In March 2020, Covid-19 dominated the world and as a result sent the UK into a two-year lockdown. We knew the impact on the CYP voluntary sector would be vast and that we would need to act quickly to ensure the sector’s survival and the vulnerable organisations at risk within it. Weeks after lockdown was announced, we pledged £1million in emergency funding to groups and communities in need, to the London Community Response coordinated by London Funders. We then quickly began thinking how the Charity could protect the many hundreds of grassroots organisations within the CYP sector from being washed away in the long term.
We created Home–School-Community, as our long-term, strategic response to Covid-19 to not only help organisations survive but to also ensure that the CYP sector in the Beneficial Area was thriving and innovating to support local communities in the most efficient and appropriate ways possible. We further evaluated the Charity’s main grant-giving strategy, 2023 and beyond, to ensure vital organisations last the test of time. It was crucial to create a long-term lifeline to help organisations survive a post-Covid world, the issues of which are now coupled with the Cost-of-Living crisis. We knew we would need to look at how to support our groups directly after the impact of Covid, as well as the future to ensure their survival.
To find out more about the Charity’s strategic approaches to Covid-19 and operating in a post-Covid/ Cost of Living world, please click on the strategy documents below: