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Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a £750m package to keep struggling charities afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.  

The move follows concern that some charities are facing collapse, with income shrinking because of enforced shop closures. Bigger charities such as Oxfam and Age UK have furloughed two-thirds of staff.  

The measures involve cash grants direct to charities providing key services during the crisis.  

As part of the scheme, £360m will be directly allocated by government departments to those charities.  

Another £370m will go to small local charities, including those delivering food and essential medicines and providing financial advice, through a grant to the National Lottery Community Fund, with £60m of that to go to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.  

Announcing the move, Mr Sunak said the government could not match every pound of spending that the UK's 170,000 charities would have received this year. He also said charities were eligible for help through the government's job retention scheme.  

Mr Sunak also said the government would match all donations to the BBC's Big Night In fundraising event on 23 April, pledging a minimum of £20m.

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