Mind made almost 100 redundancies during the last financial year as part of a major restructure, it has reported.

The national mental health charity’s accounts for the year to the end of March 2024 show that it went through a “transformational restructuring” during this period, spending nearly £1.6m on redundancy payments.

Mind’s chief executive, Sarah Hughes, told Third Sector that the restructure resulted in 91 redundancies across the organisation, including at senior leadership level.

During the 2023/24 financial year, the charity had an average of 582 full-time equivalent staff, she added.

Hughes said: “Like so many charities across the country, Mind has had to make financially difficult decisions about who, how and what we focus on. 

“In recent years we made the conscious decision to spend our accumulated reserves to fulfil our strategic commitments. However, with increased costs and a reduction in available funding, that spending was not sustainable.”

Hughes said that in spring of 2023, the charity began a strategy review and a change programme to “make sure we are best placed to have the greatest, most-sustainable impact for beneficiaries, especially those with the biggest mental health needs”.

She said: “Sadly, one outcome of the review was a large restructure, resulting in a number of redundancies across the organisation which meant we lost valuable and dedicated staff.”

Mind recorded a total income of £62.7m during the 2023/24 financial year, up from £59.2m the year before.

But the charity recorded total expenditure of £79.8m – amounting to a deficit of £17m. 

Of the charity’s income, £30.8m came from donations, legacies and events, while £25.4m came from shop income, raffles and other activities.

Most of the expenditure was on charitable activities, amounting to almost £50m, while £29.8m was spent on raising funds, the accounts show.

Hughes said that in the current financial year, the charity had been continuing to streamline and “remains committed to transforming Mind in order to meet growing demand”.

She said: “This means planning for the long-term future in an uncertain funding landscape and continuing to deliver top-quality support for people with mental health problems, without risking our financial position.

“The cost-of-living crisis has hit charities hard and will continue to do so over the coming years. Looking forward, as mental-health needs continue to rise, we will continue to review our income and expenditure with a focus on efficiency, impact and sustainability.”