The Manchester Arena attack fund raised over £21m – so where’s the money gone?

The We Love Manchester Emergency Fund set up following the devastating attack on Manchester Arena in 2017 raised £21.6m in two years before closing in January this year.

Most of the funds have been distributed. The remaining £1.1m will go to those most significantly injured who have been left permanently disabled with a long-term impact on their daily living, and those who still require significant further surgery or rehabilitation.

This includes £75,000 towards six months of physiotherapy at the Manchester Institute of Health and Performance, which will be match-funded by the NHS.

The largest single donation to the Emergency Fund came from the One Love Manchester benefit concert hosted by Ariana Grande in June 2017, which raised £7.2m.

Edith Conn OBE, We Love Manchester Emergency Fund chair of trustees, said: “The trustees of the fund understand that people have been affected very differently by the attack and in order to discharge their responsibilities both to the beneficiaries and to the donors have made these decisions based on ongoing physical and functional disability and clinical prognosis, following advice from medical professionals.

“Manchester and the world responded with such kindness, generosity and solidarity in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena attack, which took place nearly two years ago.

“In raising more than £21.5m, those who donated have helped many, many people who suffered during that incident.”

According to a breakdown of expenditure from the fund, bereaved families received £7.9m whilst £7.5m went to those with physical injuries.

Bereaved – £7.875m
Other physically injured – £7.487m
Psychological injuries – £3.45m
Most seriously injured – £900,000
Psychological and other support – £862,000
Running costs – £444,000
Manchester Institute of Health and Performance (for intensive physiotherapy and rehabilitation) – £375,000

A spokesperson from Manchester City Council told Civil Society News: “[The running costs] were unavoidable, for example insurance, JustGiving fees and were more than met by the £1m government grant for this purpose, the remainder of which went to the fund, so not a single penny given by donors was spent on running costs and much of the charity work has been done pro bono.”