Financial problems lead to ‘managed closure’ of £8.9m charity

Modern slavery charity Causeway is to close this year following a financial review that has confirmed it “can no longer operate sustainably”.

The charity is one of around a dozen charities subcontracted by the Salvation Army to run the Home Office’s modern slavery victim care contract (MSVCC) awarded by the Home Office.

It says it will begin a “managed closure” to support staff, has notified the Home Office, and is working closely with The Salvation Army to ensure safe continuity of support for all service users during the transition

Operational services are set to close at the charity, which employs more than 170 people according to the charities register, by the end of June

“This was an extremely difficult decision, but our priority is the safety and wellbeing of the people we support and our colleagues,” said a spokesperson for Causeway.

“By having a managed closure, we can focus on ensuring a safe, managed transition for everyone during this period.”

The charity’s accounts for the year ending March 2025 highlighted that “the change in government brought with it significant financial impact for the charity sector including ourselves”.

It particularly cites the increase in Employers National Insurance contributions and “uncertainty” around public sector commissioning.

This “led to us not only losing two of our crime reduction contracts representing significant income to us but also facing a significant increase in our core overheads that could not be contained”.

The accounts continue: “Due to these financial impacts, we were forced to review the scale of our workforce and our overhead expenditure and put in place an efficiencies programme to address the resultant deficit.

“This not only meant job losses but also a need to rethink the planned Strategic plan objectives and a rescope of what could be achieved and what should be the focus of the forthcoming three-year period.”

According to the charities register, its spending has outstripped its income in two of the last five years.

In the financial year ending March 2025, it spent £9.52m but earned £8.96m.