Jon Yates, CEO, on how a perfect storm of factors are tipping more people into hardship amidst growing pressure on charities to help.
24 November 2021 – I recently went on BBC Politics South to comment on rising costs of living caused by escalating fuel prices. I was asked what we are seeing through our work at Berkshire Community Foundation, in respect of concerns about how the increasing cost of living will impact on people’s well-being. My answer was that whatever one’s personal circumstances, most people are worried or affected to a greater or lesser degree.
This is an interesting position for a Community Foundation because we work with local people and businesses who have resources available, philanthropists as we like to call them, who direct those resources through us to support community projects helping people in need. But now the need is rising, whilst at the same time the confidence of those people with resources to give is shrinking.
The kind of organisations that we support with our grant making are often small grassroots organisations, many of whom are at the forefront of combatting those needs, as they have been throughout the pandemic. As we go into what is shaping up to be a very difficult winter in many respects, my big concern is that the work these charities will be expected to undertake will increase, while the financial support they are able to get for that work will decrease. Call it a perfect storm of factors if you will, or to put it more seasonally, a Christmas Crunch.
There may also be a lag in the impact of the last two years in a variety of areas such as mental health, domestic violence and debt that will take us well into 2022. Already we are seeing in the initial results of our Community Impact and Needs Survey that mental health ranks as the top issue of concern for people across Berkshire, followed by isolation or loneliness and poverty. More detail on the results of this survey will come in the New Year.
The demand for support in these areas and many others was exhibited by the high number of applications we received to our recent Autumn round of grants. Of course we could not support them all. But we will continue to work with as many people as we can to generate funds through local philanthropy and target it to the most pressing needs.
This brings me to our Christmas Campaign and Surviving Winter appeals, which are designed to create a way for many people to give whatever they can. All funds generated from these two appeals will go to support a variety of needs across the county and to combat the effects of fuel poverty, a recurring and pernicious issue which like so many others has been made even more acute by the economic challenges.
If you can help in any way, please click on the links below. Rest assured we will put your generosity to very good use.
