The Hirwaun branch of the Christian charity is under threat because it must pay £18,500 towards the YMCA England pension scheme under section 75 legislation.
Reports from Wales indicated the branch may have to sell its building – its only liquid asset – to meet the cost.
The charity said: “The YMCA Pension and Assurance Plan is regulated as a multi-employer, non-sectionalised scheme.
“In such schemes, when a participating employer loses its last employed member, and there are other employers still having employed members, it triggers what the regulations call a section 75 debt liability.
“The liability is that employer’s share of any funding deficit on the date the debt is triggered, as calculated in a way specified by regulation by the scheme actuary.
“In the nature of our scheme, failure by any employer to meet a section 75 debt liability will impact upon the remaining employers.”
The YMCA England scheme, a multi-employer defined benefit (DB) arrangement covering the charity’s branches in England, Wales and Scotland, was closed to new members and accruals in 2007.
The most recent valuation in May 2008 put the scheme’s deficit at £29.7m, but subsequent asset volatility may have pushed the figure higher still.
Recent reports have warned UK charities face a combined £1bn pension scheme shortfall. Charities have cited this deficit, and its potential impact on charity work, in closing their DB schemes.
But several charities have hit back, claiming deficits in the sector are manageable and have already been factored into charity accounting.
