The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) paused applications to its emergency funding scheme last month, after being over-subscribed by charities struggling to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
The Coronavirus Emergency Fund opened on 30 March and applications were put on hold on 5 April, after more than five thousand applications were received in a single week, CAF said.
Charities applied for more than £40m, eight times the total value of the fund.
CAF announced that it has granted over £1m through the scheme so far to 256 charities across the UK.
Helping meet core costs
The fund was set up with an initial £5m, which CAF will continue to distribute. The money is going out through rapid response grants of up to £10,000, and is designed to help small charities, non-profit organisations and social enterprises meet core costs at a time when incomes have been hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
CAF said it hopes to expand the fund in the future in light of such high demand. A spokesperson confirmed that further donations to the fund had been received from businesses, CAF clients and members of the public.
Growing the fund
Monica Brown, the head of charity advisory and programmes for CAF, said: “We have been humbled by the charities out there that are doing everything they can to continue to operate at such a tough time.
“We are very proud to be able to offer some help to charities working so hard on behalf of people, causes and communities across the UK.
“I am pleased to see that we have been able to get more than £1m in help to charities in a matter of weeks and it is our plan to grow this fund so that we will be in a position to help more small organisations to continue to deliver vital services in the weeks and months ahead.”
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