LGBTQ+ charity to close ‘following a prolonged period of financial pressure’

A charity that has been supporting LGBTQ+ people for 40 years is closing this week amid funding challenges.

London and Southeast based charity Metro says the decision to close follows 18 months of work “to stabilise the charity’s financial position and explore all viable options to secure its future”.

It added: “Despite these efforts, it has become clear that the organisation can no longer continue operating in its current form.”

It will close on 31 March when its sexual health, HIV support, youth, mental health and advocacy services will cease operating.

“We know this news will be deeply upsetting for our staff, volunteers, partners and service users, and our priority now is to ensure a responsible and compassionate wind-down, working closely with partners to support continuity of services wherever possible,” said the charity’s chair Dawn Brown.

“We are incredibly proud of METRO’s legacy. For more than forty years, the organisation has been at the forefront of LGBTQ+ health and community support, and its impact will continue to be felt in the lives it has changed and the communities it has helped to build.”

Its chief executive Tony Wong added: “I want to pay tribute to the extraordinary staff, volunteers, trustees, partners and supporters who have been part of METRO over the past four decades.

“Their dedication, compassion and commitment have made a profound difference to tens of thousands of people.

“While this is an incredibly difficult moment, I am proud of everything METRO has achieved, from pioneering services to standing alongside the various communities we've supported through times of challenge and change.

According to the charities register Metro is almost two months overdue in filing its financial records for the financial year ending March 2025.

Its spending had outstripped its income for the two previous years, the register also shows.

In the year ending March 2024, it spent £5.11m but its income was £4.54m, mainly from 41 government contracts. For this financial year it employed more than 90 staff and was supported by five trustees and 40 volunteers.