Voluntary organisations face going to the wall as recession hits funding and costs rise

Published on Wednesday 10 March 2010 19:56

MORE than a third of voluntary organisations in Edinburgh fear they may not survive through the next year, according to a survey carried out by Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations Council.

As Edinburgh City Council prepares to publish its budget for 2010-11, 37 per cent of voluntary bodies working in the city said they were worried they would go bust because of a lack of funding.

More than half (51 per cent) of more than 100 respondents indicated they would survive but be reduced in size if cuts to their grant were imposed by council officials.

As at 1 March, 63 per cent reported they had not heard what their grant would be from the council's children and families or health and social care departments, and of those that did know, 50 per cent had heard through the Edinburgh Evening News.

All respondents said they had scrutinised office, pension and other costs in the face of looming budget cuts.

Lucy McTernan, deputy chief executive of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, said: "It's really worrying that over a third of local voluntary organisations expect not to survive this round of budget cuts.

"The last year has seen a huge rise in demand for the services our sector provides, yet our income has fallen dramatically – in other words we are already doing more with less. These local authority budget cuts make it even harder.

"We'd strongly urge local authorities to think carefully about the impact of these budget cuts on communities and to the public purse in the longer term."

Edinburgh Council leader Jenny Dawe said: "In recent years we have made real strides in developing our relationships with those organisations providing valuable services and support to the people of Edinburgh, and we fully acknowledge the importance of the work they do, especially during a recession.

"The current economic situation means there is more demand for council and voluntary sector services, yet it also means we have less income. It's a shared problem and it needs a shared response. The fact that we have been able to face these incredibly difficult times together is a measure of how far we have come."