# Small charities stepping up to Covid challenges despite funding issues need more support, report urges

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/12/15/small-charities-stepping-up-covid-challenges-despite-funding-issues-need-more-support-report-urges/
- Published: 2020-12-15T09:00:02+00:00
- Author: Melanie May

**Small charities have continued their service delivery throughout the pandemic 
despite battling shrinking income pre-Covid, and the loss of funding as well as 
unequal distribution of emergency grants during the pandemic.**

 

The findings come from the newly launched_ [Small Charities Data ](https://smallcharitiesdata.org/)
_hub and an accompanying report by Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales:_
[Small Charities Responding to COVID-19, ](https://www.lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk/media/dtqlksfd/lbfew-small-charities-responding-to-covid-19_winter-update.pdf)
_which analyses qualitative data from a group of 180 small charities.

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The hub is a new resource together five years of data – including from the pandemic–
on small charities from a wide range of sources. It will be updated yearly, and 
is led by [Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales](https://www.lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk/)
in partnership with the [Small Charities Coalition](https://www.smallcharities.org.uk/),
NCVO, LocalGiving, the FSI, Locality, 360Giving and others.

 

The data shows that:

 

 * 96% of the UK’s 166,000 charities are small (with an income of less than £1m)
 * Small charities saw a year-on-year decline in income leading into the pandemic.
   Whilst their second largest income source is from government, this has decreased
   in real terms by 20% since 2013/14 & is now at its lowest level in five years
 * A third of small charities were dipping into their reserves^( )before the pandemic,
   while almost a quarter of those with an annual income of under £100k had none
   to dip into
 * 79% of small charities have lost funding since the start of the pandemic, while
   43% expect to lose more than half of their annual income due to the crisis
 * The availability of emergency grants hasn’t always been even – 6% of Covid-19
   grants distributed to small charities went to the West Midlands, compared to 
   42% in London

 

 

Demand for small charities’ services has of course also increased during the lockdowns.
As well as an analysis of the data, The _Small Charities Responding to COVID-19 
_report tracks how the 180 charities have responded since March, and highlights 
the range of ways they have adapted their service delivery including through providing
essential food, toiletries, and internet and phone data to people who are at risk
of digital exclusion.

 

Most of these charities, regardless of the main focus of their services, also began
supporting people’s mental health needs as more were affected by mental ill health
and the risk of suicide and self-harm increased.

 

And, while £370m of emergency government funding announced in April was distributed
through the National Lottery Community Fund, only 16% of small charities expect 
to be able to access the scheme. Many emergency grants from the government and independent
funders will also run out in the spring.

 

Small charity [Wyre Forest Nightstop and Mediation](https://www.wyreforestnightstop.org.uk/)
provides emergency accommodation for young people. Its CEO, Judith Ford, commented:

 

> “By August, Nightstop had surpassed the nights of accommodation that it provided
> during the entirety of 2019. Most of our emergency funding will have to be spent
> by the end of March 2021 and will not address the ongoing problems being experienced
> by young people.”

 

Warning that many small charities will struggle to survive, the Foundation is calling
on the government to commit to a series of measures:

 

 * Provide long-term funding to small charities to protect their future.
 * Provide support including sustaining universal credit for the poorest.
 * Adequately fund and support local government and public services which have been
   cut over the last five years.
 * Recognise the value of small charities and their expertise to ensure that communities
   get the best support and ‘build back better’ from the pandemic.
 * Provide increased support to charities delivering services remotely.

 

Paul Streets, Chief Executive at the Foundation, said:

 

> “Small and local charities have long been unseen heroes in their communities, 
> providing a wide range of services and support but – as the data shows – they 
> were already under financial pressure before Covid, with limited or even no reserves
> to fall back on.”
> “To ensure small charities can help people and communities to build back better,
> we need national and local government, alongside independent funders, to commit
> to providing the funding for core costs they need using grants wherever they can
> and not contracts.”