Communal charities have cautiously welcomed Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Budget pledge of £101.5 million to support charities and community organisations in England with operating and fuel-efficiency costs over the next two years. But charity chiefs have voiced doubts that their organisations will see any of the money.

At Leeds Jewish Welfare Board, chief executive Elizabeth Bradbury hoped grants would be “allocated speedily to front-line charities such as ours, impacted by increased demand for their services from vulnerable people and increased delivery costs”.

With inflation impacting donations to charities — proceeds from LJWB’s New Year appeal were 10 per cent down — and “significantly lower than inflation awards from statutory providers”, there was ever more pressure on staff.

The extension of the energy price cap for an additional three months would be appreciated by clients and employees, she added. “But as with many charities, there are fears for next winter unless price drop savings are passed directly onto customers.”

At Manchester’s main welfare charity, The Fed, CEO Mark Cunningham said that “support to upgrade some of our heating infrastructure would be extremely welcome.

“But as always, it is difficult to predict how much of this money will actually make it to the front-line. The maintenance of the fuel price cap will mean a great deal, not only to the people we support but also our workforce.

“We have endorsed the real living wage for our care and support staff, which will mean a 10 per cent pay rise from April 1.”

Norwood chief executive Naomi Dickson wanted more details on how the money will benefit charities.

“Like many, Norwood is under increased pressure due to the increased need for our vital services and the rising cost of living, which impacts on our supporter base, as well as the cost of our own service provision.”

Norwood has also acted on pay for its staff, raising rates across its services and standardising pay for all support workers, who will now receive £11.50 per hour, “setting it well above the £10.42 an hour mandated by the increased National Living Wage, which comes into effect in April. We remain committed to providing the best service we can for the people we support and to do this we prioritise our staff team who are at the coalface of this vital work, even when times are hard financially.”

In Leeds, Ms Bradbury further highlighted the Chancellor’s announcement “of an extra £10 million over the next two years for charities in England helping to prevent suicide — and the recognition of the important role the charity sector plays in supporting people in mental health crisis.

“This is becoming ever more evident at LJWB, with half of all new referrals requesting support with mental health across all age groups. The high demand placed on all organisations, including statutory services, has also meant that LJWB is experiencing a much greater demand from people with more complex mental health issues.”

Jewish Care CEO Daniel Carmel-Brown was pleased “to see charities recognised for the vital role they play in society. However, this still falls short of the funding needed to cover the cost of charities delivering public services.

“In the meantime, we are still awaiting tangible and meaningful reforms to social care.”