Charities 'hit by credit crunch'

The global credit crunch is starting to be felt by charities One in four charities reliant on donations reported a fall in public money and one in 12 of these had to make redundancies, a survey suggests. The poll, carried out by the Charity Commission, also showed one in five charities had experienced a rise in demand for services over the past year. Charities providing health, care for the elderly and social services saw a 21% surge in calls for help. The Commission said charities were being squeezed by the credit crunch. The independent charity regulator said 38% of charities reported being hit by the economic downturn of the last year in some way. More than half - 54% - were affected by increased costs for basics such as energy, food and travel. Charity Commission chairman Dame Suzi Leather said charities were facing a... [read full story]