Finance Score: -2
Governance Score: 3
Support Score: 12
  • Fundraising costs high: -2
  • Good trustee age range: +3
  • Dynamic board: +3
  • Mainly male board: -1
  • Multiple returns filed late: -2
  • Overall weighted support: +12
Overall GiG Score: 13 ?

DENS LIMITED

DENS is on the frontline, tackling homelessness and poverty in Dacorum, by giving people the chance to build a better future. DENS provides a number of services: The Elms Hostel, short term accommodation; DENS Day Centre, advice and a daytime haven; DENS Rent Aid, a guarantee and support scheme with private landlords; DENS Dacorum Foodbank, emergency food.
Analysis by Giving is Great

Positives:

  • There have been no material income shortfalls in recent years
  • A significant proportion of recent income was derived from major grant makers including the Government
  • The Board appears to be well diversified in terms of age and dynamic in terms of composition

Regulatory & Governance issues to consider:

  • The Board is predominantly male
  • Returns have been filed late on 2 occasions over the last 5 years and the current period appears to have been extended

Financial issues to consider:

  • Fundraising costs are high relative to funds raised

Financial Data ?

Income & Spending ?
Sources of Income ?
Y/E Income
£k
Spending
£k
Surplus/
Deficit £k
Fundraising
Cost £k
Total
Funds £k
Unrestricted
Funds £k
Mths
Rsrvs
Staff Volun-
teers
31/03/23£2,134£2,126£8£284£1,001£7604.34754
31/03/22*£1,995£1,855£140£234£993£6664.34175
31/03/21£2,410£1,901£509£187£854£8525.43854
31/03/20*£1,843£1,703£140£176£345£3202.338150
31/03/19£1,711£1,685£27£128£205£1971.438120
31/03/18£1,745£1,768£-23£113£178£1711.2410
31/03/17£1,775£1,777£-2£103£245£2451.7370
31/03/16£1,725£1,674£52£95£246£2461.8370
31/03/15£1,097£1,179£-82£74£195£1942180
31/03/14£1,034£1,045£-12£85£277£2773.2280
31/03/13£860£882£-23£68£288£2883.9270
31/03/12£779£681£98£70£311£3115.5180
31/03/11£531£506£25£54£213£2135120
31/03/10£532£455£78£47£187£1874.9140
31/03/09£405£405£0n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/08£377£360£16n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/07£335£352£-18n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/06*£321£310£11n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/05*£303£274£29n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/04*£293£219£73n/an/an/an/an/an/a

Financial Ratios
Fundraising Costs/Relevant Income: 20.7%
Fundraising Costs/Total Spending: 13.3%
Senior Staff Costs/Total Spending: 4%
Highest pay band: £70,000-£80,000
Liabilities/Assets: 50%
Liabilities/Income: 48%
Unrestricted Funds/Total Funds: 76%
Reserves/Spending: 4.3 months
Net Current Assets/Spending: 4 months
Quick Ratio: 2.1
Asset Split ?
Balance Sheet History
Established: 22 years

www.dens.org.uk

office@dens.org.uk

01442262274

Charity Commission for England and WalesCompanies HouseFacebookInstagramX
UN SDGs
?
Listed activities
  • Accommodation/Housing
  • Education/Training
  • The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty
GiG Classification
  • Shelter for homeless, vulnerable & excluded people
How it operates
  • Provides advocacy/advice/information
  • Provides buildings/facilities/open space
  • Provides human resources
  • Provides services
  • Sponsors or undertakes research
Where it operates
  • Hertfordshire,
Who it helps
  • The General Public/Mankind

Who supports them? ?

Donations from Grant Makers ?

We have details on the following donations. Multi-year donations are allocated to the years for which they are earmarked.

Major supporters in last 5 years
The Trussell Trust£193,888
National Lottery Community Fund£114,735
Henry Smith Charity£100,200
The Leathersellers' Company Charitable Fund£80,000
Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government£49,160
Hertfordshire Community Foundation£27,000
Specific Donations
Amount When
Months
To be used for
Masonic Trust - MCF Matched Funding
£750 08/01/2024
Unrestricted matched funding in partnership with the local masonic province
The Leathersellers' Company Charitable Fund - Grant to DENS
£80,000 04/05/2023
48
Main Grant Unrestricted Core Costs
Masonic Trust - MCF Matched Funding
£2,000 13/02/2023
Unrestricted matched funding in partnership with the local masonic province
Hertfordshire Community Foundation - DENS Day Centre
£2,000 18/11/2022
3
Grant to Dacorum Emergency Night Shelter (DENS)
Co-Operative Group - Grant to DENS Foodbank
£2,636 22/10/2022
We wish to pay for staff capacity at the Foodbank to support people facing food poverty with access to emergency food and provisions. We want to meet increased demand so no one goes hungry locally.
The Trussell Trust - Grant to Dacorum Foodbank
£5,000 11/10/2022
Emergency grant
Hertfordshire Community Foundation - Helping people out of food poverty
£10,000 30/08/2022
6
Grant to Dacorum Emergency Night Shelter (DENS)
Garfield Weston Foundation - Multi-Year Grant (2 Years) award
£18,000 04/04/2022
24
Empowerment Programme
The Trussell Trust - Grant to Dacorum Foodbank
£147,488 31/03/2022
0.6 FTE in-house welfare benefits advisor plus CAP debt advice
Henry Smith Charity - Grant to DENS Limited
£100,200 11/03/2022
36
towards three years' salary of a Resettlement Worker at a project providing outreach support for homeless people transitioning into permanent rented accommodation, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, in Hertfordshire.
The Trussell Trust - Grant to Dacorum Foodbank
£41,400 15/12/2021
24
employment costs of (1) Head of Community Services (1 dpw) ; (2) 2x bank workers (each 1 dpw) for 2 years
Masonic Trust - MCF Matched Funding
£1,000 07/12/2021
Unrestricted matched funding in partnership with the local masonic province
Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust - Dens Limited - 05/10/21
£1,500 19/10/2021
Day Centre- empowering people facing homelessness to move on with their lives
Masonic Trust - MCF Matched Funding
£500 11/08/2021
Unrestricted matched funding in partnership with the local masonic province
National Lottery Community Fund - DENS Social Enterprise Programme
£114,735 15/03/2021
35
The funding will provide opportunities for people who have experienced homelessness to develop employment skills. They aim to offer the most vulnerable and homeless adults with training volunteering and work experience opportunities.
Hertfordshire Community Foundation - DENS addressing Food Poverty
£5,000 23/02/2021
Grant to Dacorum Emergency Night Shelter (DENS)
Hertfordshire Community Foundation - Education, Training & Employment Co-ordinator
£10,000 18/11/2020
Grant to Dacorum Emergency Night Shelter (DENS)
The Clothworkers Foundation - Grant to DENS
£4,980 11/06/2020
COVID19 : Purchase IT equipment for a charity that works with people facing homelessness, poverty and social exclusion in Hertforshire
Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government - MHCLG Homelessness Fund
£49,160 07/05/2020
Organisations supporting homelessness
Crisis UK - Grant to DENS
£5,000 07/04/2020
Funding for PPE, self isolation measures in hostel and additional key work sessions
Henry Smith Charity - Grant to DENS Limited
£87,700 11/09/2019
36
towards three years' salary of a Resettlement Worker at a project providing outreach support to homeless people transitioning into permanent rented accommodation in Hertfordshire
Heart Of England Community Foundation - Moving On To Private Rented Accommodation
£33,328 01/03/2019
23
DENS provides emergency and move-on housing and support. We help people who have lived chaotic, often traumatised lives to resolve their housing (and other) issues and enable them to live independently and sustain a tenancy. However, many need ....more
The Trussell Trust - Grant to Dacorum Foodbank
£17,334 24/12/2018
24
Community Service Manager (additional hours)
The Trussell Trust - Grant to Dacorum Foodbank
£17,334 12/12/2018
Community Service Manager hours
Hertfordshire Community Foundation - Up-Cycling
£24,714 25/10/2018
23
Grant to Dacorum Emergency Night Shelter (DENS)
National Lottery Community Fund - Repairs and Replacements to Tackle Homelessness
£7,270 24/01/2018
12
This project will improve and repair their food bank in order to make it a safe and welcoming hub in the local community. It will also purchase equipment to enable people who use the service, volunteers and staff to learn and develop transferable ....more
Garfield Weston Foundation - Multi-Year Grant (3 Years) award
£30,000 02/10/2017
36
DENS Day Centre and Open Space
National Lottery Community Fund - DENS' Hub - Support for Homeless and Vulnerably Housed People
£287,302 14/06/2017
36
This project aims to provide a safe and supportive environment for people who are homeless or vulnerably housed in Hemel Hempstead. It will provide access to support and information to improve their life chances by enabling and empowering them to ....more
Henry Smith Charity - Grant to DENS
£79,800 11/09/2014
36
towards three years' running costs of a day centre supporting people who are homeless, at risk of homelessness or vulnerably housed in Hertfordshire
National Lottery Community Fund - DENS Day Centre for Homeless and Vulnerably Housed People
£299,823 18/02/2014
36
This is a continuation and expansion of a BIG funded project by DENS Limited (DENS) which will provide a safe and supportive environment, through its Bury Lodge Day Centre in Dacorum, Hemel Hempstead, to provide homeless and vulnerably housed people ....more
National Lottery Community Fund - Equipped to Change
£246,950 17/01/2013
60
The aim of this new project is to empower and enable people whose lives have been affected by homelessness to overcome the barriers between them and education, training and employment through activities, opportunities, workshops and peer support. It ....more
Lloyds Bank Foundation - Grant to DENS Ltd (Dacorum Emergency Night Shelter)
£50,000 25/08/2011
the salary and NI costs of the Day Centre Project Worker
Show more rows

Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How is it governed?

Trustees (10)
Current Trustees appointed
Gender Split

Age Range of Trustees: 37-80
  • CAROLYN BARKIN Appointed: 2023
  • ERIC PILLINGER Appointed: 2005, Occupation: Company Director
  • IAN TOTTMAN Appointed: 2008, Occupation: Solicitor
  • IAN STELFOX Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Chartered Civil Engineer
  • MARTIN RUSSELL WARNER (Chair) Appointed: 2009, Occupation: Company House
  • MICHAEL J W MORGAN CMIOSH RET Appointed: 2015
  • NIGEL HOWARD THOMPSON Appointed: 2024, Occupation: Retired
  • PAUL ANDREW SMART Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Company Director
  • SAMANTHA ALLEN Appointed: 2019, Occupation: Accountant
  • TRISTAN JONES Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Corporate Development Manager
Legal constitution
  • Charitable company registered in England & Wales on 24/04/2003, number: 1097185
  • Registered at Companies House on 06/12/2002, number: 04610820
Gift Aid
  • Registered with HMRC for Gift Aid
Policies in force
  • Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
  • Complaints handling
  • Complaints policy and procedures
  • Financial reserves policy and procedures
  • Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
  • Internal risk management policy and procedures
  • Paying staff
  • Risk management
  • Safeguarding policy and procedures
  • Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
  • Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
  • Social media policy and procedures
  • Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
  • Trustee expenses policy and procedures
  • Volunteer management
Filing Record
20 returns made; AR22: 49 days late, AR20: 16 days late, AR06: 1 days late, AR05: 3 days late, AR04: 1 days late,
Main office

1 Queensway
Hemel Hempstead
HP1 1HT

Objectives

THE RELIEF OF POVERTY AND DISTRESS AND IN PARTICULAR FOR THE PEOPLE LIVING IN THE AREA OF DACORUM HERTFORDSHIRE BY THE PROVISION OF ACCOMMODATION MATERIAL FINANCIAL AND OTHER ASSISTANCE AND FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION AND FOR THE PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF MENTAL HEALTH AND FOR SUCH OTHER CHARITABLE PURPOSES BENEFICIAL TO THE COMMUNITY AS DO NOT FALL UNDER ANY OF THE PRECEDING OBJECTS AS THE COMMITTEE SHALL IN ITS ABSOLUTE DISCRETION THINK FIT.

Defined Area of Benefit:

IN PRACTICE DACORUM, HERTFORDSHIRE.

Data Sources

Charity Commission for England and Wales
360 Giving

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