The last month has certainly been an extraordinarily challenging and (albeit cliched words now) unprecedented time. The time appears to have gone at both breakneck speed and so slowly in equal measure. We recognise the immense pressures our Members of all sizes are under right now, so have created this page of information to keep everything relevant in one central place. Our whole Consortium team continue to work tirelessly exploring new ways we can support you all. If you have ideas or suggestions of other practical things we may be able to do then please do just get in touch. I personally want to say a huge thank you to my whole team for everything they are doing to support you.

I would also like to take a moment to thank all our Members for the superb work you are doing, and the adaptations you have made to continue providing support to LGBT+ people and communities across the UK. These are unprecedented and unpredictable times, but seeing how everyone is rallying together reminds me why I am so passionate about the voluntary sector - it is caring, compassionate and simply amazing! Keep up that energy but please make sure you are all staying safe.

In terms of some of the practical things we are working on here at Consortium, we continue to lead a series of online sessions exploring key topics like remote working--providing practical and pragmatic information to Members who suddenly find themselves having to work in different ways. Now the initial stresses of having to work remotely have passed, we will begin to develop further sessions on a whole range of topics we hope Members will find practical and useful. We are also working with a host of leaders from across the voluntary sector to stay up to date on key messages so that we can share them with our Members. We are coordinating our asks of Government and we are gathering evidence to ascertain what is actually happening across the voluntary sector, along with opening up conversations with funders. Things continue to move quickly and there is a general agreement that we need to put key messages out into the public domain at the right time and with absolute clarity.  A key part in this for us has been data collection and I simply want to say thank you for the high response rates to our surveys. The data this provides really does help us to articulate LGBT+ needs both now and into the future.

There are many challenges ahead, more than anything than has come before. However, we are already showing we are a strong sector that can adapt, collaborate and cooperate. There will be temptations for us all to solely focus down on our own organisations in the coming months. My plea is to use this opportunity to challenge our views on how we work as a sector and further build that collaboration and cooperation. Out of every bad situation comes opportunity--let's ensure the opportunities we collectively see are ones that put LGBT+ people and communities at the heart and support a more resilient LGBT+ sector.

Consortium has surveyed its Membership on the immediate impact COVID-19 is having on the LGBT+ voluntary and community sectors.

We have compiled this valuable data in a short report, which can be downloaded below.

• COVID-19 Insight Report: Impact on LGBT+ Organisations
• COVID-19 Insight Report: Impact on LGBT+ Service Delivery
• Tell us about your Research here

By the end of April we will have pulled together additional external data on the impact across the sector, including service delivery pressure points. We will publish this data here as soon as possible.

The following pieces of guidance are available from key partner organisations.

• Charity Commission Guidance
• NCVO Guidance
• Association of Chairs Guidance
• Small Charities Coalition
• Scrutton Bland (our charity insurers)
• Institute of Fundraising
• Government Guidance
• London Funders Statement
• Volunteering Matters (guidance on safe volunteering)
• Volunteering Matters Business Support (corporates are looking to offer their professional time and resource whilst there is little business to conduct. If you need specific support then consider a request here)

We recognise that Members are thinking about the now, the medium term and long term future of their organisations. The landscape suddenly looks very different and we will all have to evolve our ways of working to ensure the financial security of the sector. This page provides some key resources based on our current knowledge of funder responses to Covid-19. Please note this is unlikely to be an exhaustive list as things are changing so quickly.

London Funders Civil Society Funding

UK Community Foundations (will be facilitating the management of funds through the National Emergencies Trust)

Grants Online (useful list of some of the local Community Foundations, plus others, with funds up and running)

Covid19 Funders (useful updates from a diverse range of funders pledging support in light of this crises)

Mental Health Response Fund (open for mental health voluntary sector organisations with grants of £20,000 or £50,000)

Scottish Funding (link to SCVO with details of several funding opportunities)

Welsh Funding (link to WCVA with details of the Voluntary Services Emergency Fund)

Northern Ireland (link to NICVA and funding available to voluntary organisations)