Small charities express confidence issues following Brexit, says FSI Index
Melanie May | 13 October 2016 | News
More than a quarter of small charities feel a complete lack of confidence in their future, three months after the Brexit vote, according to the latest FSI Small Charities Index, published today.
While the figure has decreased from the 37% recorded the day after the Brexit result, 27% continue to lack all confidence. However, the Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI) report shows that this lack of confidence is not due to small charities fearing the loss of EU funding. According to the Index, only 28% receive funding from the EU and of those that do, 68% responded that it accounted for less than 10% of their funding.
In fact, the Index reveals that small charities are most worried that their voices will be ignored in the legislation process during the Brexit negotiations. 91% of respondents lack confidence that their views will be represented by the Government, with 28% agreeing that they are ‘not at all confident’.
In addition, the most pressing concerns identified in the Index were workload, which continues to be the most pressing concern to small charity leaders during this quarter, selected as the greatest challenge (29%) that faces their organisation, closely followed by funding (26%), and thirdly by demand for services (17%) with 65% reporting an increase in demand during this quarter.
Pauline Broomhead, CEO at the FSI, said:
“Since the UK voted to leave the EU in June it has left small charity chief executives increasingly worried about the future. Nearly all of charity leaders surveyed feel apprehensive that their voices will not be heard when the Government is redrafting legislation in areas such as the environment, employment, disability and more.
“It is vitally important that Government take the experiences of small charities into account, especially as they are the very organisations who are currently supporting those in society facing the greatest need.”
The FSI has said that it will continue to survey small charities every quarter as part of its ‘Brexit Temperature Test’, and publish the final results next June: one year on from the Brexit vote.
Taking the Pulse of the Small Charity Sector covers June to August 2016 and surveys 299 small charities.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.