Coronavirus: Charities on brink of collapse as promised government help fails to arrive

Rapid support to compensate for donations drying up was pledged at the end of March – but charities are still waiting

Charities are about to go bust as a promised government rescue package to make up for a funding collapse has failed to arrive, MPs are warning.

Michael Gove pledged rapid support to compensate for donations drying up because of the coronavirus pandemic at the end of March – but no announcement has followed.

Some of the biggest and best-known cancer charities – Cancer Research UK and Marie Curie​ – are among those warning that services and research will have to be drastically scaled back.

Now the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee has warned that time is running out, suggesting charities will lose up to a staggering £4bn in income.

“We’re calling on the government to take immediate steps to support charities because failing to do so will have long-lasting consequences,” said Julian Knight, its Conservative chair.

“If nothing is done, some will be insolvent within weeks and even large charities will be unable to help the vulnerable and those most in need of their services at this desperate time.”

The lockdown has forced the cancellation or postponement of crucial fundraising events – including the London Marathon – and the closure of thousands of charity shops.

Cancer Research UK has warned the blow to its finances could set back its fight against the disease for many years and imperil its goal for three in four people to survive cancer by 2034.

Some of its clinical and scientific staff and researchers have transferred to coronavirus-fighting work in the NHS.

On 27 March, Mr Gove said: “We will be doing everything we can to support them. And we'll be saying more about this in the days to come.”

After urging charities to reveal their plight, the committee was told that many are ineligible for the help offered to businesses.

One charity said 104 jobs were at risk of being lost, meaning families of sick children would have to cope without support workers.

The MPs called for a four-pronged package:

* A “stabilisation fund” – simply to keep charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises afloat over the coming months.

* For any staff “​furloughed”​ to be allowed to volunteer their services back to the charity to provide frontline support.

* An exemption for charities to the 50 per cent trading limit under the business interruption loan scheme.

* For charities to be able to claim rate relief under the small business grant scheme.

Asked why the promised help had been held up, Downing Street insisted it “hugely valued” the work that charities were still doing.

“We will be setting out more detail about how we can support them in due course,” a spokesperson said.