Uncertainty what will happen after Brexit has resulted in VSO moving posts elsewhere

One of the UK’s biggest volunteering charities is moving posts overseas after Britain’s decision to leave the EU.

International development charity Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) said it had been reducing its UK workforce and moving posts to other countries in which it operates, partly in anticipation of EU funding being lost.

Staff numbers in the UK have been cut by 20 posts with the organisation saying it plans to reduce this by another quarter over the next five years.

VSO employs 244 people in the UK and 566 in the rest of the world and operates in 24 countries.

Philip Goodwin, chief executive, said the UK as a whole has lost some of its reputation as a leader in global civil society after the Brexit vote.

Responding to Charity Finance’s Chief Executives Survey 2017, he said that the uncertainty around Brexit is undermining planning and recruitment.

“We recently reduced the UK headcount by around 20 posts as part of an overall need to streamline and boost efficiency,” he said.

“It is likely that as a global organisation whose work is primarily delivered in the Global South, we will continue to reduce the size of our London-based staff.

“I would expect – all things being equal – a reduction of around another 25% over the next five years as posts fall vacant.”