The galvanised response by the local charitable sector to act and adapt quickly to the COVID-19 public health crisis is a testimony to the expertise and resourcefulness of civil society. In a matter of weeks Northamptonshire Community Foundation has already awarded nearly £445,000 to 134 community projects across the county through our Coronavirus Response and Recovery Fund. We have also witnessed extraordinary generosity from existing and new donors and the general public.
The Foundation team has been working remotely to assess applications on a daily basis and get payments out of the door within 48 hours so local charities can hit the ground running with their crisis response work keeping vulnerable people who are self isolating or shielding safe and well. We can do this and take that risk of quick turnaround of grants with basic due diligence because we have a track record and relationship with hundreds of community groups and charities which have developed over many years. Our grants assessors and team have daily phone conversations, email exchanges and zoom meetings to check on applications, provide funding advice and support to local groups during these socially distanced times. We have also worked in partnership with local infrastructure organisations and community resilience hubs to enable new groups to quickly access resources.
We are seeing on the ground many projects going that extra mile to ensure people are safe and well and adapt themselves to work in new ways to ensure the best help and support for local residents and especially vulnerable families and individuals.
We are seeing on the ground many projects going that extra mile to ensure people are safe and well and adapt themselves to work in new ways to ensure the best help for local residents and especially vulnerable families and individuals. We have seen a surge in volunteering, a testimony to the general goodwill of people and a willingness to help fellow human beings during difficult times. We have seen innovation in community solutions to provide the services that people need, in a way that is a real affirmation to the creativity, expertise, sheer professionalism and responsiveness of small place-based charities. They know their beneficiaries well, have provided the right kind of support and in doing so have alleviated the pressure on our health service infrastructure.
There is the real risk of a second wave of the Coronavirus and our frontline response needs to be properly resourced and ready to help maintain that safety net for the general public.
The £750 million rescue package for the charitable sector was a welcome announcement by the Government earlier in April this year but if we are to ensure that the charitable sector comes through this public health crisis it will be nowhere near enough. The response to this coronavirus pandemic from the charitable sector has been immediate, much speedier than Government and local public services, aided by the flexibility and responsiveness of funders such as community foundations. However this public health crisis is a marathon not a sprint. There is the real risk of a second wave of COVID-19 and our frontline response needs to be properly resourced and ready to help maintain that safety net for the general public.
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has identified that nationally the charitable sector will have lost at least £4.3 billion in income by the end of June. Charities have taken a real hit from the lockdown as events and activities including those for the purpose of fundraising are unable to take place. There is a campaign #everydaycounts led by key voluntary sector organisations to lobby MPs for meaningful financial resourcing of civil society.
Earlier in the pandemic, Northamptonshire Community Foundation carried out an online survey to find out the short and longer term concerns of local community groups and charities during this public health crisis and you can read about it here on our website. Their immediate concern was for the health and safety of their clients and local people whom they support and how best to reach out and adapt their services during this time. Their longer term concern naturally relates to their very own survival and ability to continue the provision of local support services.
It is a misnomer to think that somehow community groups and charities run on an endless source of compassion and volunteers. The Charitable sector is a professional sector that demands and deserves to be properly resourced and funded.
It is a misnomer to think that somehow community groups and charities run on an endless source of compassion and volunteers. The Charitable sector is a professional sector that demands and deserves to be properly resourced and funded. It’s why Community Foundations exist. We know that it takes funding to keep place-based civil society thriving and supporting local communities to be safe and well places now and in the future. It’s why we build an endowment to protect its work for future generations to come.
Community Foundations across the UK will continue to do their utmost to work with a range of donors, the National Emergencies Trust and other partners to ensure monies continue to cover work responding to this public health crisis and beyond. However, we are only one partner in the solution to sustaining the sector. This public health crisis has shone a spotlight on the true value of the charitable sector and how it harnesses the best in our shared humanity and care for others; now is the time to back praise with more substantial funds and ensure the sector’s survival for the sake of the most vulnerable within our communities.
Rachel McGrath, Grants Director & Deputy CEO
Northamptonshire Community Foundation 