A YORK charity which has received royal recognition is facing an uncertain future after its funding was pulled.
Move the Masses has lost out on tens of thousands of pounds from the Better Care Fund which was awarded by City of York Council and the NHS until it was cut in the latest budget round.
The charity - which runs a walking buddy project for vulnerable people - has had to make its seven employees redundant and will be run by volunteers from July except one paid 10-hour-a-week role.
Its Move Mates project pairs more than 200 volunteers with people who might otherwise not leave their home, and they meet each week for a week, helping to ease feelings of loneliness and isolation.
The charity’s interim chief executive officer Libby Crofts said Better Care funding had varied annually but was up to £40,000 to £50,000 a year until it was halved last year. It has now been cut completely.
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