The Captain Tom Foundation was one of 77 new charities directly related to the pandemic that were successfully registered last year.
The Charity Commission received 138 applications from potential charities that were “directly related to the pandemic”, according to its written evidence submitted to to the Public Accounts Committee’s inquiry into support for charities.
During 2020, 7,491 organisations applied for charity status, with an overall success rate of 60%. In the sample of pandemic organisations, 56% were successfully registered.
The regulator gave three examples of the kinds of new charity which had launched as a direct result of the pandemic:
- The Captain Tom Foundation – A charity which supports causes that were close to the late Captain Sir Tom Moore’s heart, such as combating loneliness, championing education and equality, and supporting the NHS.
- Exovent – A charity which creates ‘negative pressure breathing support devices’ that can help people with diseases that affect their breathing, such as Covid-19.
- General Trust – A charity to help support NHS staff, volunteers and care workers in the fight against Covid-19.
Over 400 serious incident reports connected to Covid-19
The Commission also told the committee that 4.7% of the 51,865 calls it received from charities were specifically about the pandemic.
Meanwhile, 14.6% of the 2,920 serious incident support reports submitted by charities were specifically about Covid-19.
According to the regulator, these 425 Covid reports were mainly about how the pandemic had affected the charity’s “long-term financial sustainability”.
Extra £800m donated in first half of 2020
Finally, the Commission told MPs that its data so far “indicates that an additional £800m was given to charities in the first half of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019”.
However, it adds that this was mainly targeted at NHS charities “with other sectors reporting reductions”.
It adds: “Overall, donations to charity did reduce after this peak and many charities, reliant on traditional fundraising methods, have seen their income reduced significantly.”
Related articles
