Dominik Opalinski considers the impact of Brexit on the charity sector
Leading financial and political commentators are still speculating as to what a post-Brexit UK would look like outside the EU, and the type of relationship the UK will have with Europe in the future. Such a prolonged period of uncertainty inevitably presents challenges, not least for the diverse not-for-profit and charitable sector in the UK.
Funding
The main economic risk for UK charities and not-for-profit groups is the prospect of losing hitherto direct access to sources of funding from the EU, or indirectly from a donor organisation that is itself funded by the EU in some way. Combined with the impact of prolonged financial volatility in the UK economy, this may only discombobulate an important yet already hard pressed sector of our society.
Prior to the referendum, research published on behalf of the Remain campaign suggested that charities stood to lose in excess of £200m of funding (based on the amount that 249 charities received in 2014) if the UK were to leave the EU. Recently, the National Council for Voluntary
