# Demand for services has risen ‘a lot’ for more than half of charities in past year

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2024/10/15/demand-for-services-has-risen-a-lot-for-more-than-half-of-charities-in-past-year/
- Published: 2024-10-15T07:53:32+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**More than half of UK charities have seen demand for their services rise by ‘a 
lot’ in the past year, with increased competition for funding adding to the challenges,
according to research from Charities Aid Foundation.**

The [Charities Aid Foundation](https://www.cafonline.org/) (CAF) surveyed 784 UK
charity leaders in England and Wales and found that 86% of the charities they lead
had recorded increased demand for their services over the last 12 months, with 54%
of those reporting that it had risen by ‘a lot’. This has increased from 43% in 
2023 when a similar survey was carried out.

Organisations most impacted are poverty-relief charities (67%), human rights/equality
and diversity charities (66%), and those helping people in need (55%), such as through
food banks, debt advice, and domestic abuse support.

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One Chief Executive of a human rights charity in the North of England said: _“We’re
not even meeting the demand that exists now and we’ve got 70 people on our waiting
list for_ _counselling.”_

28% of charity leaders are uncertain that their organisation will be able to meet
the rising demand.

Half (50%) of the leaders surveyed said increased competition for funding was one
of the main challenges. As a result, nearly a third (30%) have either reduced the
size of their workforce or are planning to do so, and 18% are not confident they
will have the funding necessary to continue their work by the end of the decade.

The Chief Executive of a medium-sized refugee charity in the Northeast commented:_“
We’ve already seen a lot of mergers already, a lot of charities winding down and
we are thinking about it quite seriously as well.”_

Ashling Cashmore, Head of Impact and Advisory at the Charities Aid Foundation, said:

> “While the worst effects of inflation may have subsided, charities are still having
> to do much more with less. They are dealing with ever-increasing demand which 
> is only expected to rise as we head into winter – yet their income is not keeping
> up and there is less funding to go around.
>  
> “We need to work together to create a stable environment for our hard-working 
> charities and those they support. The new Government has said it wants to reset
> its relationship with civil society and an important next step would be to introduce
> a national strategy for philanthropy and charitable giving to make sure charities
> receive the support they desperately need.”

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