Jon Sparkes has led Crisis for the last seven years

The chief executive of a homeless charity has announced he is stepping down after seven years in charge.

Jon Sparkes is set to take over as chief executive of Unicef UK at the start of 2022.

Under his leadership and to the credit of everyone at the organisation, Crisis has been able to help more people than ever end their homelessness through direct services throughout Britain, has achieved a remarkable growth in income from £20m to £70m, and has been instrumental in hard-won political successes to tackle homelessness in England, Scotland and Wales.

Tristia Harrison, chair of trustees at Crisis, said “I want to thank Jon for his skill, passion and tireless work to tackle homelessness over the last seven years.

“Whilst the whole board of trustees and I are sad to lose Jon, it is also clear that nothing will divert us from our mission to end homelessness. Crisis is in a robust position, with financial stability now and into the future and a talented staff team throughout the organisation. Crisis is exceptionally well run, and the next chief executive will inherit a highly-motivated group of colleagues and supporters.

“The recruitment process for our next chief executive will begin in September, and I look forward to the next phase of our journey towards ending homelessness for good.”

Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Crisis, said “Leaving Crisis will be a huge wrench. We have achieved so much together over the last seven years, and I am certain that Crisis will continue to make massive progress over the coming years to end homelessness in Great Britain. Our values, the strength of our team, the quality of our front-line services and our reputation and influence all stand us in good stead for continuing our work to end homelessness. Whoever takes over from me is inheriting the leadership of a quite amazing organisation.”