All staff at risk of redundancy at breast cancer charity

Breast Cancer Haven has suspended its services and put all its staff at risk of redundancy, due to its income dropping “significantly” during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The London based charity says that despite a series of cuts, including reducing staffing levels, “we are not able to continue normal operations at this time”.

Since March 2020 the charity has closed its five centres and hospital services and been providing support online.

The charity said in an online statement: “It is with huge sadness that Breast Cancer Haven’s board of trustees have made the extremely difficult decision to suspend operations for the time being. This means we will be pausing the delivery of our live online service and with great regret, putting all our staff at risk of redundancy.
“In common with many charities around the world, as a result of the pandemic, our income has decreased significantly.”

It added: “Despite a series of cost cutting measures including saying goodbye to valued colleagues, we are not able to continue normal operations at this time. This means that we will be pausing the delivery of our live online services that have helped around 1,800 people by providing over 10,000 appointments since lockdown began in March 2020.”



Breast Cancer Haven has pledged to continue providing support to those who are currently accessing its services until the end of June. Those with their first consultation with the charity booked before April 23 can access up to four hours of therapy time.

It added that new visitors can access help from its healthcare professional team “but we will not be able to provide any new one-to-one appointments” with therapists.

The charity said that it is still fundraising and is looking raise a further £100,000 of direct costs in order to provide support until the end of June.

According to the charity’s latest accounts filed with the Charity Commission, for the year ending 31 May 2020, it had 67 employers, nine trustees and 112 volunteers. It’s expenditure was £3.96m, while its income was £3.9m.

    Share Story:

Recent Stories


Charity Times video Q&A: In conversation with Hilda Hayo, CEO of Dementia UK
Charity Times editor, Lauren Weymouth, is joined by Dementia UK CEO, Hilda Hayo to discuss why the charity receives such high workplace satisfaction results, what a positive working culture looks like and the importance of lived experience among staff. The pair talk about challenges facing the charity, the impact felt by the pandemic and how it's striving to overcome obstacles and continue to be a highly impactful organisation for anybody affected by dementia.
Charity Times Awards 2023

Mitigating risk and reducing claims
The cost-of-living crisis is impacting charities in a number of ways, including the risks they take. Endsleigh Insurance’s* senior risk management consultant Scott Crichton joins Charity Times to discuss the ramifications of prioritising certain types of risk over others, the financial implications risk can have if not managed properly, and tips for charities to help manage those risks.

* Coming soon… Howden, the new name for Endsleigh.