'Toxic' charity files serious incident report

The LIVES charity, founded more than 50 years ago, responds to medical emergencies in Lincolnshire

A Lincolnshire charity has filed a serious incident report with its regulator, after claims of a "toxic" culture at the organisation.

The board of trustees at LIVES said it made the report to the Charity Commission in response to an online petition calling for LIVES' CEO to resign.

Founded more than 50 years ago, the charity sends emergency first responders to medical incidents across Lincolnshire.

Trustees said the report made clear they believe LIVES is "an extremely well run and well supported charity", but acknowledged "the petition may discourage people from donating, volunteering and or working at LIVES”.

LIVES' trustees said the serious incident report was made in response to an online petition which claims "many people report a 'toxic' work environment". Since the petition was started in January, it has gathered 513 supporters.

The Charity Commission said it had opened a regulatory compliance case into LIVES regarding the charity’s governance.

A spokesperson said: "We have engaged with trustees, who, in line with our guidance, have filed a serious incident report.

“A charity should be a safe and trusted environment. As regulator, we are clear that keeping people safe should be a priority for all charities.”

The Commission defines a serious incident as an actual or alleged event which risks significant harm to a charity's work or reputation.

LIVES' trustees said it was "by no means unusual" for a charity to file a report, adding it was done "out of an abundance of caution”.

Staff and volunteers have raised concerns about the workplace culture at LIVES

Last week, the BBC reported 26 staff and volunteers, both former and current, had claimed there is a culture of bullying and belittling staff at LIVES.

They include three people who said they had considered taking their own lives while working for the charity.

Responding to those allegations, the trustees said they were "completely without foundation" and they were "satisfied the charity is well run and robustly managed".

They said in many cases, employees' mental health issues "predated their employment with LIVES" and, in cases brought to its attention, it "offered the appropriate support".

LIVES has seen a substantial drop in its number of volunteer responders, from 762 in 2018 to 241 in 2023.

The number of call-outs attended by one of its NHS-funded teams has also fallen - from 202 in January 2022 to 69 in January 2024, a Freedom of Information request to East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) revealed.

Former and current staff said they believed the declines were, in part, down to high levels of staff sickness, disciplinary suspensions and resignations.

LIVES said there were multiple reasons for the reductions, including "staffing issues" and a migration of the volunteers' database which removed "outdated information".

EMAS said there was "no evidence" its new triage system was "having a negative impact".

In a statement, the board of trustees at LIVES said the serious incident report "made it clear that we believe that LIVES is in an extremely well run and well supported charity with loyal and hard-working staff and volunteers."

"It is the view of the trustees that both the petition and the allegations made to the BBC are the result of a concerted campaign by a small group of former employees to damage the charity. We will continue to follow up complaints raised through the proper channels."

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