The UK's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMS) will meet this week to hear from charities over the level of government support needed to ensure their survival in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Committee will remotely convene tomorrow (Tuesday 31 March) to consider the increased demand facing these charities during a time of growing financial pressure.

Concerns over the long-term impact the coronavirus is expected to have on these charities will also be discussed.

Committee chair Julian Knight, MP for Solihull, has urged the government to take immediate action in order to safeguard the sector, while DCMS' secretary of state and culture secretary Oliver Dowden has been called upon to confirm whether funding would be available for charitable and voluntary organisations working directly on tackling the coronavirus, as well as charities at risk of insolvency.

Witnesses to the meeting will include Karl Wilding, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), and Martin Houghton-Brown, CEO of St John's Ambulance, with further witnesses expected to be added.