WITH ONE in 10 UK charities facing bankruptcy this year, the charity sector is one of the worst-hit by the pandemic.

However several rural charities have been given extra help by the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust, which has just donated a further £235,000 to support them through the fund-raising slump.

This latest tranche takes the Trust’s total donations to £1,092,500 in 2020, with 20 organisations receiving funding over the year. The increased donations were made possible by an additional £750,000 pledge from the Mutual.

The funding has helped to support a range of initiatives, including projects that tackle isolation, support mental health and wellbeing, and enrich young lives through agricultural education and innovation.

The impacts of these initiatives have included support for 523 households from RSABI, support provided over one million times by Samaritans via phone, email and letters, and 16,309 hours of continual professional development for teachers delivered by LEAF Education.

The charities set to benefit from the latest donations are the Addington Fund; LEAF Education; National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC); Open Farm weekend NI; Prince’s Countryside Fund; Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (R.A.B.I); RSABI; Rural Support; Samaritans; YFCU.

The donations have already been made available, allowing the charities to continue to provide crucial support services after difficult year which has seen many of their usual fundraising activities cancelled.

Group chief executive of NFU Mutual, Lindsay Sinclair, said: “In The Charitable Trust’s biggest year for donations since it was established in 1998, NFU Mutual is proud to have supported causes across all corners of the UK which are changing lives and giving hope for a better future.

“While many fundraising events have had to be side-lined this year, the demand for these charities’ services has grown. We want to help them meet that need and build resilience for the future, maintaining practical and emotional support for our communities at a time which is proving especially difficult.”