More than 13,000 charity projects supported by NET’s Covid appeal

The National Emergencies Trust’s Coronavirus Appeal has supported more than 13,000 projects and raised nearly £100m for communities impacted by the pandemic.

The figures have been revealed by the NET in its report Facing Covid-19 Together: Voices of the Coronavirus Appeal. This looks at the Appeal’s progress since its launch in March 2020.

A key theme is how the appeal built on its pre-existing relationship with UK Community Foundations to ensure funding reached communities within days of the first national lockdown amid the health crisis.

The report also charts the creation of ten additional charity partners and consortia from July 2020.

Most of the funding through the Appeal has been distributed. Remaining funds total £1.2m and “will help to contribute to the sector’s recovery efforts, with a funding strategy currently being finalised”, said the NET.

Our Coronavirus Appeal final report➡️ https://t.co/eA6LkLW6pL

13,500 thank yous (one for each project the Appeal supported) to our incredible patrons who made it possible.@bt_uk @tesconews @ArcoSafety @NatWestGroup @coopuk @SkyUK @mandgplc Sir Lloyd Dorfman Christopher Laing pic.twitter.com/yQrctZE9YF
— National Emergencies Trust (@NatEmergTrust) June 21, 2021

Among charity sector workers who contributed to the report was Damon Parkinson from the Riverside Access and Training Centre in the East Midlands, which received a grant days after the start of the first national lockdown.

“If we had waited 2, 3, 4 weeks we would have lost a lot of people,” he said.

“So that funding was vital for us to mobilise digitally, from a distance, very quickly.”

By 26 March, three days after the first national lockdown, the first £2.5m raised had reached 46 Community Foundations and distributed to charities.

“By putting our founding values at the heart of our efforts, and by drawing on the expertise of others with lived and local experience, we have been able to support those in urgent need right across the UK,” said NET chief executive Mhairi Sharp.

“I’m so pleased that this latest report reflects the collective efforts of those involved and look forward to building on our learnings and relationships to shape our future responses.”

NET was launched in 2019 following a recommendation from the Charity Commission to improve support to UK communities impacted by disaster.