A community transport charity in the West Midlands has announced its sudden closure and job losses for all its staff after facing financial challenges.
The Warwickshire Rural Community Council (WRCC), which has been operating for 88 years, announced on Monday that it had closed “with immediate effect”, with its last day of service being last Sunday.
In its statement, WRCC said that despite “undergoing a significant programme of change during 2025”, it had nevertheless suffered two years of “losses and income targets not being met”.
Trustees therefore decided at a board meeting last week to close down the charity with immediate effect, with the charity now “engaging an insolvency practitioner as the first step towards liquidation”.
WWRC said that all its members of staff, who it thanked for their “commitment and dedication”, would effectively lose their jobs “without notice”.
According to the charity’s most recently filed accounts for the year ending 31 March 2024, it employed 19 full-time equivalent roles and was operating with a total income of £1.06m against a total expenditure of £1.18m.
The charity added in its statement: “All trustees and our chief executive, Chris Cowcher, are truly sorry that it must end this way.
“We hope that our partners and other organisations will continue to champion rural communities, ensuring local voices are heard and their needs met in the future.”
