Talking Openly About Organisational Endings

Civil society is navigating turbulent times. Funding is scarce or shifting, demand is soaring, and many leaders, staff, trustees and volunteers speak of exhaustion after years of crisis response and the moral distress of managing impossible trade-offs between budgets and needs. In this climate, some of the most responsible decisions involve difficult conversations we've been taught not to have.

This workshop with Iona Lawrence from The Decelerator offers a supportive space to consider what's often unspoken: that organisational endings can be intentional, values-led decisions protecting what matters most: your mission, your people, your communities, and vital assets and services. And when endings aren't chosen but forced by circumstances beyond your control, how you navigate them still matters: responding with dignity, care, and respect for all that's being lost makes a profound difference.

We'll have a real-life example with Youth Music funded partner Claire and Peter from Skimstone Arts.

We'll explore how transitions of all kinds—mergers, transformations, strategic wind-downs, and purposeful closures—can be handled with intention to protect legacies and sustain impact. You'll hear stories of leaders who've navigated these paths and have discovered that endings, when done well, can be acts of service rather than defeat.

Is it for me? Yes, if you're:

• Leading in turbulent times and wondering what sustainable might mean in this context
• Exhausted by the pressure to keep going at all costs
• Curious about options for organisational sustainability beyond ideas of "grow or die"
• Concerned about your organisation's future but unsure who to talk to
• Wanting to lead responsibly through uncertainty, whatever that means for your organisation or group
• Interested in how endings can create space for renewal across the sector

This session is for leaders who care deeply about impact and are brave enough to ask hard questions, knowing that asking them doesn't make endings inevitable, but avoiding them might. Leaders, staff, trustees and volunteers of charities, CICs, unconstituted groups and all those who care about civil society are warmly welcomed.

By the end, you'll have:

• Reflected on endings: what they are, why they matter, how they can be transformative
• Made sense of turbulent times: explored why the current context makes these conversations more urgent and necessary
• Heard about practical support available for deceleration, transition, and intentional endings

Please let us know 24 hours before if you cannot make a session.