CHARITIES working on the frontline to help fight the coronavirus are to receive £750m in funding, the Chancellor has announced.

Rishi Sunak revealed that third sector organisations will benefit from a share of the funding, and committed that the Government would match any money raised by the BBC's Big Night In programme later this month. 

He said: "There are nearly 170,000 charities in this country. And the truth is we will not be able to match, every pound of funding that they would have received this year...

"But some charities are on the front line of fighting the coronavirus, and others, provide critical services and support to vulnerable people and communities. 

"Those charities have never been more needed than they are now. And they've never faced such a sudden fall in their funding.

"So today I'm announcing £750 million of funding for the charity sector. £370 million pounds of that funding will support small, local charities, working with vulnerable people."

He confirmed that £60m of the funding would be allocated "through the Barnett formula to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland" and added that £360m would be given directly to charities "providing essential services and supporting vulnerable people."

He said up to £200m would be given to hospices, while the rest would be provided to frontline organisations such as St John's Ambulance and the Citizen's Advice Bureau, "as well as charities supporting vulnerable children, victims of domestic abuse or disabled people."