Amount donated to most UK armed forces welfare charities “down by 6% in five years”
Howard Lake | 18 November 2014 | News
Despite the fact that this year saw the conclusion of 13 years of UK military involvement in Afghanistan, amid commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, public giving to UK armed forces charities is in decline. So too is the number of charities serving armed forces personnel, which has dropped by 7% over five years.
The figures are reported in a detailed analysis of the UK armed forces charity sector published today by the Directory of Social Change.
Sector Insight: UK Armed Forces Charities examines the finances, purposes and functions of over 2,200 armed forces charities.
It reveals that the decline in giving is not affecting just some of the charities: in 2012 the the income of the majority of armed forces welfare charities declined for the first time since 2008.
Yet this decline comes when the needs of beneficiaries are set to increase due to the withdrawal from Afghanistan, cuts to the Ministry of Defence, the restructure of the Armed Forces, all against a backdrop of cuts to the NHS and other public services.
Scale of armed forces charities
Armed forces charities make up 1.1% of the number of registered charities in England and Wales, and account for 1.3% of the overall income of those charities. Their total annual income is £807 million, compared to, for example, the £6.4 billion revenue generated by healthcare charities.
Together these charities serve over 6 million beneficiaries – current and ex-service personnel and their dependants.
The top 122 armed forces charities generate 84% of total sector income.
The level of free reserves held by armed forces welfare charities equates to 10.9 months’ expenditure, compared to 15.4 months’ expenditure for the UK voluntary sector as a whole.
The #forcescharities report is unveiled at @RUSI_org with @FiMTrust pic.twitter.com/FELbs0BuXl
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— DSC (@DSC_Charity) November 18, 2014
Armedforcescharities.org.uk
Sector Insight: UK Armed Forces Charities is published with an accompanying website, launched today. This provides a searchable database of the sector.
The publication and the website have been produced with funding from the Forces in Mind Trust, and in collaboration with Cobseo. the Confederation of Service Charities.
Commenting on the project, DSC Chief Executive Debra Allcock Tyler explained why the report was published:
“I have seen at first hand the brilliant work and crucial support provided by Armed Forces Charities… Our aim is that better information will lead to better policy and decision making. This is about the future of support for our brave service folk and their families. They deserve it.”
Chief Executive of the Forces in Mind Trust, Ray Lock, added:
“Now, more than ever, the need for collaboration within (and indeed without) the sector is key to its successful future. The report shows evidence of a high degree of collaboration and cooperation relative to other charitable sub-sectors, but this is no reason to be complacent. The aim of FiMT is to provide independent, evidence-based knowledge that can be used to improve every aspect of the sector, from policy to delivery, and the reputation and track record of DSC made it the obvious partner for this seminal guide.”
Correction 19 November 2014
The headline was amended to reflect the correct figure (my mistake) for the drop in income and the particular element of the armed forces charities that has been affected.
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.