Merseyside Play Action Council

Analysis

Merseyside Play Action Council is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Liverpool. It was registered in July 1995, 31 years ago. Its declared purposes cover education/training, disability, the prevention or relief of poverty and arts/culture/heritage/science, which this site groups under disability. Legally it is a charitable company (Companies House number 02925303). It says it makes grants to organisations, provides services and acts as an umbrella or resource body.

In the financial year ending March 2025, Merseyside Play Action Council reported income of £728k and spending of £909k, spending 125% of what it took in. Across the 5 years on record, from March 2021 to March 2025, income grew from £586k to £728k (+24%), an average of +5.6% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to March 2024, when income rose by 67%. Over the whole period it spent 90% of the income it received.

Among 12,871 England and Wales charities whose main cause is disability and that reported income, Merseyside Play Action Council sits at the 90th percentile: it is larger than about 90% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 92nd percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include Walnuts Care Ltd. (£726k), Foundation for Active Community Engagement (£728k) and Iah Charity Company Limited (£725k).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from charitable activities 66%, trading 16%, donations and legacies 9.1% and investments 9.0%. Charitable activities took 98% of spending and raising funds 1.5%. Grants to other organisations totalled £248k. Reserves of £344k would cover about 5 months of spending at that rate. It employed 11 people.