Covid-19: New lockdown measures and guidance for not-for-profits

Covid-19: New lockdown measures and guidance for not-for-profits

This article was last updated on 5 January 2021

National lockdown: Stay at Home



You must stay at home. The single most important action we can all take is to stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives.

Leaving home

You must not leave, or be outside of your home except where necessary. You may leave the home to:

  • shop for basic necessities, for you or a vulnerable person
  • go to work, or provide voluntary or charitable services, if you cannot reasonably do so from home
  • exercise with your household (or support bubble) or one other person, this should be limited to once per day, and you should not travel outside your local area.
  • meet your support bubble or childcare bubble where necessary, but only if you are legally permitted to form one
  • seek medical assistance or avoid injury, illness or risk of harm (including domestic abuse)
  • attend education or childcare - for those eligible
Colleges, primary and secondary schools will remain open only for vulnerable children and the children of critical workers. All other children will learn remotely until February half term. Early Years settings remain open.

Higher Education provision will remain online until mid February for all except future critical worker courses.

If you do leave home for a permitted reason, you should always stay local in the village, town, or part of the city where you live. You may leave your local area for a legally permitted reason, such as for work.

If you are clinically extremely vulnerable you should only go out for medical appointments, exercise or if it is essential. You should not attend work.

Meeting othersYou cannot leave your home to meet socially with anyone you do not live with or are not in a support bubble with (if you are legally permitted to form one).

You may exercise on your own, with one other person, or with your household or support bubble.

You should not meet other people you do not live with, or have formed a support bubble with, unless for a permitted reason.

Stay 2 metres apart from anyone not in your household.

To access the full government guidance, visit: www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home

Businesses and venues which must closeTo reduce social contact, the regulations require some businesses to close and impose restrictions on how some businesses provide goods and services. The full list of businesses required to close can be found in the guidance on closing certain businesses and venues in England, but includes:

  • non-essential retail, such as clothing and homeware stores, vehicle showrooms (other than for rental), betting shops, tailors, tobacco and vape shops, electronic goods and mobile phone shops, auction houses (except for auctions of livestock or agricultural equipment) and market stalls selling non-essential goods. These venues can continue to be able to operate click-and-collect (where goods are pre-ordered and collected off the premises) and delivery services.
  • hospitality venues such as cafes, restaurants, pubs, bars and social clubs; with the exception of providing food and non-alcoholic drinks for takeaway (until 11pm), click-and-collect and drive-through. All food and drink (including alcohol) can continue to be provided by delivery.
  • accommodation such as hotels, hostels, guest houses and campsites, except for specific circumstances, such as where these act as someone’s main residence, where the person cannot return home, for providing accommodation or support to the homeless, or where it is essential to stay there for work purposes
  • leisure and sports facilities such as leisure centres and gyms, swimming pools, sports courts,fitness and dance studios, riding arenas at riding centres, climbing walls, and golf courses.
  • entertainment venues such as theatres, concert halls, cinemas, museums and galleries, casinos, amusement arcades, bingo halls, bowling alleys, skating rinks, go-karting venues, indoor play and soft play centres and areas (including inflatable parks and trampolining centres), circuses, fairgrounds, funfairs, water parks and theme parks
  • animal attractions (such as zoos, safari parks, aquariums, and wildlife reserves)
  • indoor attractions at venues such as botanical gardens, heritage homes and landmarks must also close, though outdoor grounds of these premises can stay open for outdoor exercise.
  • personal care facilities such as hair, beauty, tanning and nail salons. Tattoo parlours, spas, massage parlours, body and skin piercing services must also close. These services should not be provided in other people’s homes
  • community centres and halls must close except for a limited number of exempt activities, as set out below. Libraries can also remain open to provide access to IT and digital services – for example for people who do not have it at home – and for click-and-collect services
Some of these businesses and places will also be permitted to be open for a small number of exempt activities. A full list of exemptions can be found in the guidance on closing certain businesses and venues in England, but includes:

  • education and training – for schools to use sports, leisure and community facilities where that is part of their normal provision
  • childcare purposes and supervised activities for those children eligible to attend
  • hosting blood donation sessions and food banks
  • to provide medical treatment
  • for elite sports persons to train and compete (in indoor and outdoor sports facilities), and professional dancers and choreographers to work (in fitness and dance studios)
  • for training and rehearsal without an audience (in theatres and concert halls)
  • for the purposes of film and TV filming


Financial help for organisations

1. New grants for businesses and ongoing business rates grants from local authorities

Government measures announced to support small businesses also apply to charities and other not-for-profits working in certain sectors.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak MP has today (5 January 2021) announced that organisations in the leisure, hospitality and retail sectors will be able to apply for grants of up to £9,000 to help them stay afloat until spring. This money will be made available by local authorities.

Business rates grants are still available through the local authority. To view these grants, visit: www.dudley.gov.uk/council-community/emergencies/coronavirus-advice/coronavirus-business-advice/

2. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, also known as 'furlough'.

Currently, you can Claim for 80% of your employees' wages for hours they do not work plus any employer National Insurance and pension contributions, if you have put them on furlough because of coronavirus (COVID-19). This is capped at £2,500 per month per employee and you can choose to top up payments to 100%.

This scheme will continue in its current form until the end of April 2021.

NCVO has a useful round up of the furlough rules.

To apply for please visit the government webpage.

The following two packages of government support are being administered by local authorities.

2. Business rate grant

Grants of up to £10,000 for any business (including not-for-profits) with a rateable value of up to £15,000, regardless of their area of work.

3. Dudley Council Community Forums

Grants of up to £5,000 for local activities (at ward level) are still available.

The guidelines and application forms are available on the Dudley Council website.

4. We are constantly updating a list of funders supporting not-for-profits during the Coronavirus pandemic.

5. Raise money online through JustGiving - 0% platform fee.

6. Raise money and support online through Crowdfunder, which has announced it has dropped its platform fees.

7. Charity Finance Group general information.

8. Institute of Fundraising information.

We are building resources to help not-for-profits. This list includes emergency grant funding and links to official help and guidance. It will be updated regularly as the situation is rapidly changing. Please check back using this link Covid-19: Help for not-for-profits.

Sections updated are as follows:

  • Governance and managing your charity
  • Financial help
Newer updates appear first.

Dudley CVS group support staff will still be on hand for email and remote conversations to offer support. If you need to get in touch, please email admin@dudleycvs.org.uk and your email will be directed to the most appropriate member of staff. We ask that you bear with us.

NAVCA is also regularly updating its list of useful links and resources for managing your organisation across a variety of topics: https://navca.org.uk/vcse-resources-hub

Government guidance

One of the most useful things that organisations can do is to think about how their organisation will cope if a high proportion of their staff or volunteers become ill or unavailable at the same time, and what steps you might take to avoid this happening. Many of these steps involve reducing the time people spend together in order to reduce the chances of Coronavirus spreading between them (and affecting a lot of the people you work with at the same time).

Remember that people may be unable to work even if they have not become ill themselves – it could be, for example, because schools have closed and people need to stay at home to care for their children or grandchildren.

Voluntary organisations and community groups may find useful information on the government’s guidance for businesses and voluntary sector organisations. It includes information on when employees should stay away from work, how to respond to employees who need to take time off work, and how to clean premises after someone develops Coronavirus. It also includes 8 different guides for different types of workplace, ranging from offices to shops.

Governance and managing your organisation



Taking on volunteers during the Coronavirus pandemic

Help and guidance for groups taking on volunteers and offering support to communities during the outbreak is now located here: https://interests.me/org/dudleycvs/story/200803

Community Centres and Covid-19

This note is a summary of various government guidance that may apply to community venues and the activities that take place in them. This document signposts to the appropriate government guidance which may change frequently. This note cannot be a substitute for the official government guidance which we recommend referring to before planning your activities or your centre’s reopening. https://dudleycvsblogging.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/community-centres-and-covid-19.pdf

This guidance note will be useful for:

  • Managers, committees and trustees that govern community centres and other multi-use community facilities
  • Community groups that hire community facilities to run their activities


Health and Care



Where to find posters and resources for your place of work or community venue

Public information materials can be downloaded from Public Health England at: https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/resources/campaigns/101/resources/5016

Local information

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