NET announces more charity partners to help reach those most impacted by Covid
Melanie May | 27 August 2020 | News
1 in 8 in the UK expect to seek charity help over the next year due to Covid-19, and the National Emergencies Trust has announced a number of new charity partnerships aimed at providing the targeted support needed.
Research by Opinium for NET reveals that one in six (16%) UK adults have sought charitable help in recent months as a direct result of the pandemic. For 70% of them it was the first time they had ever sought support from the sector. The research also suggests that one in eight – around seven million people – expect to seek help from a charity or voluntary body in the next 12 months due to Covid-19.
In response, the National Emergencies Trust (NET) has now announced that it is partnering with Refuge, the Refugee Council, and Cruse Bereavement Care to offer targeted support to some of the UK’s most at risk groups.
This follows last week’s news of NET’s plans to distribute £12million of funds from its Coronavirus Appeal to a range of new charity partners, including LGBT+ Consortium Helpline Alliance and disability support network, DPO COVID-19 Coalition.
Each of the five new partners provides support to a disproportionately impacted group that NET believes may have been underserved through the pandemic so far.
The first wave of funding for NET’s five new partners amounts to just over £6 million, with additional partnerships to be announced next month.
Alongside other targeted support, helplines will play a prominent part in the new partnerships because of the vital support they provide for those who find it harder to access help outside of home, and those unsure where to turn for support, including first-time charity users. Refuge has reported more than 40,000 calls and contacts since the start of lockdown, while the Scottish Refugee Council, part of the refugee and asylum seekers support consortium, has seen a 140% increase in calls to its helpline.
Each of NET’s new partners will establish UK-wide consortia to ensure that frontline support is made available across the devolved nations. As well as helpline services, some partners will also deliver grants to organisations providing specialist advice and hands-on support to vulnerable groups. Decisions on delivery of these grants will be made by people with lived experience of the issues faced.
Gerald Oppenheim, Deputy-Chair of the National Emergencies Trust, said:
“This pandemic has created new needs on an unprecedented scale, and exacerbated existing challenges. Local, grassroots groups have been incredibly quick to respond, as we have seen through our partnership with UK Community Foundations. Our new partners complement these efforts by targeting support to at-risk groups who have been harder to reach so far.
“Helplines play a key part in the new partnerships because they offer accessible help to those unsure where to turn, or unable to access other services. Our partners’ helplines have already been oversubscribed because of the pandemic and our research suggests that this demand will continue, as more people seek support from the sector for the first time.”
Maurice Wren, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, said:
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“This very substantial and timely National Emergencies Trust grant award will enable us to reach out and provide a vital lifeline to many marginalised refugees and people seeking asylum whose vulnerability have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Working closely with our partners in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, we will deliver an emergency infoline for those needing immediate, practical support; enhance our capacity to assist those in temporary accommodation because of the virus; and extend our provision of specialist, trauma-informed, mental health care for children and adults in the asylum system.
“We’ve seen a significant increase in demand for our services since lockdown began, including a 20% increase in referrals to our specialist mental health services compared to pre-Covid levels, a 140% increase in calls to the Scottish Refugee Council helpline, and the Refugee Council has seen more than a three-fold increase in destitution referrals.”
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.