More than one in five workers have lost their jobs at Refugee Action following a staff restructure due to financial challenges caused by changes to its sources of income.

The charity has confirmed that 20 people from its workforce of 93 have lost their jobs, after a restructure process that started four months ago and ended in May.

Its chief executive Tim Naor Hilton said the “make-up of our finances is changing significantly”, due to wider pressures facing the charity sector, “attacks on our cause leading to increased caution from some donors” and government refugee resettlement scheme contracting coming to an end.

“All this is happening at a time when our support is more needed than ever, demand for our services is increasing, and demand for our organisational support, convening and our strong, anti-racist campaigning voice is also increasing,” said Naor Hilton in a post on LinkedIN.



He said the staff restructure was needed “to ensure our work going forwards is financially sustainable” and that “this has been a very painful and difficult process”.

“As a result, a number of very valued colleagues have left Refugee Action and we have also reduced or closed some of our much-needed activities,” he said,

“We are being realistic about what we are able to deliver and how we can fund it, to ensure impact and financial sustainability.”

He continued “we know many organisations in the charity sector and specifically in the migration sector are experiencing similar” and that the charity is “more privileged than many in that we have dedicated fundraising resources”.

The charity added that “talented and dedicated colleagues from most parts of the charity had to leave to make the savings required” and that the government’s Homes for Ukraine and Afghan resettlement schemes are coming to an end, and the number of people coming into the UK under the UK Resettlement Scheme “remains depressingly low”

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