Change at Friends of the Earth
2 March 2009

In 2009/10 Friends of the Earth underwent some changes. This page was used to provide updates for local groups on the process and latest news. You can see all of the detailed briefings that were distributed at the bottom of this page. 

We'd planned in 2008 to review our structure and expenditure to best meet the demands of our strategic plan.

Like many other charities and NGOs, Friends of the Earth has also had to respond to the challenges of the recession and its impact on income and donations. We had to find significant savings over the following four years to stay within our means.

Andy Atkins and James Whiting led a detailed review to identify how and where savings can be made. Their initial proposals, agreed by the Board, went through formal collective consultation with staff via trade union Unite and the final structure was agreed, with changes implemented over the Autumn and early Winter 2009.

Every effort was made to minimise the number of job losses and retain as much capacity as possible as this will help Friends of the Earth succeed through the financial downturn although the changes did unavoidably result in some, mainly voluntary, redundancies. 

Andy and James have kept local groups regularly updated on the process, via the following: