UK’s Broken Charity Sector Forced to Lose Staff, Cut Hours, Turn Off Lights as Cost of Living Bites

By Staff, Agencies

UK’s charities are having to cut services, let staff go and reduce their opening hours as analysts warn parts of the sector are now “broken” as a result of the cost of living crisis.

Soaring bills and other costs are weighing heavily on organizations within the sector, with some being forced to switch off the lights and work in the dark in a bid to save money on electricity.

Research carried out by the think tank Pro Bono Economics found that around half of charities in the UK are now using their reserves to meet operating costs, a situation it described as “unsustainable.”

In a report about the state of the charity sector due to be published next week, titled Breaking the Dam, Pro Bono Economics concludes that organizations are having to scale back the help they can offer.

Nicole Sykes, director of policy at the think tank, which was founded by former chief economist at the Bank of England Andy Haldane in conjunction with Nottingham Trent University, said the charity sector had expanded in the wake of austerity but was now under threat.

 “We’ve talked a lot about the charity sector being at breaking point, and I think there are now bits of the sector that are broken, ultimately,” she told The Independent.

“People are going without help. We’ve said for a very long time that the safety net that charities provide is fraying. There are now holes that people are falling through.

“There are charities who give hardship grants to people who’ve fallen on hard times. And they’ve had to restrict and restrict those grants. So, whereas your criteria for ‘falling on hard times’ might have been much higher, now it’s those really facing destitution.

“So, there are people who are on the edge, who haven’t quite fallen into that really bad state, who don’t get support. But that then has consequences for [their] mental health and all the rest. It’s that kind of thing where charities just have to retreat.

“Because of rising costs overall, we are hearing particularly small charities saying that they are having to let staff go. They just can’t meet the demand that is out there.”

Charities are struggling with a surge in demand fueled by the cost of living crisis on the back of the Covid pandemic, during which one in four people saw their income drop by at least 40%, according to recent research published by the University of Birmingham.

Many are also under pressure to do more with less. Staff numbers at Macmillan Cancer Support are down by 15% compared with pre-pandemic levels, while The Children’s Society cut 8% of its staff last year.