22/11/2024
🐾 Scottish SPCA and third sector facing challenging times 🐾
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Christine Grahame MSP and Murdo Fraser MSP for speaking up in Parliament about the harsh reality facing charities like the Scottish SPCA due to the recent Autumn Budget.
Charities are businesses—businesses that aim to be great employers while making an incredible impact. However, following on from the recent budget announcement of an increase in employers national insurance contributions, we now need to find an extra £400k every year is making an already challenging economic climate, enough tougher to operate in. There is currently no planned relief for charities, and what is worse is we have just five months to find the money.
Unlike commercial businesses, we can’t raise prices or pass costs to “customers”. Every £63,000 we spend daily on animal welfare comes from donor kindness, and we already rely on these donations, totalling £23 million a year to keep our doors open. Now, we will need to raise an extra £5 million in the next five years to pay to the chancellor, all current scenarios are increasing the possibility that we will have to cut back on delivery, despite the fact we are seeing soaring demand for our services and record numbers of animals in need.
The extra £400k that we need to raise is double the cost of feeding all the animals in our care for an entire year, as Christine Grahame rightly pointed out. The thing is, these changes don’t just impact us—they’ll be felt by 133,000 workers in Scotland’s third sector and the countless community charities these jobs support.
We're doing everything we can to innovate, partner, and grow sustainably, as we have for 185 years. But the pressure is immense.
Visit our website or donate today—every act of kindness helps us keep saving lives. Together, we can make a difference. 💚
https://www.scottishspca.org/
