Covid-19: People suffer when charities lose the ability to fundraise

I can’t remember a crisis on the scale of Covid-19. It is perhaps the first truly global crisis we have faced since the Second World War, and whilst we will rally and overcome this, the societal and economic scars will be visible for many years to come.

What the UK is facing is frightening. Although Covid-19 is not as dangerous as Ebola or SARS, it definitely feels more immediate and the consequences for our relatives could be just as severe.

As an organisation focussed on tackling hunger, a collaboration with the hospitality sector seemed obvious and it is a partnership that we have fostered for more than two decades. Having worked hand in glove with the sector for so many years, it is heart-breaking to see so many of our passionate supporters struggle as Covid-19 forces them to lay off staff or close entirely. It is too early to tell what the extent of these closures will be, but even the most optimistic forecaster would concede that Britain’s hospitality industry won’t shine as brightly when we finally emerge from beneath this cloud.

This is an industry that has helped us save hundreds of thousands of young lives across the world. It is an industry that has brought hope to families living in conflict in Yemen and support to families scarred by Ebola in the DRC. It has funded food kitchens for child refugees fleeing persecution in Myanmar and provided safe drinking water for school children in Africa. It is an industry that has always been inclusive, supportive and committed to making a difference. It is a family.

For Action Against Hunger, the plight of the hospitality industry is already having an impact on our ability to undertake our life-saving work; and as this crisis rolls on, more charities are going to have to make difficult decisions about who they can support and how they operate. When charities lose the ability to fundraise, be it through an event, a charity shop or even a local bake sale, it is the people they support who suffer.

As organisations, charities spend their money on helping people. We don’t have profits or billionaire shareholders, we don’t have wads of cash stuffed under the mattress, and no charity is ever going to be deemed too big to fail.

Never has the work of charities seemed more relevant or immediate. This pandemic is going to send seismic shockwaves across the globe and it will be the poorest who pay the heaviest price. I’m not just talking about the crippling burden it will place on ill-equipped healthcare systems around the world, the ramifications of Covid-19 will be far more insidious and far reaching. As economies contract in response to this crisis, it will be the poorest and most vulnerable who are nudged into crisis: the elderly, the homeless, the disabled, the displace, and those who struggle to make ends- people who have come to rely on charities to keep their heads above water.

We are all shocked and frightened at the devastating impact that Covid-19 is having, but now more than ever we must come together as a nation and as a global community. When the world emerges from this crisis, which it will, there will be a huge job that needs to be done to help communities rebuild and heal. This is a job that charities are well placed to support, a task that goes to the very heart of why charities exist. Sadly, I fear that when the clouds finally do clear, many fantastic charities may not be here to support the Herculean rebuilding effort that will be required.

Jean-Michel Grand is Executive Director of Action Against Hunger UK