Recession-hit Oxfam Ireland puts expansion on hold

AFTER THE BOOM:THE RECESSION has hit home at Oxfam Ireland, which has halted plans to expand its programmes because of a 33 per cent cut in Government aid.

“That will hit us very hard,” says Jim Clarken, chief executive of the charity, adding that revenue over the last year was down about 10 per cent.

Oxfam has operated in Ireland for 40 years and employs 135 people in Ireland and in developing countries in Africa, where it focuses on humanitarian and development aid.

The group had planned to develop and expand the reach of its programmes, but is now looking at shelving these plans for at least two years.

“That will not be possible in the current climate, so we are doing what we can to maintain the current programmes.

“The big question is how retail and fundraising will perform,” he added.

The group has also introduced a broad range of cost efficiencies across its organisation.

Clarken says the public face of the group, its retail shops, are holding up well despite a decline in donations of second-hand clothes.

“People appear to be holding on to them now. We are working harder to make the same money we were making more easily before.”

Fundraising is also tougher than it was a year ago.

“I would say it is more challenging, but we remain hopeful because we rely on that more than anything at the moment,” he says.

“It is more difficult, but we have a very committed team and the Irish public has always been very generous, and we hope that they will continue to be as supportive as they have been in the past.”

Clarken says the biggest challenge facing the charitable organisation comes from problems in developing countries, including reduced income and trade and climate change, which affect people’s capacity to develop their own livelihoods.

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