Church Urban Fund’s latest research report examines the impact of the current economic climate on community organisations in the most deprived areas of England.
It follows two reports published by Church Urban Fund in 2011, ‘At the Cutting Edge’ and ‘Holding on by a Shoestring’, which looked in detail at how public spending cuts were affecting people and organisations at a grassroots level. Returning a year later to the same organisations, we wanted to examine the ongoing effects of the economic climate.
We found that the current economic climate is having a significant impact upon community organisations and people living in deprived areas of England. This impact can be seen in the rising demand for services and the difficulty of securing funding.
However, in response to these difficulties, organisations are employing a range of survival strategies in order to meet rising demand with rising service provision.