Ophthalmology: Charities

(asked on 22nd July 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the £750 million package of support for charities has been allocated to ophthalmology charities.


Answered by
Jo Churchill Portrait
Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 1st September 2020

We recognise that many charities are facing difficult decisions at the exact time their services are needed most and, on 8 April 2020 the Chancellor announced £750 million to support for the charity sector in response to COVID-19. This includes up to £200 million for hospices and £22 million for health and social care charities. The £22 million includes:

- £4.2 million to support mental health charities and charities within the National Bereavement Alliance;

- Up to £6.8 million to support St John Ambulance;

- £6 million to support Air Ambulances;

- £6 million to support various charities, including those working with people with learning disabilities, autism and complex needs, those working to support people with cancer and stroke and dementia charities, and those that support the adult social care system; and

- This funding will also go to charities supporting pregnant women, babies in neonatal intensive care and those affected by stillbirth and neonatal deaths and support for specialist addiction and recovery charities.

To this date there has been no funding agreed for ophthalmology charities.

There is still an opportunity for charities to apply directly for funding from the National Lottery’s £200 million Coronavirus Community Support Fund. This fund is supporting charities working with vulnerable people. The criteria for this fund are set out at the following link:

https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/

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