Stay up to date on COVID-19 (coronavirus)

We are working hard to keep you up to date on what NAVCA, our members and the Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership are doing amid the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

Please read our blog which we are updating regularly with information, and follow us on Twitter where we are sharing lots of different resources and sources of information.

The main sources of accurate and up to date information are:

£350 billion financial support for economy

The government has unveiled a package of financial measures to shore up the economy against the coronavirus impact.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak told a press conference on Tuesday 17 March: “I want to reassure every British citizen this government will give you all the tools you need to get through this.”

The measures that Mr Sunak has introduced for businesses include £330bn in state-backed loans for all businesses, £20bn in other aid, a business rates holiday, and grants for retailers and pubs.

For individuals, ‘mortgage holidays’ were announced, which offer home-owners a three month break from paying their mortgage and the government has pledged to protect renters with similar measures. Read more.

We are still working with others in the sector to push for an announcement on help for VCS organisations. NAVCA CEO Jane Ide has been involved in conversations with Cabinet Ministers and senior officials along with colleagues from other parts of the VCSE sector. We'll keep campaigning for support for our colleagues, who are doing so much to help in their local communities and across the country - see below.

Speaking up for the sector

There has been little mention so far, from ministers or officials, of the important role that charities and voluntary groups are playing, or of additional resources being allocated to our sector.

As part of the Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership, NAVCA has teamed up with NCVO to research what work is being carried out during the coronavirus crisis by the VCSE sector, and what extra resource is needed. We have issued a survey to our members, which closed today and if you are not a member of NAVCA, you can feed into this research by completing this short survey.

NCVO has proposed a number of ‘asks’ to the government which will help to protect charities from financial hardship caused by the coronavirus crisis. These include an emergency grant fund, deferral of NICs and VAT payments and an extension of the business interruption loan scheme to apply to all charities. These asks have been supported by Vicky Foxcroft MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Civil Society, who has written to the Chancellor asking for clarity on financial support for the voluntary sector, and has called on the government to implement NCVO’s asks. You can see her letter here. Other MPs making similar calls include Conservative Iain Duncan Smith MP and Liberal Democrat leadership contender Wera Hobouse MP.

Home working: preparing your organisation and staff

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has published guidance to help organisations and individuals prepare to work from home during the coronavirus crisis.

As organisations will be encouraging more of their staff to work from home, new cyber security challenges are arising. This includes using new software, logging into online collaboration tools and the risks arising from lost devices, as well as phishing emails relating to coronavirus.

You can read this guidance here. The Directory of Social Change (DSC) has also very kindly shared its guidance for home workers, which you can find here – thanks folks!

Finally, check out this useful list of online tools compiled by Charity Digital News, which could really help you and your teams work remotely.

There's also a new space on the NAVCA website - our Resource Hub has useful links and resources for VCSE organisations, stored under four headings:

More resources are being added as we find them or develop them so do please bookmark this site.

Funders pledge to be flexible, financially understanding and friendly during crisis

London Funders has issued a statement in which it outlines a number of pledges it is making to grantees, committing to being flexible, financially understanding and friendly during the Covid-19 crisis. More than 150 funders have joined the initiative by signing up to the pledges. You can read the statement, and see who is signed up, here.

Our funding section is brought to you by   Community Matters Yorkshire .

Co-operative Bank Customer Donation Fund

The Co-operative Bank offer all their Community Directplus account holders the opportunity to apply for funding through their unique Customer Donation Fund. Deadline 31 March.

Worshipful Company of Weavers Benevolent Fund

The Worshipful Company of Weavers Benevolent Fund's principal aim is to support people in trouble, particularly young offenders and ex-offenders, and other disadvantaged young people. Preference is given to pump priming new projects, especially those which are innovatory and can serve as a model elsewhere. Deadline 31 March.

Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation

The Charitable Foundation has two priority areas:. Alleviating poverty, and Improving health / saving lives. It supports these priorities by making donations of up to £2,000 to UK registered charities, recommended by the Society’s members and colleagues. Deadline 31 March.

Jephcott Charitable Trust

The Jephcott Charitable Trust makes grants for charitable purposes in four main areas of funding: population control, the natural environment, education and health. Deadline 31 March.

Association for Industrial Archaeology - Restoration Grants

Thanks to a series of generous donations the AIA can make available Restoration Grants of up to £20,000for a range of historic and industrial archaeology restoration projects. Deadline 31 March.

Clinks has produced this helpful blog in response to questions and requests for guidance from the charities and organisations they support, about keeping staff and volunteers safe amid the coronavirus crisis, and how to minimise the potential spread of the virus within prisons.

National Voices has written to its members and has published the letter as a blog, highlighting the life-saving services that the VCSE sector is providing during the coronavirus crisis.