Member Article

North East’s COCO joins bid to save small international development charity sector

North East based charity COCO has joined thousands of other small international development charities across the UK in their call for Government support. This comes following the announcement that, due to lack of financial support, nearly half (45%) of the UK’s small charities working with the world’s poorest people are expected to close.

Surveys from the Small International Development Charities Network show that 89% of these charities are on the frontline, responding to COVID-19. The crisis has had a disproportionate effect on the sector, which is seeing a 27% increase in demand and a 33% loss in income.

Small international development charities support millions of people across the globe and employ tens of thousands of people in the UK. COCO’s staff, volunteers and supporters have pulled together to get through a difficult time. At the height of the pandemic, 80% of COCO’s staff were furloughed and the charity closed the office that had been their base for 16 years.

COCO provides sustainable sources of quality education to children living in poor and marginalised communities in Kenya, and Tanzania. The charity believes that education gives children the best possible chances of breaking the cycle of poverty. Since being founded in 2000 by Steve Cram CBE and British Army Major Jim Panton, COCO has raised over £5 million to fund small, sustainable projects impacting the lives of over 200,000 people around the world.

COVID-19 is a global crisis, which requires a global response. In recent months, COCO’s work overseas has sharply refocused to find new and innovative ways to adapt to coronavirus, and work with communities to fight back. As regulations and lockdowns put additional pressure on communities already living in poverty, COCO has provided emergency support to ensure families have food to eat, schools can continue to pay staff even when closed to students, and young girls are kept safe from exploitation while schools are shut.

In the North East, COCO offers volunteering opportunities to students at Newcastle University and Northumbria University and works in partnership with local schools to raise awareness of global issues with young people in the region. Under “normal” circumstances, COCO would be putting on major fundraising events with several local venues for supporters across the region.

Lucy Philipson, CEO of COCO said: “COCO joined the Small But Mighty campaign to highlight how important the work of small charities is in supporting some of the most vulnerable people in the world. This pandemic has highlighted the need for the support that COCO provides to marginalised communities. In Tanzania, there has been a significant increase in teenage pregnancies while schools stayed closed, but thanks to our gender empowerment programme, no female students in our partner schools fell pregnant. In Kenya, we provided emergency food support to a community to prevent starvation after markets closed. In the same community, families who had previously taken part in our sustainable agriculture training have had enough food for themselves, their families, and to help their neighbours. We can only have this impact if we can raise funds and COVID-19 has prevented fundraising events. We lost £130K in 5 months from event cancellation and this has slowed our progress significantly. Small charities make a significant difference and are necessary to improve and save lives.”

A collapse of the small international development sector would mean a collapse in their impact overseas, in the UK and in East Africa. The Small But Mighty campaign is calling on the UK Government to commit to a £50 million package of support over two years (this year and next), funded using the existing Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) budget. It will ensure the survival of these charities, including COCO.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Chris Lines .