NET Coronavirus Appeal raises almost £100m
Melanie May | 18 March 2021 | News
The National Emergencies Trust’s Coronavirus Appeal, which launched a year ago today on 18 March 2020, has now raised more than £97 million for people affected by the pandemic.
£94 million of this has already funded 13,000+ charitable projects across the UK’s four nations.
£76.5million in funding has been distributed through UKCF and its network of 47 community foundations across the UK to enable local charities and groups to respond to urgent needs created by the pandemic. Top needs have included:
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- 32% of this funding has ensured food and vital essentials reach those who need them
- 23% has helped to support people’s mental health and wellbeing through lockdowns
- 10% has enabled local charities to offer services to reduce social isolation*
A further £16.6million of the total has been distributed through ten national charity partners, each one helping to ensure that funds reach groups with particular, unmet needs. These include: Age UK, Barnardo’s, Comic Relief, Cruse Bereavement Care, DPO Covid-19 Coalition led by Disability Action NI, Heads Together, the LGBT+ Consortium, Refuge, Shelter and The Refugee Council.
General The Lord Richard Dannatt, Chair of the National Emergencies Trust, said:
“In an incredibly challenging year, the public, UK businesses, and charitable trusts and foundations have come together to raise incredible sums of money for those in need. The Coronavirus Appeal has already helped to fund more than 13,000 projects that have made a real difference to people’s lives.”
“The creativity and tenacity that UK charities have shown has also been a privilege to witness. They’ve delivered food to the doorsteps of those shielding, transferred vital support services online and conceived all manner of ways to bring communities together, from Zoom Zumba to virtual choirs.”
The National Emergencies Trust was launched in November 2019 by HRH The Duke of Cambridge, just four months before it activated its Coronavirus Appeal, to provide the UK with one trusted place to give during domestic disasters. It collaborates with charities and other bodies across the UK to ensure that emergency funding reaches those in need as fast, and as fairly, as possible.
Mhairi Sharp, CEO of the National Emergencies Trust, said:
“We didn’t expect that our first emergency appeal would be for a global pandemic, but this past year has proven not only that our model works, but how quickly the nation comes together in times of great need. The speed and scale of donors’ generosity, meant charities across the UK started to receive funding from the Appeal within a week, enabling them to offer vital support and services just as the first national lockdown started. They’ve worked tirelessly to help people ever since.”
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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.