.

Charities that also depended on high street shops like Haven House, which supports 400 terminally ill young people, Hospice UK and Mencap were also highly vulnerable because their main source of revenue has shut. And even big charities like Cancer Research UK, which fears it will lose up to 40 per cent of its funding, St John Ambulance – which expects to run out of money by the end of August – and Sue Ryder, specialising in palliative care, are at “great risk,” said Mr Khan.

“The charity sector is in a crisis, my plea to the Government is don’t turn it into a catastrophe,” he added. Barnardo’s has lost £8million – a third of its monthly income from fundraising – while the charity sector is expected to lose £4.3billion in a 12-week lockdown.

“We need a package that provides immediate and medium-term relief for these vital charities that are on the brink of collapse,” said Mr Khan.

He estimates that the UK’s 170,000 charities needed a rescue package in the “low billions”.

Barnardo’s has furloughed 2,500 staff, the National Trust 11,000 and Cancer Research UK 1,800, and none can return as volunteers to their charities because that is barred under the Government bailout.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Mr Khan said. “There is already evidence of increased demand, for example, for residential care for disabled children, of more children experiencing domestic abuse, and the risk of sexual abuse and exploitation at home and online.

“Children are isolated from school and support networks, leaving them more vulnerable. Hunger and homelessness loom as parents are pushed into poverty.

“Charities are a vital part of the safety net for these children.”

£4.3billion

The level of lost income the UK’s 170,000 charities are expected to suffer during a 12-week coronavirus lockdown