Nearly half of London’s child poverty charities could shut due to coronavirus
Melanie May | 1 April 2020 | News
Some 40% of the charities supporting children will be forced to close within six months if they cannot raise the funds they planned due to coronavirus, according to research by The Childhood Trust.
The Childhood Trust‘s study, which surveyed 65 child poverty charities in London collectively supporting 184,000 children and young people, has revealed that nearly 90% of the charities are certain that vulnerable children will go hungry due to the loss of free school meals, a shortage of staple foods and the loss of parental earnings during the coronavirus outbreak.
51% of charities have stated that they will need financial support to ensure that an adequate supply of food can continue to go to the poverty stricken children who were already at risk of hunger in the UK’s worst affected city. A further third (35%) have also revealed the need for support in delivering food to them.
89% of charities expressed an urgent need for emergency funding and other financial support from the state and nearly half (42%) surveyed anticipate losing up to £50,000 in funding due to the coronavirus with nearly a quarter anticipating losing over £100,000.
Laurence Guinness, CEO of The Children’s Trust said:
“The stark comparison between the funding decline in charities and vast increase in children who are going to need support is hugely worrying. Evidence from our network of over 200 funded charities highlights that the impact of this crisis is being disproportionately experienced by children whose lives are already challenged by poverty and its attendant hardships. For many of these children, the crisis is exacerbating chronic anxiety, stress, inadequate diets, domestic violence, loss of peer support and rapid mental health deterioration.”
“After a decade of austerity and cuts to services for children the support that small, grassroots charities provide for children throughout London is more important than ever. The economic impact of COVID-19 is an existential threat to many charities’ ability to provide support once this crisis subsides. We need the Government to step in and provide specific charitable support immediately.”
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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.