Cuts to services in the voluntary and community sector hit £2million

NICVA’s CutsWatchNI project, established to monitor the impact of cuts to services provided by the voluntary and community sector, has identified over 30 funding cuts totalling £2,027,468 resulting in job losses and reduction or discontinuation of services.
 
NICVA’s Chief Executive Seamus McAleavey said; 
 
“Unfortunately we suspect that the £2million cuts we know about through CutsWatchNI are the tip of the iceberg. The voluntary and community sector is not naïve – we know that we cannot escape the realities of the budget package the NI Executive was presented with. However voluntary and community organisations, which provide essential frontline services to many vulnerable people, families and communities, should be treated fairly and not be viewed as an easy place to make cuts by budget holders faced with making difficult decisions. Voluntary and community organisations offer smart solutions to some of the most pressing issues facing people in Northern Ireland and in most cases the services delivered by voluntary and community organisations are effective, efficient and provide real value for money.  It is ironic that NICVA had to establish a programme to monitor cuts in the sector when the impacts of tough economic times mean that many organisations are reporting steep rises in demand for the services they provide.”
 
One such organisation is The Family Fund, who has recently seen a cut to funding resulting in at least 200 less families with severely disabled children getting help this year than last year.
 
The Family Fund is the UK’s largest provider of grants to low income families raising severely disabled or seriously ill children. They are funded across the four UK Governments. Last year the Fund received a total of £33 million and helped over 56,700 families, 2,833 of these were in N Ireland.
 
The Family Fund has lost 11.25% of its core funding from the Physical and Sensory Disability Unit (DHSSPS). This is a very significant cut of around £200,000. The funding is used to provide families with severely disabled children, children with long term illnesses and/or complex needs, with grants to purchase essential equipment such as washing machines, fridges, bedding or contribute to much needed family breaks. A family can apply to the Fund if they have evidence to entitlement to one key benefit such as tax credits, housing benefits, employment support allowance or income support. For every pound given to the Fund, more than 91 pence is used directly for grants for families.
 
Family Fund Country Manager Eddie Casement said;

 “We are gravely concerned that we will not be able help the number of families we helped last year. The Family Fund expects that the cut in funding, coupled with the increased numbers of applications coming in, will mean that from early 2012 funds allocated for the year 2011/12 will have been spent. This reduction in funding means at least 200 families will not receive help. This is even more difficult as there is a 19% increase in applications from vulnerable families across the Northern Ireland”.