The cost of living crisis is plunging charities into despair

Demand for their services is at an all-time high with people struggling to find funds, as Which? publishes a guide that could assist by helping donors to support charities, writes James Moore

Food bank produce: help give people what they need this Christmas (PA)

Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat. But can donors still afford to put their cards in the struggling charity’s hat? The cost of living crisis may soon be responsible for a financial crisis in a third sector struggling to cope with its effects.

Britain’s economic difficulties have combined to push demand for charitable services to an all-time high. But the same brutal forces are also putting the squeeze upon donations. A survey by the Charities Aid Foundation found that a fifth of respondents were considering reducing their donations as a result of their economic circumstances.

Published at the end of October, the foundation found nearly 5 million people had chosen not to make a one-off donation the previous month as a direct result of the cost of living. One in five were considering reducing their outlay. Even those holding their level of gifting steady is leaving charities in a bind with inflation running hot (10.7 per cent in the year to the end of November).