Charities feel the credit crunch

Leeds Jewish Housing Association
Provides affordable housing
No accounts available

LJHA was forced to re-think a £40 million housing project last month, due to funding issues. The project was initially intended to include houses for sale, but chief executive Sheila Saunders said: "The scheme was to sell for a profit in order to afford more housing. We won't be doing any properties for sale now. I have been running the association for 21 years and this is the most difficult time since the last housing crisis of 1989 to 1992.

"The contradiction of it all is that more people need affordable housing now, so the demands are double but they are harder to meet."

 

Jewish Blind and Disabled
Improves living conditions of the visually impaired or disabled
Gross Income (Jan-Dec 06): £2,890,114
Total expenditure (Jan-Dec 06): £1,655,621

Hazel Kaye, chief executive, said: "We have noticed a reduction in the amounts donated.

"On a more positive note, we are delighted to report that the number of our donors is still strong, which reflects our robust supporter base within the community."

 

Donisthorpe Hall, Leeds
Residential care home
Gross Income (Jan-Dec 06): £5,310,863
Total expenditure (Jan-Dec 06): £5,329,236

Geoffrey Caplan, chairman of the building committee, said: "The cost of meat has risen by nearly 20 per cent. We are more and more dependent on the goodwill of the community, but people are less able to support us. Middle-class donors are unable to donate as they did so we are constantly trying to find ways to bridge the gap."

Two-thirds of residents are funded by local authorities, whose payments had not increased, despite the rising costs faced by the home.

Chief executive Carol Ann Whitehead added: "Residents' fees are set a year in advance, but the increase in our costs has been steep. We are now looking at all our outgoings to see if we can make any savings, but are not compromising on quality.

"At the moment we are able to meet our costs as we have 99.9 per cent occupancy. It would be more concerning if we had voids."

 

Stapley Jewish Residential and Nursing Home
Nursing home for the Liverpool community
No accounts available

The home is facing increased costs due to the rising prices of fuel, which has made food deliveries more expensive. Administrator Terry Johnson said: "We cannot allow the residents to suffer in any way so we just have to absorb these increases."

World Jewish Relief
Helps Jewish communities aboard, co-ordinates disaster response
Gross Income (July 06 - June 07): £7,687,626
Total expenditure (July 06 - June 07): £7,532,190

Chief executive, Paul Anticoni, said: "Most of WJR's work involves supporting Jewish communities in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and our work in these regions is affected by the weak dollar and rising inflation.

"In terms of helping more Jews get out of poverty and helping to rebuild their communities, I am not as optimistic as I was two years ago. We are working a lot harder to stay where we are. But the person at the end of the line is getting less.

"Either we have to give more people less, or fewer people the same. You go to your donors to raise £500,000 for a community centre. By the time you've raised the money, it has gone up to £750,000. But you can't go back to people to say ‘can we have some more please?' We are constantly having to make some tough judgment calls."

 

Norwood
Supports those with learning disabilities
Gross Income (April 06 - Mar 07): £35,020,000
Total expenditure (April 06 - Mar 07): £32,353,000

Judith Katzler, director of business development, said: "We, like any other organisation, are feeling the pinch and are doing all we can to minimise our operating costs.

"Many large donors will have been affected by the slowdown in the property industry and our small donors will be seeing increases in their household bills.

"In addition, we are having to fight for every penny from the local authorities who purchase our services in order to secure fees that we believe are fair."

Jewish Marriage Council
Helps individuals, couples and families
Gross income (Jan- Dec 2006): £112,591
Total expenditure (Jan - Dec 2006): £64,811

Co-ordinator, Deborah Ellis, said there has been an increase in the numbers seeking counselling as a result of the crunch. She added: "We can't necessarily reveal the reasons our clients come to us; it could be a result of better advertising and new staff, but there is a rise in clients."

 

Jewish Care
Helps the elderly, frail and sick in London and the South East
Gross Income (Apr 06 - Mar 07): £45,215,000
Total expenditure (Apr 2006 - Mar 2007): £47,556,000

Recent appeals have raised less than in previous years, while expenses are rising. Chairman Stephen Zimmerman said: "Funding from government and local authorities is becoming increasingly restricted, making a difficult time even harder. We are fully aware that we and our community will face difficult decisions as the economic climate worsens, so we will do all we can to make sure that the services we offer are effectively and efficiently run."

A recent boxing event raised £10,000 less than a similar event last year, and its Pesach appeal was also down on the previous year.

 

Brighton and Hove Jewish Welfare Board
Supports residents suffering hardship. It also runs a day centre for the elderly
Gross Income (Jan-Dec 2006): £415,679
Total expenditure (Jan-Dec2006): £103,979

Treasurer, Alan Style, said: "It looks as if our annual appeal might be a bit down on last year and the value of our investments has gone down. The cost of us supporting people has also increased, as have transport costs. But we don't rely on donations as most of our funding comes from legacies and on properties donated and which we rent to Jewish people in need at a subsidised rate."

 

Chai Cancer Care
Provides complementary therapies, educational programmes, support and care
Gross income (Apr 06-Mar 07):
£1,465, 575
Gross expenditure (Apr 06-Mar 07): £1,013,307

Proceeds from two recent annual events should have between them accounted for eight per cent of the charity's annual income.

"But the two events were both down about 10 per cent on the amount they have yielded in past years," said chief executive Elaine Kerr. "If that trend continues, we will have a problem."

At the same time, the number of people seeking help has risen 100 per cent in the last year.

"Increasingly people are living longer with cancer so we are keeping our clients longer. If donations are going down and we need to raise more than we did last year we have a real challenge on our hands."

 

Hull Jewish Community Care
Care home with 25 residents
Gross Income (Jan - Dec 2006): £431,426
Total expenditure (Jan - Dec 2006): £470,866

Gerald Silver, honorary treasurer, said: "We have felt the effects of increasing fuel, food and transport costs, but in terms of donations we have not been affected as yet. We are concerned but at the moment we are not having to scale back any of our services. We might have to do so in the future so we are studying things to make sure we are getting the best deals we can on everything."

 

UJIA
Helps to guarantee a sustainable and positive future for the people of the Galil and the UK community
Gross income (Oct 06-Sept 07): £17,943,613
Gross expenditure (Oct 06-Sept 07): £14,084,977

Chief executive Doug Krikler said: "The trend is for income to be increasing. This year we hope to be able to consolidate the increases we made last year, if not even exceed last year's total. Looking at the campaign as a whole, we are not seeing any specific impact of the economic crunch.

"Next year, we want to present the community with another ambitious programme of activities. Our costs are now 12.5 per cent of turnover and we have made significant progress in reducing them. We are involved in the Jewish Leadership Council scheme to share resources and cut costs. Its value is something that we need to recognise now more than ever."

 

Magen David Adom
Raises funds in Britain for equipment for Israel's ambulance service
Gross income (2006): £9,314,511
Gross expenditure (2006): £3,728,377

Chief executive Eli Benson said: "Last year, donors gave us marvellous support even though there was no emergency, raising more than £6 million.

"I can't see doing that this year. It's not that they haven't got the money. It's the feeling that things are not so good. We have found that people may be giving a little less but there's nothing in it. What worries me is what will happen next year more than this."

Source for financial figures: the Charity Commission. Additional reporting: Alex Barnes and Craig Silver