Why core funding matters more than ever

Across the world, conflict, instability and humanitarian crises continue to uproot millions of people. And here in Dorset, those global realities land on our doorstep every single day. In 2022, In 2022, ICN supported around 700 refugees and asylum seekers. By 2025, that number had risen to 1,819 — an increase of around 160%, highlighting the rapidly escalating need in our community.

But numbers alone can never tell the full story. Behind every statistic is a woman restarting her life from scratch, a child learning to feel safe again, a father navigating systems he has never had to face or a family carrying trauma we cannot see yet still showing extraordinary courage.

As need rises faster than resources, one truth has become impossible to ignore across the voluntary and community sector: strong organisations, the ones that hold communities through crisis, are built on and need strong, reliable core funding.

We’re not alone in this

Across Dorset, organisations we admire and stand alongside are facing the same pressures. Charities like ours know this story all too well. Funding often drifts towards two ends of the spectrum:
• very large national charities, and
• emerging, early-stage projects

Meanwhile, medium-sized local organisations, deeply embedded in their communities, are often left competing for the small portion of funding that remains. As The Fore highlights, 92% of funding goes to the largest 8% of charities.
And we know it’s not just ICN feeling the squeeze.

Across Dorset, our partners are navigating the same pressures: rising demand, short-term grants, overstretched teams, and the constant struggle to sustain essential roles that keep services safe and stable. We are part of a bigger story, one shared by so many organisations striving to hold their communities with dignity and compassion, even as the ground shifts beneath them.

The Hidden Work that Makes Everything Possible

Project funding matters, it changes lives, builds programmes and opens doors. But the truth is simple: projects can only thrive when the foundations beneath them are strong.

At ICN, just like so many organisations across the voluntary and community sector, our real impact depends on the work that rarely gets celebrated in funding bids:
• the skilled staff who make people feel safe, seen and supported
• the robust systems that uphold safeguarding, quality and accountability
• the experienced leadership that keeps our work ethical, sustainable and resilient
• the infrastructure, from HR to IT to governance, that ensures continuity, stability and good practice

These aren’t extras; they are the backbone and the hardest things to fund. Without these foundations, none of our frontline work, not one English class, one advice session, one community group, would be possible. We’re incredibly grateful to the funders who already support parts of our core work. Their investment genuinely keeps us going. But many of these grants are short-term or year to year, and that creates real pressure when the roles that hold an organisation together, especially staff salaries, need long-term stability.

Every organisation doing place-based frontline work knows how precarious it can feel to hold the weight of rising need on shrinking core resources. And if funders want to create change that lasts, change that is safe, ethical and truly transformative, then investing in core capacity is one of the most powerful things they can do.

As ICN Grows, Our Infrastructure Must Grow With It

The number of people seeking safety in Dorset has risen significantly, and our services have grown rapidly in response. But while frontline demand can spike overnight, organisational infrastructure can only grow with steady, long-term investment.

Over the past year, we’ve been developing a new funding strategy focused on:
• diversifying our income
• strengthening regular giving
• exploring social enterprise pathways
• building more resilient fundraising streams
• finding creative ways to bring in core funding

This work isn’t just about sustaining ICN, it’s about adapting, evolving and modelling approaches that many medium-sized organisations across Dorset are also exploring as they navigate the same pressures.

Meeting the Needs of a Growing Community

Demand is rising across every area of our work: immigration advice, English classes, resettlement support, women’s and children’s programmes, and specialist services for unaccompanied asylum seeking children. Every day, more people arrive needing guidance, connection and a safe place to rebuild.

To respond safely and responsibly, each of these expanding delivery areas relies on strong operational leadership, safeguarding oversight, quality assurance, data systems, and structured support for staff and volunteers. None of this can function without stable core roles and the systems that keep the organisation running.

Why Core Funding Matters Right Now

As the need continues to grow, sustaining our senior operational capacity, including the Director of Operations role, is essential. This role holds responsibility for safeguarding, compliance, risk management and ensuring that every programme runs ethically and to a high standard.

These are exactly the kinds of roles that rarely fit into project-restricted funding pots. They’re also the roles that, if left insecure, quietly weaken an entire organisation’s ability to function safely.

We know organisations across Dorset are experiencing the same strain. Many feel unseen when it comes to the reality of sustaining leadership, infrastructure and core systems. By speaking openly about this, we hope others feel less alone and that funders can better understand what truly keeps community organisations stable.

How You Can Support ICN’s Work (If You’re Able To)
ICN is working incredibly hard to strengthen its infrastructure and sustain the core roles that make all of their frontline support possible. To continue offering high-quality, compassionate help to refugees and asylum seekers in Dorset, they are currently seeking to raise £209,400.

If you would like to support their work, you can donate to their JustGiving campaign (anonymous donations are welcome) or set up a regular gift to support their wider programmes.

Every contribution, whether through core funding, monthly giving, or even simply sharing their campaign, helps ICN continue providing stability, dignity and hope to people rebuilding their lives in our community.

We also know many organisations reading this are facing similar pressures around core funding and capacity. We see you, and we stand with you.

Thank you for standing with ICN and with all those working to make Dorset a place of safety and belonging.