John Lyon's charity Annual Report 2024 - Report - Page 15
Achievements so far
Since June 2021, a total of £3,207,500 in core Recovery
funding has been committed through to 31st March 2024.
As the Recovery Fund draws to a close, 23 organisations
have been supported with grants that contributed to their
core costs, provided financial assistance, and facilitated
capacity-building. 15 were encouraged to use up to 15%
of their grant towards capacity building activities to build
a more robust and sustainable organisation for when the
Recovery Fund grant ends.
The funding has been described by several of the
organisations as a lifeline received at a particularly
challenging time. For others, having the grant alongside
access to external support to enable them to review their
business model or governance arrangements is what will
make the difference to them in the long term, enabling them
to move from just surviving to thriving in the post-pandemic
landscape. For others, the combination of the grant and
access to external support, which allowed them to review
their business models or governance arrangements, is
what will ensure their long-term success, helping them
transition from merely surviving to thriving in the postpandemic environment. This model of grant making is,
where appropriate, being incorporated into other grants
the Charity awards.
Impacts and lessons learned
Several organisations that required Recovery Fund support
were among the most fragile in the Charity’s grant-giving
portfolio, often smaller organisations with more complex
challenges to address. The immediate issues that qualified
them for the Recovery Fund often uncovered deeper
concerns, such as over-dependence on key individuals or
overstretched resources exacerbated by the pandemic and
Cost-of-Living crisis.
internal decision making in extraordinary circumstances.
For some of these organisations being awarded a Recovery
Fund grant right at the moment where they could not see a
way forward, gave them the confidence and belief that there
was help available.
CASE STUDY
The Floating Classroom, Beauchamp Lodge
Run by the Beauchamp Lodge Settlement Charity, the
Floating Classroom offers unique educational experiences
on an electric barge. The pandemic halted their school trips
and reduced commercial income, which previously made
up about 60% of their revenue. We interviewed CEO Simon
Ryder, who shared how the Core Recovery Grant was vital
in helping them navigate this period and ensure long-term
sustainability.
Click here to read the full interview with Simon Ryder
CONCLUSION
The first 11 organisations awarded grants through the
Recovery Fund in 2021/22 are all still operating and
delivering their services for children and young people.
The Fund covered core costs and helped these organisations
adapt to increased demand and rising costs in the postpandemic world. Anecdotally, we have heard that without
the Recovery funding, a significant number of these
organisations would have ceased operations, closed down
or been merged into other larger organisations. Whilst the
Charity is pleased to note the ‘recovery’ of 11 organisations
at this stage, the longer-term judgement of whether all 23
organisations can be judged as ‘recovered’ is still to be
realised. We monitor these grants closely and are in
regular contact with the organisations, to ensure
that Recovery remains on track.
A learning for the Charity has been that despite our
relationship-based grant making over many years
with organisations, some did not want to tell us how
challenging things had become. There was an element of
embarrassment for a handful of organisations in being open
with us, where they did not realise that what they were
experiencing was happening to many others and a symptom
of the external environment and not all down to their own
JOHN LYON’S CHARITY ANNUAL REPORT 2024
13
