LGBTQ+ charities warn they are at ‘breaking point’ as funding falls and demand rises
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LGBTQ+ charities across the UK have warned they are being pushed to “breaking point” after new research found funding has fallen while demand for support continues to rise.
The research examined more than 770 LGBQ+ voluntary and community organisations. It found that, in real terms, funding for the sector fell by 8.6% between 2023 and 2025.
The findings were published by the LGBT+ Fund and Consortium, a membership body for LGBT+ organisations. Emma Miller-McCaffrey, the LGBT+ Fund’s development manager, said the figures showed the scale of what services are delivering with limited resources. “We often hear the LGBT+ voluntary sector talk about how much they do with so little resource, but the LGBT+ Fund Report truly backs this up,” she said.
How much funding is reaching LGBT+ charities?
Identified financial support totalled £53.3 million in 2025. That totalled 5p of every £100 donated to charities across the UK, compared with 6p in every £100 two years earlier.
It also highlighted how concentrated LGBT+ sector funding has become. Just 20 funders were responsible for 88% of all identified funding, raising concerns about how exposed services could be if a small number of backers change priorities.
Why are LGBT+ services under growing pressure?
The LGBT+ Fund and Consortium found demand is rising, with 72% of LGBTQ+ organisations reporting an increase in people seeking help.
For smaller grassroots groups, the strain is especially acute. Six in ten of the smallest organisations surveyed said they often dipped into their own personal funds to pay for activities and deliver support.
Alongside the financial pressures, the report highlighted concerns about staff and volunteer safety, deteriorating wellbeing and burnout, set against what it described as an increasingly hostile climate towards LGBTQ+ communities.
Miller-McCaffrey said: “Organisations are doing amazing work, relying heavily on volunteers to provide a whole range of support and activities to the communities it serves across the UK, but the reality of decreasing funding is stark.”
In January, Heather Paterson, head of partnerships and development for LGBT+ Consortium, described an “incredibly tough environment” for LGBTQ+ charities and said some funders had faced increasing negative feedback for donating to LGBTQ+ causes.
Miller-McCaffrey added: “We need more investment into the sector, and we need it now more than ever.”
