A community support charity in Nottingham will close in May after it lost a government grant as a result of the city council’s bankruptcy.

The Bridges Community Trust has been operating for nearly 30 years in the Meadows area of Nottingham. From its café, it provides support services, advice and a welcoming space for people in the community who are in need. 

But on Friday next week (25 April) an extraordinary general meeting will be held to vote on the charity’s dissolution.

The trust currently runs with just three staff – a manager, a café chef and a finance officer – but will close its café on 9 May. Assuming the vote for dissolution is passed, all staff will lose their jobs.

Miriam Gifford, chair of The Bridges Community Trust, said: “I think this will be one of the saddest times in my life. I was there in the beginning, one year off of 30 years, so I suppose it is apt I am there at its end.”

The charity had been running at a deficit, having recorded a total income of £146,017 and total expenditure of £169,957 in the financial year ending March 2024. Its income included £52,696 from two government contracts and £34,660 from one government grant.

Rebecca Liggins, the charity’s manager, told Third Sector the charity’s closure was due to “a complete lack of funding” since Nottingham City Council went bankrupt in 2023. The charity previously received an area-based grant, which has since ended.

“We are a very small charity and we have had to condense over the years due to redundancies,” she explained. “We have reached a point now where, unfortunately, our core part does not have the funding.

“We have tried to look around every which way we can, the community has tried to help us and keep it alive, but unfortunately we have had to make the decision. It will wind down and it will have a huge impact on our community.

“I personally am looking at ways we can try to carry on this space – we do not want the community to lose it,” Liggins added.

She said the café was surrounded by independent living units for older people, many of whom regularly attended the space.

“That is who we have captured as our audience. It is the social isolation that the café has lifted off people”, Liggins said. “We realise the importance of what we do but unfortunately our hands are tied.”