In November 2023, the finance officer of West Norfolk Carers came to a devastating realisation: after more than a year of rejected funding applications, the charity wouldn’t be able to stay afloat for longer than four months.

Several months earlier, the Lankelly Chase Foundation, a grantmaker tackling severe social disadvantage and extreme marginalisation, had reached a similarly terminal conclusion.

After finding that its very existence perpetuated past harms and injustices, the foundation’s leaders decided the best way forward was to shut down.

In the final episode of The End of Charity, Lucinda Rouse is joined by Jane Evans and Julian Corner, the chief executives of West Norfolk Carers and Lankelly Chase, respectively, to ask: what’s next for the charity sector?

Rhodri Davies, Martha Awojobi and Eshe Kiama Zuri consider the road ahead for doing good, while Steve O’Donnell, a recipient of West Norfolk Carers’ services, lays out the impact of the recent rash of charity closures on vulnerable citizens.

Read the transcript.

If you have enjoyed The End of Charity, please consider rating and reviewing the series on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your podcast platform of choice.

Series writer and presenter: Lucinda Rouse

Editor: Emily Burt

Executive producer: Ollie Peart

Production manager: Louise Hill

Series producers: Riham Maged, Penny Bell, Matt Hill

Studio producers: Nav Pal, Inga Marsen, Til Owen

Art director: David Robinson

Videographer: Julian Dodd

Video producer: Til Owen

Sub-editor: Rachel Jerden-Cooke 

Contributing editor: Andy Ricketts

Voicing support: Emily Harle, Dami Adewale

Concept developer: Rebecca Cooney

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