The Cyber Resilience Pledge and Charities
What the government’s Cyber Resilience Pledge means for charities. Charities that supply services to, or receive funding from, larger organisations and corporates are increasingly asked for Cyber Essentials as those partners adopt the Pledge.
The Pledge, and what it means for charities
Charities that supply services to, or receive funding from, larger organisations and corporates are increasingly asked for Cyber Essentials as those partners adopt the Pledge. The Cyber Resilience Pledge, launched by the government in July 2026, asks signatories to require Cyber Essentials across their supply chains — auditing which suppliers hold it and requiring it, risk-based, from those who don’t. For charities, that turns Cyber Essentials into a practical condition of winning and keeping the work.
Why this matters — not just for government suppliers
It’s easy to read ‘government pledge’ and assume it’s someone else’s problem. It isn’t. The third commitment asks signatories to require Cyber Essentials across their supply chains — and the signatories are major private-sector companies, not just departments. As each one audits its suppliers and rolls the requirement out, Cyber Essentials becomes a condition of staying in the chain for charities, whether or not you ever bid for a public contract.
This is the same direction of travel as the public-sector procurement rules (PPN 014) and the reason clients are already asking for Cyber Essentials. The Pledge accelerates it. The businesses that get ahead of it keep the work; the ones that wait get the awkward email asking for a certificate they don’t have.
Our position: we’re certified, and we certify
We don’t just help others meet this bar — we hold it ourselves. Solusec is a Cyber Essentials and IASME Cyber Assurance Certification Body, with certified assessors for both schemes. We practise what we preach, which means we know the assessment from both sides: what actually needs to change, and how to get you through it quickly rather than leaving you to wrestle a questionnaire alone.
So whichever side of the Pledge you’re on, we can help. If you supply an organisation that has signed — or is quietly adopting the same supply-chain approach — we get you Cyber Essentials certified, often in days. If you’re the larger organisation making the commitment, we can help you audit Cyber Essentials coverage across your suppliers and take the risk-based approach the Pledge asks for.
The right certification for charities
For most charities, Cyber Essentials is the answer the Pledge is driving demand for, and we’ll get you there fast. Where a client asks for the audited level we also support Cyber Essentials Plus. And if your work involves more than the basics — a product, an application, sensitive data — our sector guide for charities covers the wider picture.
Talk to us about your organisation
Tell us what you are dealing with and we will tell you honestly what you need. We work with organisations in your sector regularly, so the conversation starts from what is normal for you rather than from a generic checklist.
Common questions
Does the Pledge really affect charities?
Yes — the signatories are committing to require Cyber Essentials of their suppliers, and charities sit squarely in those supply chains. Even without a single government contract, the requirement reaches you through your commercial customers.
How fast can we certify?
Often within days if your controls are already in reasonable shape; if not, we tell you exactly what to fix first. Getting certified before you’re asked is far easier than reacting to a client deadline.
Do we need Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus?
Usually the self-assessed Cyber Essentials satisfies a supply-chain request; larger or higher-risk clients sometimes specify the audited Plus. We check the wording with you before you commit.
What the pledge means for charities
The Cyber Resilience Pledge is a public commitment rather than a certification, and for charities that distinction matters. You hold donor records, payment data, and frequently sensitive information about the people the charity supports, so the people you answer to, whether that is funder and grant conditions, Charity Commission expectations and corporate partner due diligence, will eventually want evidence rather than intent. The pledge is a good way to start that conversation; it is not a substitute for finishing it.
Charities are targeted precisely because attackers expect weaker controls and a reluctance to spend on security. The volunteer account is the recurring weak point: same access, different onboarding, no offboarding.
Where it usually leads
For most charities the honest sequence is: take the pledge, use it to get internal agreement that this is a priority, then certify. Cyber Essentials is the natural destination because it is the standard your customers, insurers and funders already recognise. See what Cyber Essentials actually requires, or the five controls checklist if you want to see how close you already are.
Related
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Understand your exposure
An attacker’s first move is not an attack, it is a look. So we look first, and send you what we find, worst first.
- Services and ports you did not know were open
- Security misconfigurations on anything public facing
- Known vulnerabilities already indexed by engines like Shodan
- Company credentials sitting in known breach data
The only question is: do you know where and how to look?
We reply within one business day. Prefer to talk first? 01902 288763 or info@solusec.co.uk.
Nothing is touched on your systems. It is all public and already indexed, just scattered. We pull it together, which is what an attacker does first.
Get charities certified ahead of the ask
Tell us who’s asking. We’ll get you Cyber Essentials certified — often in days — so the Pledge is an opportunity, not a scramble.