Daily Telegraph: As inflation hits our spending power, it isn’t just households that are suffering. Britain’s charities are finding that cash-strapped donors are less and less inclined to put their hands in their pockets, and consequently donations are falling.
The most recent report into the state of giving offered a pretty bleak picture. Donations to charity have fallen by 20pc in real terms in the past year. That is a £1.7bn dip in giving, or £2.3bn in inflation-adjusted terms, with some people reducing the amount they donate and others stopping giving to charity altogether.
Even the Christmas spirit is unlikely to help charities to buck the trend. A report by the Co-op this week found that 16pc of people would be cutting back on charity donations this Christmas.
Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), said he was “very worried” by the figures. “Charities are already being squeezed by greater needs, cuts in funding and rising costs,” he said.