Surrey charities say council funding cuts to their services are having a 'devastating' impact
Citizen's Advice Woking and Home-Start Runnymede and Woking have spoken out about their struggles
Last updated 1st Mar 2024
Charities across Surrey say council funding cuts to their services are having a 'devastating' impact on local communities.
Both Home-Start Runnymede and Woking as well as Citizen's Advice Woking are among the charities who have faced cuts.
Citizen's Advice Woking say they've received a funding cut from £200,000 a year to just £30,000 from Woking Borough Council, who have issued a section 114 notice.
This notice is often used to signify a council has declared bankruptcy.
The council say they will provide the charity with an 'additional package of support'.
They hope this will assist them in finding alternative financial streams and transition away from council funding.
Home-Start Runnymede and Woking say they've received funding cuts from both Surrey County Council and Woking Borough Council.
Their Charity Manager Sarah Beasley said:
"In terms of the numbers of families and support we're able to offer, this is now having to be reduced.
"Last year we supported over 350 families, we won't be able to do that this year, it will only be around 200 families.
"This year we're having to turn referrals down and its really heart-breaking when you receive these referrals from people really struggle and unable to find support elsewhere.
"The reality is, services are going to have to be cut, which means fewer people are going to be supported which ultimately means more people will end up in crisis.
"This will lead to more pressure on statutory services, when people are in crisis - this actually will cost more money to fix."
Laurence Oates - Chair of Trustees at Citizen's Advice Woking said:
"There's this unmet need out there and people just can't get through to us. We are going to have to reduce our services, reduce our accessibility.
"Instead of being open 5 days a week, it'll have to be 3 mornings a week.
"We've got to get used to this new world now - into fundraising which is a daunting task but hopefully we can keep going.
"All of us charities now are going to compete in this difficult market which is getting more difficult all the time, to try and bring in funds from other sources."
Cllr Will Forster, Deputy Leader of the Woking Borough Council, said:
“Citizens Advice Woking do great work to support some of the most vulnerable in our borough. Therefore, despite the council’s financial situation, we are providing an extensive and support package totalling £229,000.
“This offer includes office accommodation and business rates which they would otherwise have to pay.
“We are doing everything in our gift to support Citizens’ Advice Woking. However, the council cannot continue to provide the level of support it has done in the past to voluntary and charity organisations as it must live within its means and focus on core priorities.
“Woking is lucky to have many voluntary and charity organisations in the borough and we would encourage residents who can to support these groups through the Woking Community Fund, administered by the Community Foundation for Surrey, which awards grants that help to regenerate local communities and build community capacity and partnerships to meet local needs, particularly for those that are excluded or vulnerable.”
Clare Curran, Surrey County Council Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Lifelong Learning said:
“We understand the concerns raised by Home Start and we appreciate the important work that they do, which is why we sourced over £90k from our own budgets in September 2022 to extend the provision after the original 2-year investment contract from their main grant funder expired.
“This was a temporary solution, as we made clear at the time, because we are not the main grant provider. In addition, whilst our finances are stable thanks to our transformation over the last few years, like the rest of local government we’re not immune from the effects of an unprecedented rise in inflation and costs at a time where demand on our services continue to rise, and this naturally impacts how we can spend our budget.
“Both we and Home Start did our utmost to find an additional contribution, including discussions with all other relevant funding bodies involved with the service, but unfortunately this was unsuccessful.”