Charities thinking more creatively for survival

Charities are having to come up with creative fundraising ideas in order to survive amidst rising costs.

Ipswich and East Suffolk Samaritans and Brave Futures, both based in Suffolk, are two of the many charities in the area that have big fundraising targets.

But with people unable to offer as much as they once could, both said they had to find creative ways to bring in money.

Annie Owen, a Samaritans listening volunteer, said despite being part of a nationwide organisation, the local branch still had to bring in its own money.

"It is a national charity but each branch is independent within that," she told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"So the Ipswich and East Suffolk branch serves this community and needs to run its branch basically, which includes the vital phone lines.

"We also do outreach, so we go out into the community to try and get close to vulnerable people and show people we are really approachable.

"But we do have to raise funds to run the branch."

Ms Owen said the branch needed £35,000 a year from fundraising to survive.

In an upcoming event, the charity is holding a raffle with the chance to win a painting by renowned artist Maggie Hambling, who is from Sudbury.

Tickets cost £10 and Ms Owen said "the good [the money] can do is astonishing".

She added: "We hope to get to £10,000 for that... we're all determined that we will continue to be there for people if they need us."

Hannah Walker is the fundraising and marketing manager at Brave Futures, a charity that supports children and young people who have experienced sexual abuse.

She said it had a target of £300,000 to raise through fundraising and events next year.

It also received some money from the government this year, however Ms Walker said it was still hard asking the public for donations.

"We have to give real consideration to what people can afford because of the cost of living crisis," she said.

"People are really struggling to have any kind of disposable income and if they do they want to spend it on themselves and their work/life balance.

"We're met with rising costs, less income and higher demand on our service so we have to find ways to make sure we are here to offer that service to everyone that needs it."

Braves Futures has for the past five year hosted its Ipswich Dragon Boat race to raise funds.

Ms Walker added that while this year the charity had not had to rely solely on fundraising, next year they would look to find more creative events.

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