Charities hit hard by pensions losses

Some voluntary organisations are having to pay out for their
staff’s final salary pensions from their own funds because they
have lost money they invested in the stock market.

Karl Wilding, head of research at the National Council of Voluntary
Organisations, said many charities had seen the value of their
investments drop by about 20 per cent.

“All of a sudden the money charities have invested in pensions on
the stock market has been lost and they are having to pay out,” he
said.

The sector has been badly hit by the global fall in share markets
and many charities’ assets have lost value. The Royal National
Institute of the Blind had to cut its budget by £5m last
November, and Guide Dogs for the Blind Association had £20m
wiped off its reserves.