Oxfam must save £16m in wake of Haiti sex scandal

OXFAM has warned staff it needs urgently to find £16 million of savings and radically reduce the number of its poverty-relieving programmes as the charity tries to cope with the fallout from the Haiti sex scandal.

Freeholds of its high-street charity shops are set to be sold as part of an effort “to save substantial amounts of money to put [us] on a more stable and sustainable footing”, according to documents seen by The Guardian.

The charity needs to make the savings because of a shortfall in its “unrestricted” budget – money raised from its shops and individuals to be spent on whatever it sees fit – suggesting donors and shoppers have stayed away.

The seven-page document, marked as confidential and circulated last week by Mark Goldring, the chief executive of Oxfam GB, says: “The size of our programmes will be substantially reduced

‘The size of our programmes will be substantially reduced for this year and next’

for this year and next ... this means making tough choices.”

The document said the charity would “sell freehold property to quickly raise substantial funds. This will be done mainly on a sale and lease back basis to preserve our ability to trade from these locations”.

Oxfam GB has been trying to win back the confidence of the public, the Government and its donors following allegations that members of its staff used sex workers during a relief mission after the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The charity stands accused of failing to disclose details of the alleged sexual misconduct to the Charity Commission, which has launched an inquiry.

“We know we need to better inspire and engage the UK public,” the document said.

An Oxfam spokesman said: “We are devastated that the appalling behaviour of some former staff in Haiti, and shortcomings in how we dealt with that eight years ago, means we now have less money to provide clean water, food and other support to people who need it.

“We are immensely grateful to all those – including more than nine in 10 of our regular givers – who have continued to support us during these difficult times. This support makes a massive difference to people struggling to escape poverty and to survive disasters around the world.

“We are cutting head office and support functions to ensure that we can continue with the majority of our lifesaving and life-changing work on the ground.”