Homeless charity Crisis set to shut two centres after drop in donations

Crisis is set to close its South Yorkshire Skylight centre in Rotherham

Leading homelessness charity Crisis is set to shut two offices, including its entire South Yorkshire operations, the BBC has learned.

Sites in Rotherham and Coventry have been earmarked to close as the charity struggles with a drop in donations.

Crisis said reduced income and rising costs had forced it to make "difficult choices".

The charity's 11 Skylight centres help thousands of people a year find homes, access training and look for work.

Chief executive Matt Downie said closing two of the centres was "very difficult for us to contemplate" at a time of rising homelessness.

But he said the charity had to scale back services to ensure it "remains financially sustainable in the long-term".

Crisis chief executive Matt Downie said the charity had "been left with no choice" but to make cuts

Twenty staff at the South Yorkshire site and 19 in Coventry have been placed at risk of redundancy.

Mr Downie told the BBC: "Crisis exists to end homelessness, and this is something we never wanted to consider.

"It's not a proposal we've made lightly but, sadly, we've been left with no choice."

The charity, which receives the majority of its funding from donations, said the cost-of-living crisis had had "a significant impact" on its income, while soaring inflation had pushed up costs.

"With so many households feeling the pressure of rising living costs, fewer people are able to support us and those who still can are donating less on average," said Mr Downie, who added these were "very challenging times" for the charity sector.

Twenty staff in Rotherham have been placed at risk of redundancy

The proposed closure of the South Yorkshire Skylight centre, which has supported 200 people in the past year, comes after homelessness rose by 20% in the region over the past two years.

A total of 2,225 households in Sheffield, Doncaster, Barnsley and Rotherham were assessed as homeless by their councils in January to March this year, up from 1,847 in 2021, according to government data.

The number of South Yorkshire families left homeless due to no-fault evictions nearly tripled from 40 to 111 in same period.

In June, Prince William visited Sheffield to launch a new campaign aimed at "ending homelessness" within five years.

The city is to receive £500,000 from the royal's charitable foundation after being selected as one of the Homewards project's six target locations.

'Challenge to get funding'

Crisis said the South Yorkshire and Coventry Skylight centres were the smallest of the charity's 11 sites and it was "working closely with our sector partners" to ensure those who would be affected by the closures received support.

The two centres have been earmarked to shut in December, subject to a consultation.

The head of a Sheffield charity which runs a day centre for rough sleepers said "sadly, it's not that much of a surprise" to hear of the proposed closures.

Daryl Bishop, chief executive of Ben's Centre, said it was "always a bit of a challenge" to get funding and rising costs were making charities' work harder than ever.

He added: "We've certainly felt the pinch - buying milk, paying for electricity, everything.

"Every day I get a different email saying something else is going to be more expensive and that's the same for the people we rely on for funding."