The service will close on 31 March 2026. Organisers say a difficult funding environment made it impossible to keep the project running across the UK.
Since it launched in August 2022, On Your Side provided more than 5,000 hours of specialist support to 800 people. It was designed to give victims a safe place to report hate crimes and find legal or mental health advice.
National service loses financial support
The project is currently run by a group of six organisations, including the Southeast and East Asian Centre and the charity Protection Approaches.
The team spent the past year looking for sustainable funding. Despite these efforts, they could not secure the money required to deliver a service on this scale.
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“We have worked tirelessly to secure sustainable funding to ensure the future of the service,” the group said. “We have not been able to raise the level of funding required to continue delivering a national service.”
Community-led support
On Your Side relied on a network of 15 different organisations and more than 100 volunteers. Most of these groups were led by members of the ESEA community.
The team stated that the service was created to tackle the “silence and invisibility” that often follows racist incidents. They focused on making sure victims were believed and treated with dignity.
“On Your Side was never just a service,” the group added. “From the beginning, it was built by and for ESEA communities and shaped through collaboration.”
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Support for current clients
The helpline remains open for now. Caseworkers will continue to assist people currently using the service until the closing date in March.
While the national helpline will stop, some local partner organisations will continue to offer smaller amounts of support. The group says the relationships and knowledge built over the last few years will not be lost.
However, they warned that the problems facing the community remain.
“The need for support will not disappear. East and Southeast Asian communities will continue to face racism, discrimination, and harm,” the organisers said.
They are now calling on allies and other funders to ensure that people affected by hate are not forgotten once the service closes.
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