Small youth charities to bear the brunt of funding cuts
Neil Puffett
Friday, January 13, 2012
Increasing numbers of small youth charities will face funding problems similar to the Stephen Lawrence Centre unless they learn to adapt to the economic environment, it has been warned.
Yesterday (12 January) it emerged that the centre, set up in memory of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence, is in danger of being shut because of a lack of funding.
And it is feared more small charities will face a struggle to survive amid a squeeze on grant funding and donations from the public.
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) said the charity sector overall will be £911m down in annual funding by 2015/16.
Daniel Fluskey, NCVO policy officer, said charities are exploring different funding options but larger, more established organisations have a distinct advantage.
Options available to charities include re-focusing services to deliver less as well as attempting to secure other forms of funding such as loans or social investment.
"There is some potential for benefit [by pursuing alternative funding] but these things are small steps that might help a bit, but they are not going to be able to rejuvenate the sector to compensate for the amount of money being lost.
"There is not a magic solution that means in two years we are going to be back where we were. The sector is going to change quite a lot."
One charity that closed late last year, Gay and Lesbian Youth in Calderdale (GALYIC), had been running a youth group and support services for 12 years.
Jan Bridget, the former service manager said she feared that if smaller charities close down work with oppressed minority groups could disappear. "There’s a belief that because we have got all this equality legislation now, services like ours may not be necessary.
"I’m delighted with the Equality Act, and the suicide prevention strategy and substance misuse strategy have started taking us on board.
"That is all excellent but other policies, such as giving control to local government, are only fine if local government is aware of the issues."
She added that many small charities will face the prospect of either having to become a social enterprise or create a partnership with a larger charity.