NET announces plans for distribution of £12m to pandemic’s most impacted groups
Melanie May | 21 August 2020 | News
The National Emergencies Trust has announced plans to distribute a further £12m from its Coronavirus Appeal, this time to a range of charity partnerships offering targeted support to some of the groups most at risk from the pandemic’s impact in the UK.
Since March, the NET’s Coronavirus Appeal has raised £87.25 million. It has distributed £64 million of this through Community Foundations UK-wide, including £250k for BAME charities and infrastructure. The funds have supported more than 8,000 grassroots groups in meeting urgent needs from food access to bereavement counselling.
It has now announced its first charity partners, each one of which will provide support to a disproportionately impacted group NET’s own gap analysis has highlighted as having potentially been underserved through the pandemic so far.
Gerald Oppenheim, Deputy-Chair of the National Emergencies Trust, commented:
“By providing specialist support for certain needs and at-risk groups, our new partners will help the thousands of at risk people who find it harder to access help and who have been more difficult for us to reach so far. Helpline services will feature prominently as they offer a lifeline for those less able to leave their homes, those seeking advice from someone like them, and those who are looking for charity support for the first time due to the sudden and extraordinary circumstances caused by coronavirus but are unsure where to turn.”
Just over £2m of the £12m funding will be distributed to a disability support network, DPO COVID-19 Coalition, which is led by Disability Action NI, and to LGBT+ Consortium. Further funds will be distributed to additional partners and consortia, to be announced in the coming weeks.
Paul Roberts, Chief Executive of LGBT+ Consortium, commented:
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“Emerging data from across the LGBT+ sector has highlighted the disproportionate effect Covid-19 has had on our communities. Issues of negative mental health, domestic abuse and loneliness being reported to helplines across the country, already high before the pandemic, have only increased during lockdown. Many in our communities have struggled with living in difficult lockdown situations where they cannot be “out” or have had issues with accessing vital medications.”
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.