40% of London children’s charities could close due to funding shortfall

40% of London charities supporting children could close within 6 months due to a coronavirus funding shortfall, research by The Childhood Trust has suggested. 

The study, which surveyed 65 child poverty charities in London, collectively supporting 184,000 children and young people. The aim was to learn how the current crisis is impacting on both their operations and the children that they serve to give a more detailed picture of the threats faced by the charity sector in London and the children that they support.

Concerns over cashflow was raised by many charities, with 51% believing they will need financial support to ensure that an adequate supply of food can continue to go to the poverty stricken children who were already at risk of hunger in London, which is the UK’s worst affected city for coronavirus.

A further third (35%) also revealed the need for support in delivering food to them.

Alongside this, the new research revealed that 81% of charities believe that impact of coronavirus will leave vulnerable children feeling scared (79%), neglected (79%) and at risk of abuse or exploitation (57%).

Over three quarters (79%) of the charities that normally support them don’t feel they have the funds to do so.

The effects of coronavirus on the London Children’s charity sector could be ‘detrimental beyond repair’. 89% of charities expressed an urgent need for emergency funding and other financial support from the state and nearly half (42%) of the charities surveyed anticipate losing up to £50,000 in funding due to the coronavirus with nearly a quarter anticipating losing over £100,000.

Laurence Guinness, CEO of The Children’s Trust said: ‘The stark comparison between the funding decline in charities and vast increase in children who are going to need support is hugely worrying.

‘Evidence from our network of over 200 funded charities highlights that the impact of this crisis is being disproportionately experienced by children whose lives are already challenged by poverty and its attendant hardships. For many of these children, the crisis is exacerbating chronic anxiety, stress, inadequate diets, domestic violence, loss of peer support and rapid mental health deterioration.’

Photo Credit – The Childhood Trust