Helping charities in this time of crisis will help us all in the long run

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Charities play a vital role in communities across the UK. But at this time of crisis — when they are needed most — many are experiencing a sharp drop in income. This is harming their ability to support people during the crisis and threatens their survival.

The government’s £750m package is a welcome first step, but not nearly enough. There are around 167,000 charities in the UK, employing over 800,000 people and spending over £40bn per year. Charities big and small have seen their incomes collapse as individuals and businesses reallocate funding to crisis response and make difficult decisions to protect their own finances.

Without intervention, thousands of charities will buckle at the exact time they are needed most. To benefit the widest possible number of charities, we call on the government to implement two simple policies:

1. Introduce a Charitable Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CCJRS) to retain staff and allow them to continue delivering vital charitable work. This scheme would replicate the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme, but without the need to furlough charity employees.

2. Amplify public generosity by unleashing a "Summer of Giving". This would double Gift Aid to 50 per cent on all donations received between 1 March and 31 August 2020. This complements the one-off BBC Big Night In by empowering all charities to rebuild their finances through a season of fundraising activities that will capture the public’s imagination. Claims from charities through this scheme would be limited to 50 per cent of averaged annual donations received over the past three financial years.

The government must act now. Without the critical support that charities provide, this crisis will cast an even longer shadow on people’s lives.

Oliver Pawle, chair, Centre for Entrepreneurs, Rita Chadha, chief executive, Small Charities Coalition, Dirk Bischof, chief executive, Hatch Enterprise, Evelyn McDonald, CEO, Scottish EDGE, Geoff Leask, CEO, Young Enterprise Scotland, Helen Marshall, chief executive, Brook, Jamie Ward-Smith, CEO, Do IT Foundation and chair, Co-op Foundation, Juliette Rayner, CEO, ERIC – The Children’s Bowel and Cancer Charity, Justine Molyneux, CEO, Involve Northwest, Karen Edwards, chief executive, CareTrade Answers for Autism, Kate Welch, chief executive, Social Enterprise Acumen, Kevin Munday, chief executive, City Year UK, Lesley Chance, director, Families in Focus Lisa Morris, CEO, Greyhound Trust, Louisa Searle, director, First Give, Maggie O’Carroll, chief executive, The Women’s Organisation, Marion Fellows MP, Matt Lent, Pat Shelley, CEO, Launch It, Pauline Wonders, strategic director, Family Gateway, Penny Wilson, CEO, Getting On Board, Robert Gofton, CEO, Royal Life Saving Society UK, Rosie Cooper MP, Sandy Kennedy, chief executive, Entrepreneurial Scotland Foundation, Sarah Lindsell, CEO, The Brain Tumour Charity, Sharon Davies, CEO, Young Enterprise, Vicki Dawson, CEO, The Sleep Charity, Vidhya Alakeson, chief executive, Power to Change

Ambulance action

I don’t think I could adequately put into words, my respect for the medical professionials, healthcare workers and ancillary staff who make up the teams who are trying to save us from the coronavirus.

They are absolutely brilliant, very professional, dedicated and knowingly risk their own lives every day. However, I am sad to have to say, there is one group of people who never get a mention, and that is the ambulance drivers.

Whenever needed they are there taking seriously injured people from horrific car rashes and other incidents, and now they are there transporting virus victims to hospitals, at great risk to their own lives. Since this pandemic emergency started I can honestly say I have not heard one mention of the critical work they are doing.

So I would ask our public representatives and news correspondents, please give this wonderful group of people the credit they deserve.

John Fair

Castlebar

Critical care

As a care company in Scotland we welcome the proposed pay increase for care workers to the real living wage of £9.30 an hour for all hours worked.

NHS workers have quite rightly gained attention for their incredible work during the current crisis, but the unsung heroes are those care workers who are on the very frontline of our national pandemic response.

These keyworkers are in many cases looking after your child, siblings, parents and grandparents. This pay increase must be the first step towards parity of esteem for the care workforce with their fantastic colleagues in the NHS.

It has been truly humbling to hear what amazing things staff are doing in incredibly challenging circumstances. As a society there must be a greater acknowledgement and respect for the critical role they play.

Without this recruitment and retention in the sector, already facing major staff shortages, will be irretrievably damaged.

So, when you are out every Thursday clapping and banging pots and pans for the NHS, spare a thought for the care workers, who play such a critical role in our everyday lives.

Lynn Bell, CEO, LOVE Care

Coronavirus numbers

Please can we have Covid-19 deaths as per 100,000 of the population when surveying national figures?

To say a country the size of the US has more deaths than much smaller countries is not surprising. While every death is an absolute tragedy, the raw figures give no picture of relative national situations.

Joanna Pallister

Durham

NHS help

It was said about British soldiers suffering in the trenches and foxholes of the First World War, that they were “lions led by donkeys”.

NHS staff, care workers and others on today’s frontline have now found themselves in the lions’ role, with a similar shortage of vital equipment as experienced by those soldiers, ironically described in a line from a First World War army song: “one respirator for the four of us”.

Eddie Dougall

Bury St Edmonds

No question

“Will the minister apologise for...?” is a question that places a minister in an impossible position. “Yes” admits fault. “No” implies fault.

Things are usually more complex than that, certainly in the present crisis. The time will come for an inquiry into the causes and handling of the pandemic. Responsibility and “blame” will become evident then.

Until that time, will journalists please not ask this simplistic and uninformative question?​

Anthony Slack

Rochdale