Small charities are already struggling – the Budget will only make things worse

Twenty years ago, I visited the Easterhouse Estate and Gallowgate in Glasgow. I was struck by how many people on this sprawling area felt they had been written off by the political establishment. They had experienced unspeakable hardship and had been left behind – an underclass ignored by politicians.

It was that visit that inspired me to create the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) – an organisation that campaigns for those living in the poorest and most disadvantaged communities across Britain to be given every opportunity to flourish and reach their full potential.

Over the past two decades, the CSJ has developed a unique understanding of the root causes of poverty, through our alliance of poverty-fighting community-based charities right across the UK. From the outset, we recognised poverty is not just about money. Of course, the absence of money is what defines you as poor, but policy needs to understand the root causes of why people are too often unable to change their outcomes.

And it is that route to poverty that the CSJ is concerned with – inter-generational causes, such as dysfunctional family life, drug addiction, failed education, spiralling debt and worklessness. For the CSJ, it is about learning from those who defy such negative outcomes, by making positive choices, and helping those stuck in the system.

Small, dynamic charities are committed to improving their communities and the lives of the people who live in them. Their work too often goes unnoticed by Westminster politicians, wealthy donors and by the media – but not by the people whose lives they improve each day. For these people, the work of local charities is irreplaceable.

The CSJ have worked with these charities to connect the backstreets of Britain with the corridors of power, to improve the lives of the poorest in our society. Many of our greatest achievements have come by giving a voice to the voiceless. Today, at our 20th annual CSJ Awards, we will shine a spotlight beyond the Westminster bubble and fix our gaze on the best and brightest social game-changers this country has to offer.

Over the past 20 years, the CSJ Awards have recognised more than 20,000 volunteers for their crucial work in fighting poverty. These are inspiring volunteers who are helping the hardest to reach, and have discovered ways of scaling their work beyond their own neighbourhoods.

Unfortunately, things are about to get even tougher for small charities. The chancellor’s increase in employer national insurance contribution will add a staggering £1.4bn cost to the charitable sector – a move that will hit many of the charities across the country exceptionally hard. We are calling for a rethink for the sake of these small charities.

This year, our four CSJ Award winners will each be going home with a £20,000 cash prize. This will be a vital boost for their work as, on average, CSJ Awards allow charities to go on to help at least ten times as many people. Over 30 winners doubled their budget within 5 years of winning a CSJ Award and six past winners have grown to become multi-million-pound charities.

I will never stop fighting for social justice and the grassroots charities that are crucial to the ongoing battle against poverty, for they teach us in so many ways what needs to be done. They are to ending poverty what small businesses are to economic enterprise: vital.

Today is a celebration of all of the people involved in community charities who are changing the lives of the most disadvantaged for the better.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith is a former cabinet minister and Conservative Party leader. He is the MP for Chingford & Woodford Green