Crisis homelessness charity paid more than £2m in redundancy costs last year, according to its most recent accounts.
The charity told Civil Society the £2.08m costs included two significant restructures, including one of its client services team in 2022-23, which resulted in 45 job losses.
It also began a financially-driven organisation-wide restructure, which resulted in 80 redundancies and cost the charity £1.4m.
Crisis said it expects the organisation-wide restructure to result in yearly savings of £5m due to the closure of two services and a reduction in the number of roles in the organisation.
The charity said it has seen donations fall since 2021 as fewer people are able to give money in a cost-of-living crisis.
Overall, staff costs were £36.6m in the year to June 2023 compared to £34.0m the year prior, the accounts show.
Despite redundancies, the average staff amount was 765, compared with 735 the year prior. However, 661 people are now employed by Crisis.
Meanwhile, the average number of volunteers was 4,455 which was up from 2,985.
Deficit planned
The accounts show the charity recorded a deficit of £2.1m.
Over the next few years, the charity anticipates some fundraising growth based on new strategies and activities, but also expects a steady increase in general expenditure.
“We recognise that there are inherent risks around our fundraising assumptions, and that these are harder to evaluate in the current economic climate,” the report states.
Crisis is also expecting to generate a deficit in the current financial year, with a return to surpluses in the following two years. It has budgeted for a deficit revenue budget in 2023-24, of £2.4m.
Total income was “largely flat” increasing from £64.8m to £65.0m while expenditure increased from £66.2m to £67.1m.
The accounts state the fundraising environment has been “challenging” with income from donations and legacies falling by £1.1m.
Retail income increased from £3.5m to £4.8m boosted by the opening of three new shops in the year.
Meanwhile, the charity had total reserves of £38.6m as of 30 June 2023.
Matt Downie, chief executive of Crisis, said in the report: “Raising enough money to fund our work has continued to be very tough this year.
“Our incredibly generous supporters are, like millions in the UK, having to think carefully about what they can and can’t afford in these difficult times.
“This has meant that fewer people are able to support us and those who still can are donating less on average. At the same time our costs, like everyone else’s, have gone up.”
He said to ensure that Crisis remains financially sustainable in the long-term, “we have had to carry out a change programme” which has involved “some redundancies and a reduction of services in some areas”.
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