Have charities really not been forgotten in the coronavirus crisis? - Charity Finance

In April Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, used the Government’s daily coronavirus press briefing to speak directly to charities. "One of our greatest strengths as a country is our civil society," Sunak said. He praised "the local charities who provide so much compassion, care and community to the most vulnerable in our country. You have not been forgotten."

Charity leaders had first written to the Chancellor in early March, warning that thousands of charities faced “real risks to solvency” if the Government didn’t step in with financial support to offset the impact of the pandemic. 

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) crunched the numbers and suggested that charities faced a total funding gap of more than £4bn over the next quarter. The Children’s Society announced that it was set to lose £1m every month.

Russell-Cooke partners Andrew Studd and James Sinclair Taylor look into the options available to struggling charities and why they may be far from enough to save them. 

Have charities really not been forgotten in the coronavirus crisis? is available to read on the Civil Society website.

Andrew is a partner in the charity and social business team advising charities, social enterprises, trade associations and other membership and not-for-profit organisations on a wide range of charity and company law issues and commercial matters. 

James works with a wide variety of charities, not for profits, local authorities and Government departments. He tends to focus on governance and structure issues including reviews of governance, company group and collaborative structures, Royal Charters, International Federations and other bodies. He has done substantial amounts of work for membership organisations which represent a particular challenge.