The homelessness charities Crisis and Pathway are to merge in the summer, the organisations have announced.
The charities said the move built on existing collaboration between them and would enable them to provide a “stronger, more united voice” in addressing the health and support needs of people experiencing homelessness.
The two organisations will remain separate charities operating in a group structure, although in legal terms Pathway, which is much smaller, will become a subsidiary of Crisis.
Crisis provides support for and campaigns on behalf of homeless people, and has more than 600 staff, while Pathway, which helps the NHS create hospital teams to support homeless patients, employs eight people, according to its entry on the Charity Commission’s online register.
The charities said the services they provide will continue unchanged, at least in the short term, but in the longer term they expect to look to combine expertise in the areas in which they both operate.
A spokesperson for the charities said the decision to merge had not been financially driven.
The spokesperson said Jon Sparkes and Alex Bax, the chief executives of Crisis and Pathway respectively, would remain in their roles.
The organisations are expected to retain their existing, separate offices and there would be no job losses as a result of the merger, the spokesperson added.
Pathway will become a subsidiary of Crisis, and Crisis will be the sole member of Pathway, the charities said.
They will retain separate boards of trustees, although one Crisis trustee will join the Pathway board.
The charities said in a joint statement: “Pathway and Crisis will work together to ensure that the health service, through all its contacts with people experiencing homelessness, fulfils its potential in actively resolving homelessness.
“The two charities will continue to advocate for policy responses to homelessness that save lives, reduce health inequalities, and promote positive health outcomes for people who are homeless.”
The new structure is expected to come into effect on 1 July, or when the Charity Commission approves the amendments made to Pathway’s governing document to allow the merger to take place – whichever is later.
Sparkes said: “Having worked together successfully for many years, this merger is an exciting opportunity for both charities to combine our expertise, resources and voices at a time when people experiencing homelessness need us more than ever.”
Bax said: “By joining together with Crisis we will be able to do even more to support frontline NHS colleagues, build the skills and knowledge of NHS staff, and show how health, housing and care services working together is the best response to homelessness.”