Relief International UK (RI-UK) saw its headcount reduce by more than half last year as the charity’s global network restructured.
The international development charity employed nine members of staff at the end of 2025, down from 25 a year earlier, its recently published accounts show.
There were nine RI-UK support officer redundancies last year due to the charity’s restructure, its accounts state, with several similar roles cut at the other Relief International charities based in the US and France.
An RI-UK spokesperson said the employee reduction was part of a global shift “in response to changes in the funding environment, evolving operational needs, and the need to align organisational resources with available funding”.
“These changes were intended to support long-term financial sustainability while ensuring resources remained aligned with our global mission and priorities,” they added.
In July this year, the charity made further changes to its governance, with several RI-UK trustees moving to the US and France-based organisations.
The trustee departures – leaving chair Debra Davis and two other board members – came as part of the global group’s transition from an “alliance to a network model”.
Under the new structure, RI-UK and RI-France will be jointly led by the executive director and be responsible for fundraising and grant oversight outside the US and programme implementation.
Meanwhile, RI-US will focus primarily on fundraising in the North American country under its own director.
“This transition was intended to support greater alignment across the organisation and establish a structure better suited to the organisation’s operating realities,” RI-UK’s spokesperson said.
“The associated trustee changes were part of this transition. These changes reflect Relief International’s continued efforts to adapt to a changing operating environment and for long-term sustainability.”
RI-UK’s income reduced to $49.6m (£43.3m) in 2025 from $51.2m the year before while its expenditure fell by a similar amount to $49.6m.
Its support staff costs declined to $1.33m in 2025, when 13 people were employed on average, down from $2.19m the year before when 25 were on the charity’s payroll.
Some $137,371 (£102,223) was paid in termination costs for RI-UK in the year, down from $25,674 the year before.
At the end of last year, the charity had $1.58m in funds.
