Help for Heroes puts 142 staff roles at risk of redundancy

Demand for the charity’s services has gone up – and its funding has gone down – by around a third

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Military charity Help for Heroes has placed 142 staff roles at risk of redundancy, as it suffers a sharp drop in income since the start of the pandemic.

The organisation, supporting wounded veterans and their families, has warned that there may be up to 90 job losses as a result of the recession.

Help for Heroes relies on public donations for almost all its funding but has been forced to cancel or postpone face-to-face fundraising since March.

The charity’s chief executive, Melanie Walters, said: “These tough decisions have been made to protect the future of the charity and have been taken with our beneficiaries in mind.”

Whilst demand for Help for Heroes services rose by a third, as the initial coronavirus lockdown took its toll on the health of some ex-servicemen and servicewomen, its annual revenue is forecast to fall by a third.

The charity, which furloughed 130 staff in the spring, said it does not expect its funding to return to its former levels over the coming years.

Three Help for Heroes centres, in Yorkshire, Devon and Essex, will stay closed for the foreseeable future, as its focus shifts to providing remote support.

Mrs Walters said the restructuring was necessary for the charity’s survival.

“In 2007, we made a promise on behalf of the nation to provide lifetime support to wounded veterans, and their families, and we are striving to keep that promise,” she said in a statement on its website.

“The crisis has had a devastating impact on the whole UK charity sector, with lasting consequences, and it has hit us hard.”

The Wiltshire-based charity was set up by former Army Captain Bryn Parry and his wife Emma in 2007.