Charities face crisis during UK shutdown as sports fundraising dries up

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

VIDEO SHOWS: FILE FOOTAGE OF PEOPLE TAKING PART IN THE WINGS FOR LIFE MARATHON RACE, STILL PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE 2019 LONDON MARATHON, INTERVIEW WITH HOSPICE UK DIRECTOR OF INCOME GENERATION, CATHERINE BOSWORTH, FILE FOOTAGE OF ELIUD KIPCHOGE AND BRIGID KOSGEI WITH THEIR TROPHIES AFTER WINNING THE 2019 LONDON MARATHON, FILE FOOTAGE OF MO FARAH DOING A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY AHEAD OF THE 2018 LONDON MARATHON

SHOWS:

MUNICH, GERMANY (FILE - MAY 5, 2019) (MONTUR GMBH - ACCESS ALL)

1. VARIOUS OF RACE PARTICIPANTS AT THE STARTING LINE

TAICHUNG, TAIWAN (FILE - MAY 5, 2019) (MONTUR GMBH - ACCESS ALL)

2. PARTICIPANTS SETTING OFF FROM THE STARTING LINE

VARIOUS LOCATIONS (FILE - MAY 5, 2019) (MONTUR GMBH - ACCESS ALL)

3. VARIOUS OF RACE PARTICIPANTS RUNNING

LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - APRIL 28, 2019) (REUTERS PICTURES - ACCESS ALL) (MUTE)

4. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF THE START OF THE LONDON MARATHON ELITE MEN'S RACE

5. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF RUNNERS CROSSING TOWER BRIDGE DURING THE LONDON MARATHON

6. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF THE FINISH LINE AT THE LONDON MARATHON

HERTFORDSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM (APRIL 3, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) HOSPICE UK DIRECTOR OF INCOME GENERATION, CATHERINE BOSWORTH, SAYING:

"I mean we're very pleased that the (London) Marathon has been postponed rather than completely cancelled. We hope that it will still go ahead in October. I suppose that like everybody we'll need to see where we are. Obviously, for Hospice UK and many of our hospice charities that we represent it has a huge impact on our ability to generate funds right now. And of course, at a time when hospices in particular being at the forefront of healthcare and such an important part of our healthcare system need all the funding that we can get. It's quite a stark figure that since the beginning of March we estimate that hospice funding, hospice income is down to the tune of about 70 million pounds in just that short time. So, we really are in a sort of crisis mode."

8. WHITE FLASH

9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) HOSPICE UK DIRECTOR OF INCOME GENERATION, CATHERINE BOSWORTH, SAYING:

"The London Marathon is such an important event for so many charities. I think last year it raised around 66 million pounds for charities. So, it's a colossal, significantly important event. For a charity such as Hospice UK last year we generated about half a million pounds 500k from the marathon from our incredible runners and that's out of a total event income of about 600,000 to 700,000 (pounds). So, it's a big, big proportion of what we do and therefore has a huge impact going forward on, you know, affecting our finances generally across the board."

10. WHITE FLASH

11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) HOSPICE UK DIRECTOR OF INCOME GENERATION, CATHERINE BOSWORTH, SAYING:

"They (hospices) are having to look at taking advantage of some of the schemes that are out there like the furloughing scheme for non-frontline staff but that then has a knock-on effect on what they're able to do, particularly fundraising. If you haven't got any fundraisers, then you can't do anymore fundraising. But they're just at the moment trying to keep the doors open. We're looking at alternative ways of generating funds for the hospice sector in the meantime. And we hope that we'll be able to do that soon so we can keep our hospices open, keep our hospices as such a key part of the community."

12. WHITE FLASH

13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) HOSPICE UK DIRECTOR OF INCOME GENERATION, CATHERINE BOSWORTH, SAYING:

"Many hospices and Hospice UK we've cancelled fundraising events for the foreseeable future but we're still hoping that they will run towards the end of the summer and into the autumn. If that isn't the case it does present really, really difficult challenges for hospices and I fear that yes we're going to be seeing services closing so we're not going to be able to help all the people that need it at a time when demand is going to be increasing quite dramatically. So yes, it's a huge problem in the short term, we hope that as many hospices as we can help to stay open, to continue to help people in their communities will be able to for the foreseeable future. But there will come a point when funds are just going to run out and then I fear we will start to see services severely impacted."

VARIOUS LOCATIONS (MAY 5, 2019) (MONTUR GMBH - ACCESS ALL)

14. VARIOUS OF RACE PARTICIPANTS RUNNING AND WALKING

LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - APRIL 29, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

15. VARIOUS OF LONDON MARATHON MEN'S WINNER ELIUD KIPCHOGE POSING FOR THE CAMERAS

16. WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S MARATHON, BRIGID KOSGEI WITH HER TROPHY

17. PHOTOGRAPHERS

18. ELIUD KIPCHOGE AND BRIGID KOSGEI WITH TROPHY

LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - APRIL 17, 2018) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

19. MO FARAH JOGGING ALONG RIVER THAMES IN FRONT OF TOWER BRIDGE

20. VARIOUS OF FARAH POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

21. CLOSE OF FARAH NAME BIB

22. FARAH POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

23. PHOTOGRAPHERS TAKING PHOTOS

24. VARIOUS OF FARAH POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

STORY: The postponement of major sporting events during the coronavirus pandemic has left some British charities concerned about their survival and being able to deliver services to vulnerable people.

The London Marathon last year raised over 66 million pounds ($81.21 million) for more than 750 charities but its postponement from April 26 to Oct. 4 has left charities facing a shortage of funds at a time when services are under pressure.

The postponement of other major sporting events such as the Premier League is also hitting organisations hard at a time when charity shops have been forced to close during the lockdown to fight the virus, which has infected 47,806 people and killed 4,934 in the United Kingdom.

The concern in the charity sector is widespread, with 50% of respondents to a survey from the Directory of Social Change reporting that their organisations would go bust within six months without additional help.

Seventy percent said they would go bust by the end of the year without financial assistance if the lockdown continues.

Catherine Bosworth, director of income generation for Hospice UK, told Reuters the organisation earns around 500,000 pounds each year from the London Marathon, over 70% of its annual income from fundraising.

She added that hospices had reported a dip in income worth 70 million pounds since the start of March and many would have to start cutting services if fundraising events continued to be cancelled.

"We really are in crisis mode," she said.

"If events cannot run later in the summer, I fear we'll see services closing so we won't be able to help all the people who need it at a time that demand is increasing quite dramatically. There will come a point when funds are just going to run out."

(Production: Richard Martin, Tim Hart)