Palliative care charity Sue Ryder has reported 14% higher staff costs at £73.8m, despite its total number of employees falling by 114 to 2,811.
According to its accounts for the year ending March 2023, the charity’s overall expenditure rose by 15% to £123m, exceeding its £112m income, which dropped marginally from £113m.
The increased staff costs, which amount to two-thirds of the charity’s income, were incurred to “keep pace with market rates and include any statutory increases in the National Living Wage and contributions to workplace pensions”, the accounts say.
One of the board’s key considerations for the year was recruiting and retaining staff in the current economic climate, according to the accounts.
Fundraising income falls despite extra spend
Total fundraising income at the charity declined during the year despite an increase in spending on the area, particularly on face-to-face fundraising.
Fundraising income fell to £17.4m from £19.3m for the financial year, which the charity stated was due to a “challenging” landscape impacted by the cost-of-living crisis and a slow return to face-to-face fundraising.
General donations were also down slightly to £8.1m, and legacy income fell from £8.5m to £6.4m for the financial year. The 24% decrease in legacies was due to Sue Ryder receiving three large individual legacies in 2021-22 which had produced an uplift.
The charity received 173 fundraising complaints during the financial year, up from 88 the previous year.
Door-to-door fundraising accounted for 118 of the complaints, while the second-highest level of complaints was about its addressed mail fundraising (13).
‘Buoyant’ retail income
Meanwhile, retail trading was “buoyant” throughout the year, with sales outperforming the charity’s expectations, the accounts read.
Sue Ryder received £58.9m from its over more than charity shops for the year, an increase of £6.1m on the previous financial year.
From October 2022, Sue Ryder gave all its employees and volunteers a 50% discount on donated items in its retail shops.
The charity’s reserves stood at £59.8m for the year-end, down from £70.8m the year prior.
