On Monday, the Welsh Government announced £24 million for the voluntary sector. Two funds managed by WCVA will support volunteering and financial resilience for charities.
Recent estimates suggest that charities across the UK will lose around £4 billion in fundraising in 12 weeks. Welsh-based charities could lose approximately £200 million. People are largely following the advice to stay at home – and rightly so – but this has a knock-on effect on public fundraising; marathons and fundraising events are cancelled, retail and hospitality services are closed. All this means many charities are struggling to provide the services they usually would be able to, and at a time when many are seeing an increase in demand.
On Monday, the Welsh Government announced £24 million for the voluntary sector. Two funds managed by WCVA will support volunteering and financial resilience for charities.
Following this, on Thursday the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that he was providing £750 million of support for charities during the coronavirus outbreak. This would include:
- £370 million for small and medium-sized charities.
- £360 million for charities responding directly to the coronavirus outbreak, such as hospices, domestic violence support charities, and vulnerable children’s charities.
- Match-funding the BBC’s Big Night In Appeal, with at least £20 million.
The Chancellor also confirmed that £20 million of this funding will automatically come to the Welsh Government – potentially more as decisions are made on how the second part of the package will be delivered.
Allocating all of this funding to the voluntary sector will mean that more organisations can be supported – and that more of their services can continue now and also in the longer-term. That means more people who will benefit from the services that charities provide.
This funding, from both the Welsh Government and the UK Government, is a welcome first step for the voluntary sector. But we know that it won’t cover enough of the fundraising shortfall to charities expected in the current coronavirus pandemic. WCVA hopes that the Chancellor will keep the levels of support available under review if the current set of restrictions continue. We also hope the Welsh Government will continue to support the sector in Wales as need increases.
On Thursday, the Chancellor emphasised the need role that the voluntary sector plays in supporting their communities, and in the social bonds that we are all relying on at this time. WCVA want to make sure that as many of these organisations are able to do that into the future as well.