In brief: Jersey’s charities are grappling with rising costs, high rents and volunteer shortages five years on from the Covid-19 pandemic. Macmillan Jersey has been forced to restrict its complementary therapies to patients only, having previously offered them to families and friends as well. The Association of Jersey Charities says the pressures are sector-wide, but solutions are emerging.
A Sector Under Strain
Five years after Covid upended charitable work across the island, Jersey’s third sector is still feeling the aftershocks, and in some respects the situation has grown more acute. The Jersey Evening Post reports that Steph Gibaut, CEO of Macmillan Jersey, has spoken candidly about the pressures her organisation faces, noting that services and expenses have almost doubled over the past five years.
The most visible consequence of that squeeze is a narrowing of who can access certain support. “Pre-last year, we were delivering complementary therapies to patients, families, and friends,” Mrs Gibaut told the JEP. “We’ve now had to say that actually, our complementary therapies are only for patients currently.” It is a telling admission: a charity that exists to broaden support for those affected by cancer has had to pull back from some of that broader mission simply to keep the lights on.
To help plug the gap, Macmillan Jersey has partnered with Highlands College, with students volunteering their time to help deliver therapy sessions. Mrs Gibaut described the arrangement warmly, noting that the students do so “very kindly.” It is an imaginative workaround, though it underlines just how stretched professional capacity has become.
The Numbers Behind the Story
Macmillan Jersey’s newly published annual report puts some useful figures on the table. In 2025, the charity received £254,729 from grants and trusts, £245,229 from individual, community and corporate donors, £393,311 from events, and a further £69,821 categorised as “other.” That income base looks reasonably diversified, and that diversification was hard-won.
Before the pandemic, Macmillan relied heavily on events. When those were cancelled, corporates and individual donors stepped in to fill some of the gap. Events have since returned, but in more creative forms: the JEP highlights White Collar DJ as one example, an initiative aimed at younger donors who are less drawn to the traditional sports or bake-sale formats.
The demand side of the equation has also shifted considerably. In 2021, Macmillan hosted 948 group support sessions and 405 wellbeing support sessions. By 2025, those figures had risen to 1,086 group sessions and 965 wellbeing sessions. Holistic needs assessments, introduced in 2024, brought 226 patients through Macmillan’s doors in their first full year. More people need more help, and the charity is doing its level best to provide it.
A Sector-Wide Problem, With Some Sector-Wide Solutions
Marcus Liddiard, chief executive of the Association of Jersey Charities, told the JEP that the high rents, staffing pressures and volunteer gaps facing Macmillan are “symptomatic” of the charitable sector as a whole, with organisations of all sizes affected. That is a sobering assessment from someone with a panoramic view of the island’s third sector.
Yet Mr Liddiard was also at pains to point to emerging solutions. A charities hub has been introduced recently, and some organisations have clubbed together to share premises, easing the burden of Jersey’s notoriously expensive property market. He praised Macmillan specifically for focusing on “what’s the best service and the most valuable service they can offer in the most professional way.”
On the question of volunteers, Mr Liddiard struck a note that is worth amplifying. Donations are always welcome, he said, but what charities are crying out for are people with practical professional skills: marketing, bookkeeping and HR were singled out as being “massively in demand.” For anyone sitting on those skills and wondering how to put them to good use, the message from the sector could hardly be clearer. He encouraged individuals, corporates and government alike to help in whatever way they can.
Source: Jersey Evening Post
