Lets support those charities hardest hit by coronavirus pandemic

Exmouth author Emma Richardson. (Image: Emma Richardson)

It’s that time of year when hot on the heels of the recent budget, money and finance are never far from our minds.

One field that has seen its bank balances shrink but which has stayed largely under the radar of the general public, is the charities sector.

Whether that’s from reduced fundraising through lack of public events – for example the London Marathon, or through closure of retail outlets in the form of Charity shops.

I have seen first-hand through working for one such charity how the struggle to stay afloat is affecting not only the amount work they can undertake but also the levels of funding that enable the charity to keep going.

There’s no easy solution to the cash-flow problem right now, because all sectors of our society are crying out for better funding, and there is only so much money in the pot. (However, some pots do seem to be larger than others, and perhaps if those multi-nationals and ‘lockdown winners’ with the biggest pots paid their fair share into society, there would be more in the pot for the needy.)

So I admire anyone who chooses here and now, to get a new not-for-profit organisation off the ground.

One such person is Christian Tebbutt a local music teacher who is in the process of setting up ‘Outdare’ a new Devon based youth 'music and mental health' charity. Outdare aims to offer a safe space for young people to discover and develop a love of music and to be able to seek support for mental health.

Christian is currently running a Gofundme campaign to generate enough funds to launch phase one of the project- a website. He intends to offer such things as online instrumental lessons, musical instrument donations to young people that can't afford them and making available online recording/ music production software.

In addition, the site will have a wellbeing hub for young people to explore. I think it’s particularly important for our young people to be able to access creative outlets and even more so when linked to health and wellbeing.

If you’d like to support what Christian is trying to set up or just to find out more, you could visit Gofundme.com and search Outdare Music.

Charity is such a tricky subject. There are hundreds I could donate to if I had the money and I sometimes find it overwhelming that I can’t support every good cause I see.

So I have to remind myself -in the words of Dr Loretta Scott, “You can't help everyone, but.... everyone can help someone.” Perhaps when the world opens up again we can all make an effort to support the charities sector even in a small way…I know Oxfam sells great chocolate.