The Helping Foundation

Analysis

The Helping Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Salford. It was registered in June 2004, 22 years ago. Its declared purposes cover general charitable purposes, education/training, the prevention or relief of poverty and religious activities, which this site groups under poverty relief. Legally it is a charitable company (Companies House number 05070736). It says it makes grants to individuals and makes grants to organisations.

In the financial year ending December 2025, The Helping Foundation reported income of £23.9m and spending of £13.5m, leaving 44% of income unspent that year. Across the 5 years on record, from December 2021 to December 2025, income fell from £35.7m to £23.9m (-33%), an average of -9.5% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to December 2022, when income dropped by 41%. Over the whole period it spent 60% of the income it received.

Among 15,276 England and Wales charities whose main cause is poverty relief and that reported income, The Helping Foundation sits at the 100th percentile: it is one of the largest 1% in its cause. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 100th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include The Institute of Development Studies (£23.4m), One Ummah (£24.4m) and Gatsby Africa (£22.5m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from investments 97%. Charitable activities took 89% of spending and raising funds 11%. Grants to other organisations totalled £12.0m. Reserves of £414.0m would cover about 368 months of spending at that rate.