John Lyon's charity Annual Report 2024 - Report - Page 14
REVIEW OF HSC FUNDS
RECOVERY FUND
INTRODUCTION
The Charity responded swiftly to the impact of Covid-19 and
had a flexible approach to the way organisations expended
their existing grants. As 2020 progressed, it became apparent
that the disruption and deep impact of the pandemic was
going to have a long-lasting effect both on children, young
people and their families across the Charity’s Beneficial Area,
as well as on the critical organisations supporting them.
Whilst everyone had been impacted in some way by the
pandemic, deep disparities of experience quickly arose, with
many communities experiencing a disproportionate impact
on people’s health and economic situations, linked to long
standing issues of inequality.
What is the Fund?
The Recovery Fund was developed to specifically respond
to organisations in crisis that were at risk of immediate
collapse due to the pandemic, providing assistance with
their core costs. Grants have predominantly been awarded
for core costs, with a smaller amount available for
refurbishments. New revenue grants were given in Years
1, 2 and 3 of HSC, for up to three years each. Organisations
needed to be based within the Beneficial Area, focused
predominantly on children and young people, and had to
have received funding from the Charity in the past.
What is the aim and purpose of this Fund?
The Recovery Fund aimed to:
• ensure that vital services for children and young people
could be maintained by strong and relevant organisations
• safeguard the Charity’s previous investment in the
voluntary sector in the Beneficial Area
Grants were awarded to organisations whose income
12
JOHN LYON’S CHARITY ANNUAL REPORT 2024
had been severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic or
to those whose service delivery had massively increased
to meet the needs of their communities.
Grants were intended to be a lifeline to those organisations
that faced a real threat of closure but also, crucially,
combined an element of support and capacity building
via both the Charity’s Grants Team as well as external
consultants to support the recovery of the organisation
beyond the end of the pandemic.
What is the reason behind this focus?
The Charity, which had spent 30 years contributing to
a varied and vibrant CYP sector, quickly saw that the
pandemic, after a decade of austerity and government
underinvestment, was stretching many vital organisations
beyond their limited resources. The needs within the
communities they served were increasing and there was
a fear that even some of the strongest organisations could
end up shutting down and once gone, they might not come
back. The proverbial rainy day had arrived, and the Charity
needed to be proactive.
The impact of the pandemic was further exacerbated by the
Cost-of-Living crisis, which not only increased the operating
and delivery costs of CYP organisations, but also generated
more demand on their services as pressure on children,
young people and their families grew. New Recovery Fund
grants were originally intended to be awarded in 2021/22
and 2022/23, but the Cost-of-Living crisis led the Charity
to continue to award Recovery Fund grants into 2024.
This vital support was in addition to awarding £1 million
in Cost-of-Living Uplift grants available in Winter 2022
to 156 grantees towards their increased costs.
