Economic Downturn Hits Charities

Just about every sector of the economy and every household has been hit by the global economic downturn. But spare a thought for those who rely on charity to get by. The squeeze has spelt disaster for them too. Sara Merchant has more.

Just when some people are most in need, others have less to give. In these lean times, greater numbers are relying on charity. But donations are getting harder to raise. Judy Nord hopes her card-making will some day raise money for charity. Her cancer diagnosis forced her to give up paid work. And when she’s not receiving treatment in hospital, she is at home, often worrying about how to survive on benefits of less than 60 pounds a week. The cost of living has risen sharply. And for the first time in her life, she is dependent on help from family and from charity.

I saw a lot of people out there that really really do need that support. I wouldn’t have this roof over my head still, that, you know, that would have been gone, cause I just wouldn’t be able to afford the mortgage. I wouldn’t be able to afford the bills or anything. I don’t know. I don’t know where I’ll be.

Charities are being squeezed in two ways-- demand for their services has increased by 72% in the last twelve months, but almost a third have suffered falls in donations. That means many charities are having to cut costs by making staff redundant.

Gee, for the governments are bailing out the banks who have caused this problem, they need to think about the victims of recession and our work and therefore a financial package to support our work with the victims of recession is important.

Corporate donations from the city are dwindling, and falling property prices mean the value of legacies is diminishing. It means there’s more pressure on individuals to be generous.

Charity begins at home, I think, at the moment.

(I think we will.)

If we could afford it, we would donate it.

I think I would volunteer as well in different ways than probably just giving money.

I still give. You know, I give every month through like on direct debit, so now I don't get it affect me much at all.

As tougher times threaten, charities just can’t afford to keep losing.

Sara Merchant Sky News.

參考中文翻譯：

經濟體中的每一個部門和每一個家庭都受到經濟低迷的沖擊。但是想一下那些依靠慈善救濟來生存的人。經濟危機對他們也造成了巨大的災難。Sara Merchant來報道詳細內容。

當一些人最需要幫助的時候，其他人卻沒有什么可以給予的。在這個困難的時候，更多的人需要救濟，卻更難得到捐贈。Judy Nord希望有一天她能夠募集到慈善資金。她身患癌癥，不得不放棄帶薪工作。不在醫院接受治療的時候，她待在家里，一直擔心依靠每周60英鎊怎么生存。生活成本急劇上升。在她生命中第一次，她要依靠家庭和慈善救濟的幫助。

我看到許多人真的非常非常需要幫助。我也已經沒有房子住了，你知道，房子會被收回的，因為我無力支付抵押貸款。我沒錢支付賬單和任何東西。我不知道，我不知道我今后該怎么辦。

慈善機構兩天之內就變得資金薄弱，對慈善救濟的需求在過去的12個月里增加了72%，但是幾乎三分之一的慈善機構受到的捐贈減少。這意味著許多慈善機構要通過減少員工來削減成本。

現在政府在拯救那些導致這些問題的銀行，但是他們也需要考慮一下經濟蕭條的受害者，考慮一下我們的工作，然后出臺一套財政方案來支持經濟蕭條的受害者，這是非常重要的。

該城市公司的捐贈減少，下降的財產價格意味這遺產的價值縮水。這導致個人面對這更大的壓力，很難慷慨起來。

我認為，目前救濟要從家庭內部開始。
（我認為我們會的。）

如果我們能可以支付的起，我們會捐贈的。

我認為我會通過各種不同的途徑來幫助別人，而不一定只是給錢。

我現在仍然會捐贈。你知道，每個月我都直接通過借記卡捐錢，所以現在根本不會影響到我。

隨著形勢更加嚴峻，慈善救濟款越來越少。