Medical research charities suffered “catastrophic losses” over pandemic
UK medical research charities have suffered “catastrophic losses” of income to the tune of £292 million over the course of the pandemic, it has been revealed.
The Science and Technology Committee has begun an investigation into the role of the UK’s technology and science sector into the national COVID-19 recovery stage.
Speaking to the committee, Hilary Reynolds, the chief executive of the Association of Medical Research Charities, told of massive delays and cancellations to charity work in the past year.
How has this money been lost?
Non-essential shop closures, social distancing rules, and wider economic concerns mean that charities have not been able to raise funds in the way they had previously.
The shift to online fundraising has not been able to cover this.
This means that medical research charities have collectively had to cut £270 million worth of research spending since the pandemic began.
What has been the impact on medical research in the UK?
The medical charity sector funds over half of the medical research that happens in the UK, so research and trials have been hugely disrupted.
Hilary Reynolds said that her Association’s members had to delay or cancel 70 per cent of their clinical trials at the start of the pandemic. A third of the Association’s charities have cancelled future projects altogether, and half expect to cut their future research funding by an average of 37 per cent.
Charity reserves have also been impacted, so they will be less resistant to future losses, or future emergencies like COVID-19.
Hilary Reynolds called on the government to “avoid the long term COVID shadow”, and to recognise and support the charity sector until normal fundraising can resume.
How will the sector recover?
As restrictions lift and people return to charity shops and fundraisers, fundraising should return to pre-pandemic levels. But it may take years to return to that point, and the delays to research and trials may set back important breakthroughs back for decades.
Hilary Reynolds wants views around the charity sector to change.
“We are not a ‘nice-to-have”. We are an essential and integral part of the ecosystem. And we have a temporary emergency.”
