David: As you know, charities are third sector organisations. They play a role that the public and private sectors haven’t yet been able to fulfil.
Charities are often more flexible, and more responsive to local need – but they are also businesses. Like most other businesses, we have had to respond to external pressures – adapting our services whilst remaining true to our core purpose.
Recently, we have had to scale back our operations – we still employ over 200 people – but this is down from the figure of over 300 a few years ago.
Volunteers and donations are, of course, central to our work; our charity shops are run on commercial lines.
During the pandemic, we received a lot of support – business rate relief on our shops in Plymouth, Ivybridge, Saltash, and Newton Abbot, for example, as well as grant support. All hugely welcome when the income from the shops dried up overnight!
And in common with businesses across the South West, we obtained a CBIL crisis loan – which we will have to work hard to pay back over the coming years. So we have had to become leaner as an organisation – but there are limits to the ways we can cut the costs of delivering our services.
The needs and vulnerabilities of the young people we support remain our priority – it’s why we exist.