Hackney Council for Voluntary Service

Analysis

Hackney Council for Voluntary Service is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in London. It was registered in May 1998, 28 years ago. Its declared purposes cover general charitable purposes, education/training, the advancement of health or saving of lives and disability, which this site groups under health and saving lives. Legally it is a charitable company (Companies House number 03365292). It says it makes grants to organisations, provides human resources and provides buildings/facilities/open space.

In the financial year ending March 2025, Hackney Council for Voluntary Service reported income of £1.8m and spending of £1.9m, spending 102% of its income. Across the 5 years on record, from March 2021 to March 2025, income fell from £3.7m to £1.8m (-51%), an average of -16% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to March 2024, when income dropped by 31%. Over the whole period it spent 99% of the income it received.

Among 24,651 England and Wales charities whose main cause is health and saving lives and that reported income, Hackney Council for Voluntary Service sits at the 93rd percentile: it is larger than about 93% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 96th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include Unison Welfare (£1.8m), Awel Aman Tawe (£1.8m) and Cornwall Music Service Trust (£1.8m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from charitable activities 93%, trading 4.1% and investments 2.2%. Charitable activities took 94% of spending and raising funds 4.5%. Grants to other organisations totalled £489k. Reserves of £269k would cover about 2 months of spending at that rate. It employed 47 people.

Data notes from the register: Spending has exceeded income in each of the last three reported years, so the charity has been drawing on reserves or other funds.