Calls for Jersey residents to support island charities as donations fall

The Association of Jersey Charities Chairperson Marcus Liddiard says charities are "eating into their reserves" to meet increasing demand. Credit: ITV Channel

Many Jersey charities say they are struggling to stay afloat due to decreasing donations, according to the Chairperson of the island's Charity Association.

Marcus Liddiard explains they are already vulnerable as they have not yet recovered from the cost of living crisis and the Covid pandemic.

He says the closure of Jersey's Recovery College and Beresford Street Kitchen scaling back its services shows the fall in charitable support is "really starting to bite the industry".

The Association of Jersey Charities (AOJC) ran a survey toward the end of last year to see how good causes were coping with the cost of living challenges.

Out of 60 respondents, more than half said that fundraising had dropped in the previous 12 months and around nine in ten stated their costs had increased from the same point last year.

With 79% of charities expecting funds to drop in the future, Mr Liddiard says residents need to do their part to help charities survive.

He explains: "Being a low tax jurisdiction, these things aren't essentially supported by government, they have to be supported elsewhere, and so it comes down to us.

"We can't always look to the government and corporate. We have to look to all those things, including individuals in Jersey, to try and stand up for our charities and make Jersey the great place that it is.

"The cost of living challenge means that people have less money to offer charities, so it really is a difficult time, but hopefully Jersey can step up to help the charities in their time of need."

"We don't always want to look to government because it shouldn't always be on them, but government could do more as well." - Marcus Liddiard Credit: ITV Channel

This week, Jersey Post's chairman Kevin Keen took to social media to call on islanders to do more to help struggling charities.

He says: "In finding excuses to do nothing, many of us missed the opportunity for us as individuals to do more.

"I appreciate that higher interest rates are making it difficult for some but not all, but most of us could find £5 or £10 a month to make a monthly donation to a local charity close to our hearts."

Mr Liddiard also pushes back at the idea that charities which cannot sustain themselves should not be supported.

He adds: "Jersey has always been a fantastic place for supporting charity. When we've mentioned this before, people have challenged us saying if charities can't sustain themselves, they don't deserve to exist or are there too many charities.

"It's a valid challenge, we need to make sure that all charities are as efficient as possible and as collaborative as possible, but I really don't think there are too many charities of Jersey.

"Jersey has the same challenges that any other population of a similar size has and so we have to have that level of charities to cover those challenges."

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