Agents of Change UK is closing as a charity and our final full year of operating ended on 30th June 2024. The Trustees of the charity will continue to meet beyond that date in order to formally close the charity and complete any financial and legal requirements of the Charity Commission and Companies House.
Agents of Change Romania is carrying on, and will welcome your support. Agents of Change Romania has always been a separate registered charity in Romania, with Alison Butcher as the charity’s President.
Why close Agents of Change UK now?
- The economic and social situation in Romania has changed over the past 30 years, with improvements in some aspects of national institutions dedicated to the support of the people which Agents of Change seeks to help.
- Conversely, access to the institutions where Agents of Change UK has been working is not available in the way that it used to be pre-Covid, making the charity’s previous ways of working unviable.
- The agreement of the local partner, the Monastery of St Treime in Stiubieni, to take on the management of the community house at Podriga reduces considerably the responsibility of Agents of Change UK for the day to day staffing and running of the community outreach programme.
- Our Founder Alison Butcher has reached the age of 70, and there is no potential for a younger generation of Trustees to take up the work from her. This will make fundraising for the charity difficult.
The Romanian charity will now be run from our Community House in Podriga in North Eastern Romania where our work has been based for 30 years. This has become possible through a partnership with the local monastery at Stiubieni, who have taken on ownership of the Community House including responsibility for our field staff. Alison will divide her time between the UK and Romania, as she has done for the past 30 years.
Agents of Change Romania will continue to work with people with special needs in three local communities as well as with refugees from Ukraine. In the post-Covid period the Community House has developed its role as a local Day Centre.
The advantage of closing the UK charity is that Alison can focus her energy on supporting the frontline work in Podriga rather than managing the UK charity, which was becoming increasingly complex. It will also reduce the costs of running the charity, which were always kept to a minimum. The disadvantage is that giftaid cannot be claimed on donations, although financial support from friends and well-wishers will continue to be vital.
If you would like to continue supporting Alison’s work you are invited to contact her for the details of a completely new bank account which she has set up for this purpose:
+44 7989 988573
With best wishes and grateful thanks for all your support over the years.