The Diocese of Canterbury has joined other charities in asking the Government to help them survive the pandemic financially. 

Many churches have suffered a loss of income since the lockdown as they suddenly had to depend on online giving, which many did not have set up, and church goers may have lost jobs or be understandably tentative about giving themselves.   

The amount of money that the Government adds on to charitable donations is currently 25 per cent if the donor is a UK tax payer, meaning a £100 donation is turned into £125 received by the church or charity.

Many charities are calling for a Gift Aif Emergency Package that would increase the bonus to 33 per cent for two years. 

It's supported by Cancer Research UK, the NSPCC and the Alzheimer's Society. 

The Diocese of Canterbury have now joined that group, with their director of finance Douglass Gibb telling Premier: "It's quite crucial, the charity sector is really struggling at the moment. Donations have fallen, people are very concerned about giving due to lack of income and the future. 

"The Government has launched a £750 million pound scheme but the problem is that a lot of it hasn't actually reached smaller charities. A lot of it is pre-allocated at the beginning to large organisations, a lot of smaller charities have struggled to access that and some who have tried have been rejected. It's not achieving the aims for smaller charities that we'd like."

Mr Gibb said some churches were still managing to reach out to regular givers by other means but that with church halls being closed, there is some income that simply cannot be replenished. 

"We reckon that our income will fall probably by 20% for the remainder of this year and also probably through most of next year."

The 'Never More Needed' campaign which all these charities have joined is encouraging supporters to write to their local MP about increasing Gift Aid.