Homelessness charity Crisis has proposed a restructure of its services, which could see more than 100 roles made redundant, due to financial pressures.
The charity, which may close two of its advice and support centres servicing south Yorkshire and Coventry and Warwickshire, said it faced increasing costs, rising demand and reduced income.
As of July, Crisis employed 714 people. As part of the proposed organisation-wide restructure, 105 roles that are currently occupied are at risk of redundancy. It is proposing to remove another 20 vacant posts.
This includes the proposed closures of the two Skylight centres, where 39 staff are at risk – 19 at the Coventry and Warwickshire site and 20 in south Yorkshire respectively.
The charity stated that it hopes to mitigate as many compulsory redundancies as possible, including through filling other vacancies across the organisation.
CEO: ‘This is something we never wanted to consider’
Matt Downie, chief executive of Crisis, said: “These are very challenging times for Crisis and the rest of the charity sector. We’re experiencing a combination of increasing costs, rising demand for our services and reduced income.
“Going straight from the pandemic into a cost-of-living crisis, with the highest inflation rates in decades, has had a significant impact on our income and costs.”
Downie said the vast majority of work at Crisis is funded by donations from the public, and with so many households feeling the pressure of rising living costs, fewer people are able to support the charity, and those who still can are donating less on average.
Charity Commission data for the year to June 2022 put its total income at £64.8m and total expenditure at £66.2m.
Downie said fundraising income has declined, and the charity is now going through an organisation-wide restructure which involves proposed redundancies and a reduction to services in some areas.
Crisis currently delivers services in centres across Britain, and the charity is consulting on the closure of its two smallest Skylight centres, south Yorkshire and Coventry and Warwickshire.
The CEO said: “Crisis exists to end homelessness, and this is something we never wanted to consider. Our services and staff offer compassion, hope and kindness to people going through some of the toughest moments in their lives. Making redundancies and closing services is very difficult for us to contemplate and it’s not a proposal we’ve made lightly.
“We have already started conversations with our sector partners across south Yorkshire and Coventry and Warwickshire to make sure help will continue to be there for the people we support who, should the proposals go ahead, will be affected by this.”
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