The cancer charity is facing up to a £175m drop in income over the next two years
Another national health charity has revealed it will make significant job cuts.
Macmillan Cancer Support has said it will have to cut 310 roles, around a sixth of its workforce, from next month.
The charity has become the latest to announce redundancies as a result of Covid-19. Cancer Research UK, Breast Cancer Now and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) have all said that jobs will be lost due to dramatic reductions in funding.
The charity, which had already furloughed approximately 30% of its staff, said it was forced to take drastic action because it was likely to lose tens of millions a year in voluntary donations over the next two years.
It will launch a consultation on the proposed redundancies on 5 October.
In a blog published this week, Macmillan chief executive Lynda Thomas said the charity faces some extremely difficult decisions.
She said: “I am incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication of all of our Macmillan employees, professionals, partners, supporters and volunteers across the UK, who’ve worked tirelessly, whilst managing the impact of the crisis on their own lives, to help us maintain our support for over 1.9 million people living with cancer each year.
“However, in line with other charities across the sector, we are seeing a significant decline in income, as a result of restrictions on our activities and a struggling economy. Despite the determination and commitment of our fundraising teams, our voluntary income could be down by as much as £175 million by the end of 2022. It’s clear we need to make further savings so that we can protect our critical cancer services, such as Macmillan nurses and the Macmillan support phone line.
“I am deeply saddened to announce that we will be starting a consultation process on 5th October and propose to make 310 redundancies.
“Our people are at the heart of everything we do, but this is the only way we can meet the needs of people living with cancer now and in the future. We are committed to ensuring that this is managed equitably and fairly, and that all impacted colleagues are treated with compassion and care.
“The past six months have been some of the hardest our organisation has ever faced. To say that today is the darkest day of my career is no exaggeration. I am truly devastated to have to do this, and it is not a decision we have taken lightly.”
Macmillan's flagship fundraising event, the annual Coffee Morning, is due to take place this Friday, allowing participants to use socially distanced and virtual formats, but the charity is expecting it to make £20m less than last year – a fall of 71%.
In a statement, the charity said it had made efforts to combat the drop in funding through cost-saving measures including stopping all non-essential expenditure, furloughing approximately 30 per cent of the workforce, introducing a recruitment freeze, closing some of its offices and suspending the annual salary review, but had been “unable to avoid cuts to jobs”.
