| Across the city the overwhelming feeling from good causes is that they have suffered the backlash to the recession that looms heavily over the country.
Morna Wilson from Dundee Voluntary Action told the Tele that the effects of the credit crunch have been far-reaching in the city.
“We have two charity shops on Albert Street and sales have been down — as well as a decrease in the number of items that have been donated for us to sell on,” she said.
“We act as an umbrella organisation for all the charities in Dundee.
“What I am being told generally from different charities is that there is less money going about, donations from the public are down and trusts and funds have lower reserves.”
The cost of fuel, heating, lighting and basic necessities such as stationery are recognised by DVA as being the cause of financial hardship within the charitable organisations.
“Budgets are tighter and people are trying to stretch and juggle budgets whilst reserves of money are down,” said Ms Wilson.
“There are many knock-on effects to all of these economic dilemmas, not least that staff are left anxious over the security of their jobs.”
Ms Wilson said expectations were that the recession and credit crunch would put pressure on services such as money advice and debt counselling.
The mental health sector is also expected to face further pressure as people struggle to cope with the monetary worries that consume their daily lives.
“The stress of money worries and people socialising less will bring people away from our services,” she continued.
“For example, someone who isn’t entitled to free public transport will find himself or herself unable to afford to travel around so much, which results in fewer people attending our organisations — people are generally cutting back on non-essential items.”
Unemployment is a big worry within any business or organisation at this time, but Ms Wilson said the impact on employment could not be fully understood for another few months.
“We’re probably not going to see the effects of unemployment until the temporary positions which become available in shops leading up to Christmas have gone in the new year.
“Lack of money is an issue for everyone and people are being pushed to the limit.” |
