‘We’ve been killed by Covid,’ was the verdict of Open Daw’s chair of trustees Kerry Sherwin.
The local charity, which has offered advice and somewhere safe for people to go in Dawlish for some 15 years has now ceased operations.
Although based at the town’s Methodist church, the secular charity was there for all residents.
Operating from the church foyer, the Open Daw volunteers were there to offer company and support, where they were able to give advice on a range of matters such as sorting out online energy bills, and help people who had no experience with the internet or no online access at all. This meant that many of their clients were elderly or in financial difficulties.
People were also able to get assistance from other agencies, one instance being free legal advice when staff from Scott Richards solicitors would hold forums.
‘We were also able to help people with our emergency fund,’ Kerry said. ‘This was used to help the homeless, or people on probation needing train tickets get to appointments.
‘We also organised community litter picks around Dawlish.’
The cafe at the Open Daw drop-in centre provided a vital meeting place for some who had nowhere else to go. Kerry explained: ‘We offered a safe area for people to drop in for tea and coffee. The lonely or vulnerable could have a chat with our volunteers five days a week. That ended with lockdown, and also cut off some of the funding we made from drinks sales.’
With no core funding, the charity was financed through the cafe, craft sales, and the sale of books and plants in the church foyer. With lockdown that funding has gone.
Kerry said: ‘We had a small group of funders who paid us money each week, but most of our funding came from donations from the High Cs and the Brunswick Singers, who held concerts, which obviously haven’t been taking place. Similarly, the bingo nights at the Langstone Cliff have stalled.
‘It wasn’t just the fall in funding though. You could say Open Daw lost momentum. It takes years to build that momentum – organising events and gathering a corps of volunteers. To have it suddenly taken away through successive lockdowns hit us hard.
‘And looking beyond this year, getting off from a “standing start” so to speak, simply wasn’t viable.’
A trustee for three years, Kerry praised the 40-plus ‘wonderful’ volunteers who had helped out front-of-house and in the cafe and all the Open Daw committee.
She hoped that other agencies such as Citizens Advice and coffee morning groups would help replace in part the work Open Daw had done, but she predicted many more charities would fail as the effects of the covid lockdowns were felt.
‘I read back in November – before the third lockdown even – that one in 10 small charities would close. This wasn’t a sudden decision on our part. It took us weeks to decide, and I fear we’re going to see a tsunami of closures.’