Umbrella bodies in Northern Ireland have criticised a lack of core funding for charities from the devolved government after 90% of applicants missed out on support this week.
The devolved administration’s health department this week announced that 25 charities including NSPCC, RNIB and Young Lives vs Cancer would receive money in 2025-26 from its £1.8m core funding scheme.
An unprecedented 259 charities had applied for support, meaning over 90% were unsuccessful.
The Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) and Chief Officers 3rd Sector (CO3) both bemoaned a lack of additional support and highlighted a recent 50% cut to the scheme's previous £3.6m funding pot.
Health minister regrets more funding not offered
Health minister Mike Nesbitt said: “While I regret that the indicative health budget allocation for 2025-26 does not permit me to offer funding to more of the 259 applicants, I am pleased to be able to announce that more than £1.8m in funding will be provided, subject to final checks with the 25 organisations, to support them with core costs in 2025-26.
“When I announced my plan to redesign the scheme in July 2024, I made it clear that my intention was to address the fundamental unfairness in the previous scheme, which has funded the same organisations for more than 20 years.
“I wanted the scheme to be open and transparent, and for as many organisations as possible to be able to bid for funding. Naturally, introducing competition meant that there would be winners and losers, but those who have missed out this time will have a further opportunity later this year to bid for funding in 2026/27. ”
Sector bodies: ‘Wholly inadequate’
Celine McStravick, NICVA CEO, said in a statement the £1.8m of funding was “wholly inadequate” and “reveals a serious misalignment between the department’s reliance on our sector and its investment in our capacity to deliver”.
She said: “We are calling for an immediate review of the core grant scheme to ensure it reflects the sector’s vital role in health service delivery.
“This review should examine both the purpose and scale of funding needed to support a sustainable voluntary sector that can effectively partner with statutory services.
“Following this review, we urge the minister to commit to a properly resourced three-year funding program that recognises the sector's essential contribution to healthcare delivery in Northern Ireland.”
Meanwhile, CO3 said in a statement that the department’s announcement “underlines the stark mismatch between need and the available funding”.
“The quantum of funding available for services directed to the VCSE sector is wholly inadequate. This is simply not good enough.
“We are calling on the first and deputy first ministers and the health minister to lead an executive-wide discussion, urgently, on how to secure and direct sufficient funding for the community and voluntary sector in Northern Ireland to continue to deliver services and support to those most vulnerable in our society. Any other approach represents a failure to meet public health needs.”
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