Dear
Prime Minister
Right now, food banks are giving out 2,600 parcels
to children every day.
Right now, helplines are answering thousands of
calls from people dealing with everything from domestic abuse to bereavement
and mental health issues.
Right now, millions of people around the country are
generously responding to fundraising asks from causes they care about.
Right now, volunteers in every community are
supporting those shielding at home and over 50,000 are helping to vaccinate
those most at risk from COVID.
Right now, millions of people and thousands of charities
are doing everything they can to tackle the urgent problems we face. At the
same time, those same organisations are looking to the future and trying to
ensure they can continue to be there in the tough years of recovery ahead.
They are stepping up because the need has never been
greater, but they are doing so while staring at an estimated £10bn hole in
their income. Right now, many charities are eating into their reserves, selling
whatever assets they have and making staff redundant.
That means tomorrow they won’t be able to fund
life-saving research, feed struggling families, bring hope to people most at
risk isolating at home, tackle existing inequalities made worse by this
pandemic. People and communities will go without vital support.
Charities make our communities
stronger. In the toughest times, they provide support
no-one else can.
The public are giving their time and money and companies,
trusts and foundations have stepped up their support. We are hugely grateful
that your government has helped to keep emergency charity services running -
but resources are running dangerously low and services are getting stretched to
breaking point.
We are asking you to set up an Emergency Support
Fund right now, so the burden of this pandemic
doesn’t fall on the shoulders of those who are most disadvantaged.
With that fund, more people can
receive the help they desperately need, and more charities can deliver vital
services to help our communities recover from this crisis. Without it, many in those
communities face a bleak future.
Signed,