MBF chief executive’s statement on completing the restructure exercise

We’ve gone through a restructuring exercise which has reduced our staff numbers from 32 to 15 posts. This follows a period of consultation which began in early January 2011.

Steve Matthews, our chief executive commented:

“We have had to make these changes in response to cuts in funding, in particular, the loss of strategic partner funding from the Office for Civil Society. Although plans were already in place in response to the potential withdrawal of this funding, we had hoped that we would be successful in obtaining renewed strategic partner funding to help us through the transition phase.

“Mentoring and befriending is at the heart of the government’s agenda for the Big Society. The very nature of individuals supporting each other through mentoring and befriending encourages social action and participation in communities as well as supporting those who are most disadvantaged in our society. MBF still has a vital role in representing the sector and supporting organisations to set up and run effective mentoring and befriending services.

“The new structure will mean that we can focus our resources on engaging with projects, providing training and support services and strengthening our knowledge of mentoring and befriending in key sectors.

“We still expect to represent and reach the same number of organisations and provide the same levels of information and resources. We will just be doing things differently, using technology more and focusing on the areas where we know mentoring and befriending really does make a difference.

“MBF is committed to the mentoring and befriending community and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the projects for their continued support and look forward to working with you in the future.”

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