A recently recruited head of a youth charity has announced a restructure, with members of staff losing their jobs.
Jo Broadwood joined Leap Confronting Conflict as chief executive in February this year, becoming its first permanent CEO since Gabin Sinclair Constance left in July 2023.
Posting on social media, Broadwood said it had been a “difficult first month” in the role and one of her “toughest days at work for a long while” when staff were let go.
She said that the board of trustees and herself were implementing a strategic restructuring program to increase the charity’s financial stability.
As part of this, the charity has appointed a new permanent director of delivery, Laura Johnson, who joins from Mind, where she worked in senior roles for six years.
‘Urgently needed to restructure’
In a statement on Leap’s website last week, Broadwood said that a challenging fundraising climate had led to the charity’s decision to restructure.
“It very quickly became apparent after joining the team at Leap that we urgently needed to restructure in order to strengthen our delivery team and to cut costs,” she wrote.
“This means that today we are losing some exceptional and talented members of the Leap staff team.
“I draw some comfort from the knowledge that although this has been a painful decision it has been an absolutely necessary one.
“As all of those across the civil society sector will be aware it has become much tougher to raise funds.
“And Leap, like many others has been affected by this.”
Staff affected by the changes will be supported by the charity, with some able to take on roles in Leap’s freelance trainer pool, Broadwood said.
According to Leap’s latest accounts, it had 23 permanent staff in 2022 and 30 freelance specialists.
The charity’s total income has fallen each year since 2019, when it generated £2.04m, to £1.51m in 2022.
Leap’s income from donations and legacies in 2022 was the lowest in five years at £627,000.
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