By Ben Robinson, Regional Manager – Yorkshire
This Small Charities Week, we are sharing some of the key insights that small charities from across the UK have shared with us so far this year. In this blog are just some of the key ideas we are hearing from our excellent Alliance of poverty-fighting small charities and social enterprises.
The CSJ Foundation is fortunate to, on average, visit two small charities every day – these outstanding grassroots organisations have both the best view of challenges facing the most disadvantaged and innovative solutions to complex situations.
However, as our recent report ‘Overlooked and Underfunded’ highlighted, too often excellent small charities are not part of the conversation on what needs to change. The CSJ Foundation looks to amplify great work happening away from Westminster, and to use the collective voice of small charities across the country to drive change for the most disadvantaged in society.
A few key issues we have heard about in the past 6 months are;
Crime and Policing remains No.1 issue
Following the CSJ’s 2023 Report, Two Nations, which contained polling that stated that crime was the worst thing about where people lived; crime and policing remain a key issue.
Frontline voices have shared with us that their local communities feel ‘lawless’ with limited police presence, and local residents fearful of their safety.
Many frontline voices call for ‘proper policing’ and share with us the huge impact this would have on their local community. Charities highlight the need for neighbourhood police officers, who are truly embedded within their communities. One charity even shared with us recently that they felt a murder committed on their estate may not have happened if there was a greater police presence in the area.
In addition, organisations across the country continue to work very effectively ‘upstream’, including working with young people to break cycles of domestic violence within families and using the power of sport to help young people break free of criminal exploitation.
Drug-related deaths rising, alongside access to synthetic drugs
The CSJ Alliance has long highlighted issues concerning addiction, and the CSJ is now set to conduct a large piece of policy work on Addiction across 2024 that numerous Alliance charities are already helping to shape.
Worryingly, charities across several regions report a rise in street deaths and continue to campaign on the need for alternative routes out of addiction.
Some charities call for the need for better employer-based support for people at risk of addiction relapse. To ‘catch’ people for support before they fall back into addiction.
In addition, a ‘pre-hab’ model is being suggested by charities, as presently too many die or become trapped in addiction before they reach the threshold for rehab support. Pre-hab would provide quality support for people trapped in addiction, ahead of rehab support would provide a new route out of addiction.
Charities warning of future family breakdown and the dangers of pornography
One charity shared with us that they have seen young people’s understanding of healthy relationships shift greatly in just the past few years, and they fear that access to harmful content online is the reason for this.
They shared that while previously young girls used to be able to identify ‘red flags’ in a relationship, now young people are presenting to the charity with much greater grey areas on what is acceptable and what is not.
Several charities have shared with us recently that access to pornography and harmful content on social media has a lot to answer to on this, and that there must be a greater focus on supporting young people with healthy relationships to avoid future family breakdowns.


