The proportion of charities that are having to turn people away rose in the final quarter of last year, new figures show.
Research carried out last month by the Charities Aid Foundation with more than 650 charities, most of which have annual incomes of less than £5m, found that 15 per cent of respondents said they could not meet demand and have had to turn people away.
This was up from 12 per cent of charities polled by CAF just three months earlier.
The research found that half of the charities said they were at full capacity, a similar proportion to the previous study.
The study found that demand continued to rise over the course of 2023.
CAF said that in January last year, 57 per cent of charities said demand had increased over the previous year, with 24 per cent saying it had gone up a lot.
But by December, these figures had risen to 65 per cent and 32 per cent respectively.
The latest research found that a quarter of charities with capacity issues said they were scaling back what they do to focus on core services; 16 per cent said they were considering charging for their services to meet need.
Researchers found that 41 per cent were signposting people to other organisations, many of which were facing similar issues.
Neil Heslop, chief executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, said: “Many charities are stuck in a Catch-22 situation.
“They face higher demand, while struggling with declining income and significantly higher costs.
“Despite being the last port of call for the most vulnerable in our society, they are having to make very difficult decisions to introduce waiting lists, charge fees or turn people away who desperately need their help.
Heslop said last year’s Budget brought stop-gap solutions, without which many more charities would have folded.
“But with charities facing significant uncertainty, we need the government to take the lead and introduce a turnaround plan to support a strong charity sector and thriving civil society for the future,” he said.