Stories from the Coronavirus Frontline

Chapter 9

Out of Response and into Recovery

As we move out of the response phase, whereby charities and people were learning to ‘fire fight’ and survive the first effects the Coronavirus had on our lives, and into the recovery phase the charitable sector has a lot to think about how it is going to change going forward.

The pandemic has affected us all, but has disproportionately affected some more than others, often those most vulnerable in our societies already. John Tizzard writes ’the Covid-19 crisis has thrown the spotlight on essential public service workers and their importance to all of us. They can and should never again be dismissed as “low skilled” or continue to be “low paid” including when employed by charities.’

The dramatic and swift reduction in funding to charities has led to a range of responses. Without longer term funding many organisations are having to draw in their services and reduce their reach, whereas others close. A recent survey in North Yorkshire revealed that thousands of charity workers are at risk of being made redundant in the autumn. A not dissimilar reaction to that of the financial crisis of 2008, although this time on a much wider scale.

Sir Stuart Etherington writes ‘the civil society response to the pandemic has, however, illustrated the strength of altruism, generosity and a rise in social capital, in what Andy Haldane, chief economist of the Bank of England and a founder of Pro Bono Economics, has aptly named the Institutional Immune System. The key now is to reflect on what policy changes might lead to a more robust civil society in the longer term.’

Against this depressing backdrop, the generosity of people has been outstanding, whether it is because they now appreciate how much they have after the enforced time at home compared to other people around them, or because in a crisis people’s innate nature is to help those around them. The focus has been on helping the charities stay afloat and hopefully now people will appreciate how these local, small, grassroot charities have helped and still do help those who need food, company, shelter, education or simply care and they will continue to support these charities close to home and heart.

But the message we are hearing from charity leaders is that the longer term is even more worrying. Many funders are happy to support the here and now response but what is needed is funding for the next two or three years. Charities may well have reserves and many are using them now but few charities have reserves to sustain them beyond a few months. Kate Lee, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society “We have not held significant ‘reserves’ or savings for a rainy day in the past…..we have felt that people don’t donate to have money sat in the bank, and have put our funds to work straight away.”

Rather than relying on reserves in the future, we should be thinking more about how to create long term funding for the charities. Rather than the charities worrying about how they will survive in a crisis, they should be focussing on how they can help more in a crisis, and do their job safe in the knowledge that they have long term funding behind them – and they are not having to rely on reserves and the ‘pre-COVID’ hand to mouth funding.

The question is how to create those long term funding needs in the face of adversity? Our view is to support charities to keep going in the medium to long term and donate funding for essential operating costs so that they can pay rent, to cover staff costs and get on with what they are needed for.