The National Emergencies Trust Coronavirus Appeal

Working with the National Emergencies Trust

 

The National Emergencies Trust launched the Coronavirus Appeal on 18^th March 2020. It was one of the most high-profile appeals launched in response to the pandemic. A wide range of corporations, trusts and foundations, and individuals donated to the appeal.

Our UK network of community foundations was chosen to be the main distribution partner because of our experience of emergency grant making and our invaluable local knowledge built from decades of place-based philanthropy.

 

“With the help of organisations like UK Community Foundations, money is getting out of the door to where it’s needed the most. Funds have helped existing charities transform their services so that they can keep providing support in the most challenging conditions.”

- Baroness Diana Barran, Minister for Civil Society in 2020

  

The impact of the appeal

 

The direction of funding was split into emergency and recovery phases.  This approach ensured the programme had a huge impact in communities across the UK that would support community groups to not just meet urgent needs but to plan and adapt for future provision.  Over 13,000 local charitable organisations, community groups and individuals were supported with more than £76 million in funding.

Community foundations used their relationships, grant-making expertise and understanding of local need to swiftly distribute funding to the charitable organisations best placed to make the biggest difference.

You can find the full spreadsheet of grants distributed here.

 

“Community foundations have played such an important role during the recent crisis in distributing money from the National Emergencies Trust to local organisations.”

- Danny Kruger MP in Levelling up our communities: proposals for a new social covenant (September 2020)

  

In practice this meant that millions of people were able to access the help they needed.

Whether it was a food parcel left on a doorstep, a friendly face appearing on a screen or guidance through uncertain times, our network was able to ensure that the generosity of the National Emergencies Trust and its donors made its way to the frontline organisations making the biggest difference.

  

“The essence of a good response to an emergency is the ability to support frontline grassroots groups and organisations do what they do best: support local people in their time of need. I was particularly impressed with the pace, agility, scale and the strong community connections of the community foundation network across the entire country during an unprecedented emergency.”

- Jehangir Malik, Director, The Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership

  

The BAME Infrastructure Fund

 

The focus of the BAME (Black, Asian and Minoritised Ethnic) Infrastructure Fund was to directly support 59 BAME infrastructure organisations through the distribution of £900,000 in grants provided by the National Emergencies Trust.

This fund helped BAME-led community groups and charities to access National Emergencies Trust funding via the UKCF network during the Covid-19 pandemic.

One of the key outcomes of this fund was learning about the barriers community foundations need to address to improve inclusive and diverse funding. We have incorporated this learning into our network's approach to designing and distributing funds going forwards.

You can find the full spreadsheet of grant distributions here.

We are committed to sharing our data publicly. You can read more about our open license and rules about sharing our data here.