A domestic abuse support charity is set to lose half of its workforce and close its services when a council contract worth almost £400,000 a year ends.
MyCWA, formerly known as Cheshire Without Abuse, will see its contract with the Cheshire East Council end in March, putting about 20 jobs at risk.
The charity said thousands of domestic abuse survivors and their children could lose a lifeline with the impending closure of its Crewe support centre, vital support services, Macclesfield store and community hub.
Saskia Lightburn-Ritchie, chief executive of MyCWA, said: “For almost 50 years, people have fled abuse and we’d be there waiting for them.
“I can’t quite articulate how catastrophic the impact of this funding decision is going to be. It will be felt for generations to come.”
MyCWA, which recorded an income of £2.3m in the year to the end of March 2024, has been working with the council since 2020 to provide its bespoke Whole Family Service through a contract that was initially worth £600,000 a year.
It was also tasked with co-developing and delivering a shared case management system and a co-staffed domestic abuse hub.
The charity had its contract reduced by 25 per cent in the financial year to the end of March 2023.
“The contract should have ended in March 2024 but the council were not prepared as a result of their funding challenges, so they extended our contract by six months to enable them to produce a new domestic abuse strategy,” the charity said.
“This represented a reduction of a further 60 per cent and there was still no strategy in June, so they extended our contract for a further six months.
“At our last contract meeting in May 2024 they told us that the contract would again be extended in April 2025 or the strategy would be developed so that the future service design could be transferred to or they would give us six months’ notice to decommission services.”
The charity said its contract was worth £388,000 in 2023/24 and it had spent more than £300,000 of its reserves to supplement the contract.
“We also made 25 per cent of our staff redundant,” the charity said.
The charity has 42 employees and will make a further 50 per cent redundant when the contract ends.
MyCWA has launched a fundraiser with a £500,000 target to keep its services running for another year.
Carol Bulman, councillor and chair of Cheshire East Council’s children’s and families committee, said supporting victims of domestic abuse remained a priority.
“Our commitment is reflected in maintaining the budget for domestic abuse services for 2025/26 at the same level as in 2024/25.
“To enhance the quality of services, we are currently conducting a tender process to develop a strengthened service model, including expanded in-house provision.
“Domestic abuse support charity MyCWA chose to withdraw from this process in December. ”
Bulman said the council commissioned MyCWA on a fixed-term contract to supplement its domestic abuse services until March 2025 and the contract did not require a formal notice of termination.
“The terms of the agreement clearly oblige the contract-holder to provide an exit strategy to ensure the seamless transfer of services,” Bulman said.
“MyCWA has not yet fulfilled this requirement or co-operated to provide reassurance about safeguarding the vulnerable adults and children currently in refuge under their care.”
Lightburn-Ritchie said the tender was for refuge services only and MyCWA was forced to remove itself given the proposed amount of £150,000 per year would not have covered staffing costs alone.
“For perspective, in 2010, refuge provision – and for fewer spaces – was contracted at £330,000.
“Councillor Bulman states we have ‘not fulfilled the requirement of providing an exit strategy or co-operated to provide reassurance about safeguarding the vulnerable adults and children currently in refuge under their care’, which is untrue.
“We have in fact submitted an initial plan, but it cannot be finalised until we know where our current clients will be supported; and our repeated requests for meetings about future service provision have gone unanswered.”