Thinking of small charities Mr Osborne?

A typical brood at the ARC

I hear so much about small businesses struggling in this post recession period, unable to get loans from those nasty bankers and getting no relief from the Government as bills go up. But at least businesses have customers, who hopefully at some point pay them money. For a charity, particularly a small one, it's very different. We don't have customers but donors.

I do some voluntary work for the Animal Rescue Charity based in Bishop’s Stortford. It's typical of many smaller charities struggling to cope in these times of austerity. Fortunately supporters are still donating, but they're not giving as much as they used to. Which is understandable given the hike in fuel prices and rocketing heating bills.


Those price rises have also hit the Animal Rescue Charity hard as well. With more than a hundred animals to keep warm at any given time the cost of heating is becoming harder to manage. Food prices have also shot up as well as veterinary bills which make up a huge part of the charity’s expenditure. More animals that are unwell are being brought to the rescue centre as families decide they can’t afford the vets’ fees. Older
pets are also turning up more frequently as they can be a costly burden to a household.

Kittens looking for a home

The Animal Rescue Charity has certainly seen a marked increase in the number of animals being dumped as families try to cope with rising costs and unemployment. Pets are being turned out into the wild as owners struggle to feed them, or the owners move house and abandon them. Recently two rabbits were brought to the centre after a couple found them in a hutch at the bottom of the garden of the house they'd just moved into.

But the Animal Rescue Charity is hardly unique. Many smaller charities are finding it increasingly difficult to operate as the economy struggles to recover. Unlike the larger national charities that spend a lot of money on advertising, smaller outfits can’t afford to compete. There’s also a growing sense of competition, with the larger better known charities increasingly edging into the fundraising market, even encroaching into areas traditionally targeted by smaller more local charities. Perhaps this is just capitalism at work and only the strongest will survive. It would be a shame, given the clear impact local charities can make on sometimes very small areas.

We're trying to trace Fly's owners

Of course for many charities their funding from national and local Government is also being cut, a necessity for the accountants but a huge blow to those volunteers giving up their time to try to improve their communities. So what help will there be from the Government? It's hard to see how there can be any given the amount of services clamouring for cash. And perhaps Cameron and co think people who can afford it should be funding these smaller charities. Perhaps putting more money back into their local communities instead of finding ways to dodge their taxes.

The rules for Gift Aid also look set to change in April so even the few donations charities receive will mean less in real terms. A bleak time indeed to be out on the high street rattling a donation tin.