Sophia Baker’s Post

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Chief Executive Officer at Savana Inc Ltd | Supporting survivors of sexual violence and abuse across Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire

Like many Charity CEO's my Monday morning thoughts tend to be preoccupied with funding and where we find the money to keep making a difference to the lives of those we exist to serve; in my case, those affected by sexual violence and abuse.. Last week the Budget proposed some fantastic measures and after chronic underfunding, investment in the public services that keep us alive, well, and flourishing is most definitely welcome. However the Budget does create big challenges for charities and social enterprises. At Savana funding is increasingly difficult to secure and we are faced with a triple threat of higher costs, reduced income and increasing demand. We are still dealing with the aftermath of Covid, high inflation, the cost of living and energy crises, and we await news from Ministry of Justice UK on the future of the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund (RASASF) to determine whether we will be able to offer some of our core services beyond the end of March. The proposed changes to National Insurance and minimum wage rates will cost us an additional £23,000 a year. This is money we just don't have and we can not continue to do more with even less. It is therefore essential that the Government consider making Charities exempt from the proposed changes, in the same way that they have for public services. The Prime Minister has stated that he is making it a priority to reset the relationship with civil society and build a new partnership that can harness our full potential to rebuild our country. He said that he wants a "relationship that recognises all that civil society does for us - at home and abroad - and aims to realise the enormous potential that exists in organisations like our charities and community groups". That recognition must start by acknowledging (and relieving) the burden that the proposed changes will place on small charities like Savana, limiting our impact and making it harder for us to 'Break the Silence' around Sexual Violence and create the change needed in order to meet the governments own objectives to reduce Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) by 50% within 10 years.

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ACEVO CEO Jane Ide OBE HonDUniv responds to the budget “The Chancellor spoke today about the difficult choices she’s made in order to stimulate growth, and we welcome announcements about increased funding for the NHS, education and housing which we know many in our sector have called for. However, we are deeply concerned about the impact the triple whammy increase in employers’ national insurance contributions, reduction of the threshold at which employers need to pay and increase in the national living wage will have on civil society organisations and the work they deliver. Civil society leaders have very limited choices to make in how to manage these significant increases in operating costs. The harsh reality is that many organizations may be forced to reduce staff, cut salaries, and, most importantly, scale back services for the very people they strive to support. If civil society is to partner with government in delivering the decade of national renewal, as the Prime Minister invited us to, it is important that civil society is strong and able to play its part and yet the changes announced today will affect the resilience of civil society and its vital role as a trusted partner in helping the government achieve its vision. We very much value the commitments from the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State, Lisa Nandy, to collaborate with the sector through the Civil Society Covenant and are engaging with government officials to discuss the ramifications of these announcements.”

Sophia Baker

Chief Executive Officer at Savana Inc Ltd | Supporting survivors of sexual violence and abuse across Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire

1mo

Andrew Heaward, I imagine this is significantly changing budgets for the applications of projects that you are supporting?

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