An arts and wellbeing charity in the West Midlands has received its second anonymous donation towards its fundraising campaign.
The Hive – a charity serving Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin – received a second £10,000 donation in late August from another local charity that wished to stay anonymous.
Its first anonymous donation came in early August when the donor gave £10,000 including £2,500 in gift aid.
The charity launched the “Save The Hive” fundraising campaign in late July with a goal of reaching £50,000 to keep the organisation running. As of 24 August, it has fundraised £29,000.
On receiving the latest anonymous donation, the Hive’s venue manager Ellen Green told Civil Society: “We are overjoyed, to put it mildly.
“I’m an emotional person, so I got a little bit emotional about it.
“I mean I didn’t blab in front of them, but my eyes welled up a little bit.
“It kind of gives us the motivation to keep going.”
Recent decline in revenue
The Hive has seen a decrease in its total gross income in recent years.
According to the charity’s latest published accounts, its total gross income for the year ending in 31 March 2023 was £256,000, which compares to the £448,000 it received in 2019-20.
The charity’s income from government grants also fell from £167,000 in 2020-21 to £39,800 in 2022-23.
The Hive, which registered in 2005, says it has supported over 44,000 people and ran more than 200 projects to serve residents across the region.
“Every donation is important to us because it will all make a difference to how we are able to function as a charity, and how we’re able to continue to keep our doors open and to continue to support the lives of young people, which is what we are about as a charity,” Green said.
A wave of secret donations
In recent months, other charities across the country have received anonymous donations like the Hive’s.
The Canal & River Trust charity received a £10,000 donation from an unknown donor after the charity started fundraising to clean up the Walsall canal system after a chemical split.
Meanwhile, Bristol Autism Support, end-of-life charity Marie Curie and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution charity have all received anonymous cash donations over the past few months.
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