A north London-based charity, which operated a food bank, has closed suddenly after a court winding up order.
The Pilion Trust managed the Ringcross Community Centre in Islington ran a variety of other support services, including a seasonal shelter for young people experiencing homelessness, prior to its closure this month.
The charity’s website now reads: “We have closed the charity. Thanks to everyone who has supported us and the 100,000s of people who came through our doors over the years.”
Meanwhile, local residents told the Islington Tribune that they had turned up to find the community centre closed, suggesting that there had been a breakdown in communication leaving service users unaware of the charity’s closure.
The building is owned by housing association Hyde Housing and had been managed by the Pilion Trust for seven years, serving the 1,600 residents of the Ringcross estate.
Charity was experiencing considerable financial difficulties
Files from Companies House indicate that the charity had gone into liquidation, as per a winding up court order dated 10 September.
The charity’s most recent set of accounts for the financial year ending 31 January 2024 show that it recorded an annual income of £64,100, down from £104,000 the year before, while its expenditure was £61,700, down from £93,600.
Another file logged on Companies House shows the court order for the winding up of the charity followed a petition for compulsory liquidation by HMRC last November, which typically occurs when an organisation owes money that it cannot repay.
A further document from 2 October shows that HMRC stripped the Pilion Trust of its leasehold at the Ringcross Community Centre.
The leasehold had first been issued to the charity by Hyde Housing in 2018 for a 25-year term at the nominal cost of £1 per year.
Charity had been ‘doing even more with even less’
In its latest accounts, the charity reported that “continuous funding cuts and closures of frontline services” had “created more work for our charity; by increasing the volume of people who require our services at the same time as the financial landscape is decreasing”.
“Pilion Trust have become experts at doing even more with even less; but recognise the serious negative impact and emotional strain on the whole organisation is enormous,” the accounts read.
A spokesperson for Hyde Housing told the Islington Tribune that the housing association had been “shocked” to learn of the charity’s closure.
“We’re now working with lawyers and the receivers to manage the return of the lease for the community centre, but this process can take some time,” they said.
The housing association is understood to be advising local residents on alternative nearby support services available to them.
Civil Society has contacted the Pilion Trust and Hyde Housing for further comment.
