Small International Development Charities Network : equitysport signs letter to Prime Minister

equitysport has joined over 45 small international development charities in writing to the UK Prime Minister requesting that the government's Department for International Development (DfID) ring fence funding for small charities, particularly the UK Aid Direct funding grants.

We support the Small International Development Charity Network's (SIDCN) position that this funding means small charities like equitysport are afforded opportunities to support the world's most vulnerable people and have a significant impact as a result.

Small charities are agile, flexible, adaptable and often able to reach where larger organisations can't. We believe that it is the imperative duty of the UK Government to help them to survive.

You can read the full letter to the Prime Minister below:

Dear Prime Minister,

As representatives of the Small International Development Charities Network (SIDCN), we are calling on you to provide additional support to small charities supporting some of the world’s most vulnerable at this time.

There are 10,000+ registered charities in the UK working in international development with an income of under £1 million. Yet as the COVID-19 crisis continues around the world, many small UK charities working overseas in international development are struggling to survive. Despite nearly three quarters seeing demand for their services increase, opportunities for funding are diminishing, our recent research report shows. These charities are not eligible to apply for the UK Government Coronavirus Community Support Fund, many UK funders have amended their giving criteria to only support UK-based projects and without additional funding, 45% of small charities working in international development expect to close within the next 12 months. Small International Development Charities feel forgotten, undervalued, poorly represented and concerned for their future - and ultimately for the communities they support, the majority of which have been the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown.

We stand with Bond and multiple other international development NGOs in urging you to reconsider your decision to merge the Department for International Development with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and are asking you to provide additional support for small UK charities working in international development to support their beneficiaries through the COVID-19 crisis. We are specifically asking the UK Government’s Department for International Development to keep the funding ring-fenced for small charities, particularly the UK Aid Direct funding grants – Impact Grants, Community Partnership grants, and most crucially the Small Charities Challenge Fund (SCCF). Through accessing this funding, numerous small charities who are part of SIDCN have been able to reach hundreds of thousands of the world’s most vulnerable people and have had a significant impact as a result. Small charities are agile, flexible, adaptable and often able to reach where larger organisations can’t, and it is imperative that you help them to survive.

Yours Sincerely,

SIDCN Signatories.

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