Charities face a “cliff edge” in March if government support with energy bills is not extended, a coalition of voluntary organisations has said.
More than a dozen charity umbrella bodies have written to Grant Shapps MP, the business secretary, to warn that the sector is bracing for another spike in costs when the support package ends in four months.
Some charities fear that their energy costs could increase by as much as 1,000 per cent after March, the letter says.
The government has spent billions of pounds subsidising non-domestic energy bills since September, including for charities, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forced up wholesale gas prices.
At the same time soaring inflation, which hit a 40-year high of more than 10 per cent earlier this year, has been described as an “all-hands-on-deck crisis” for the voluntary sector.
The government has not yet said whether charities will be entitled to help after the initial six-month energy scheme expires, although civil servants responsible for the voluntary sector say they are “plugged in” to those discussions.
The coalition, which includes the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, Children England and the Charity Finance Group, said: “Many voluntary organisations are providing energy-intensive services, for example [by] heating hospices, care homes, accommodation, shelters, refuges and nurseries.
“Reducing their energy use would jeopardise the health and wellbeing of the people they support.
“Furthermore, many charities operate out of buildings that are not energy efficient, such as village halls or community centres, which are increasingly being used as warm banks within communities.”
The letter continues: “Some charities reported concerns that their energy costs would rise by as much as 1,000 per cent. It is currently impossible for charities to know, and therefore budget and plan for, their energy costs in 2023/24.
“These organisations are facing a cliff edge if they receive no further support past 31 March 2023.”
The letter quotes one poverty relief charity, which said the cost of creating a warm bank over the winter, so that local people had somewhere to go if they could not afford to heat their homes, would be £60,000.
The coalition comprises the NCVO, Acevo, the Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales, the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, the CFG, the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action, Children England, the Directory of Social Change, the Association of Charitable Foundations, Locality, the Association of Chairs, Carers Trust, Action with Communities in Rural England, the Charity Retail Association, Pilotlight, Voluntary Organisations Disability Group, Agenda Alliance, and the Wales Council for Voluntary Action.