Finance Score: 4
Governance Score: 6
Support Score: 10
  • Reasonable growth: +1
  • Fundraising costs low: +3
  • Good trustee age range: +3
  • Gender balanced board: +3
  • Overall weighted support: +10
Overall GiG Score: 20 ?

NATURAL ABILITY

Natural Ability offers agricultural and land-based training, employment, supported living, activity holidays and specialist education packages to people with learning and other disabilities. Respect for the environment, learning about farming, caring for animals and plants and living in a sustainable way are also fundamental to the organisation.
Analysis by Giving is Great

Positives:

  • The charity has received backing from multiple prominent grant makers recently
  • There has been reasonable growth in spending over the last 3 years relative to the previous period
  • There have been no material income shortfalls in recent years
  • Fundraising costs are unusually low relative to funds raised
  • The Board appears to be well diversified in terms of age and gender

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£1,345£1,317£28£26£338£3353.1500
31/03/22£1,203£1,152£51£22£310£3013.1490
31/03/21£1,008£961£47£20£260£2463.1370
31/03/20£969£921£48£22£213£1862.4378
31/03/19£953£885£69£17£135£1211.6451
31/03/18£762£767£-5£15£66£400.6410
31/03/17£660£650£10£15£71£581.1390
31/03/16£452£391£61n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/15£309£309£0n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/14£256£256£0n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/13£189£189£0n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/12£98£98£0n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/11£63£63£0n/an/an/an/an/an/a

Financial Ratios
Fundraising Costs/Relevant Income: 2%
Fundraising Costs/Total Spending: 2%
Senior Staff Costs/Total Spending: 6%
Highest pay band: £60,000-£70,000
Liabilities/Assets: 16%
Liabilities/Income: 5%
Unrestricted Funds/Total Funds: 99%
Reserves/Spending: 3.1 months
Net Current Assets/Spending: 3 months
Quick Ratio: 4.3
Asset Split ?
Balance Sheet History
Established: 14 years

www.naturalability.org

info@naturalability.org

01434618149

Charity Commission for England and WalesCompanies HouseFacebookX
UN SDGs
?
Listed activities
  • Accommodation/Housing
  • Disability
  • Economic/Community Development/Employment
  • Education/Training
  • Environment/Conservation/Heritage
GiG Classification
  • Services for people with disabilities
  • General Community services
  • Environment conservation & animal welfare advocacy
How it operates
  • Provides buildings/facilities/open space
  • Provides services
Where it operates
  • Throughout England,
Who it helps
  • Children/Young People
  • People With Disabilities
  • 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
Henry Smith Charity£180,000
The Ballinger Charitable Trust£42,000
The Clothworkers Foundation£21,500
Lloyds Bank Foundation£12,300
Specific Donations
Amount When
Months
To be used for
The Clothworkers Foundation - Grant to Natural Ability
£21,500 18/10/2023
Construction of activity spaces for a charity which works with people with learning disabilities and/or autism in Northumberland
The Ballinger Charitable Trust - Grant to Natural Ability
£30,000 09/06/2023
24
Unrestricted funding
Henry Smith Charity - Grant to Natural Ability
£180,000 22/09/2022
36
towards three years' running costs of the 'Day Services', a project providing volunteering and employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities living in Northumberland.
Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust - Natural Ability - 04/07/22
£2,500 04/08/2022
Core Funding
The Ballinger Charitable Trust - Grant to Natural Ability
£12,000 17/06/2022
Towards core costs of operation
The Shears Foundation - Natural Ability
£5,000 29/04/2022
Day Farming and Handy Person Service
Community Foundation serving Tyne & Wear and Northumberland - A grant to Natural Ability
£5,000 17/02/2022
Salary and running costs for delivery of the handy person scheme which delivers paid employment for people with learning disabilities and/or autism in Northumberland
Lloyds Bank Foundation - Variation grant to Natural Ability
£12,300 24/07/2020
Grant to Natural Ability meeting the additional costs of adapting services, premises or implementing other safety measures in response to the Covid pandemic.
National Lottery Community Fund - Recognise Potential
£9,293 13/03/2020
11
The funding will provide three services: Independent Supported Living, Day Farming and Handy Person Services to support people with autism and other learning difficulties. The aim is to increase confidence and self-esteem and improve employment ....more
Lloyds Bank Foundation - Grant to Natural Ability
£100,000 16/07/2019
36
Funding to support the core costs of running the charity.
The Ballinger Charitable Trust - Grant to Natural Ability
£36,000 14/06/2019
36
Farming & handyperson project
Garfield Weston Foundation - Main Grants award
£10,000 25/01/2019
Natural Ability
National Lottery Community Fund - Rural Service
£10,000 15/11/2018
12
The funding will be used to purchase a pickup truck to enable people with learning disabilities to carry out basic DIY jobs, agricultural and horticultural work such as small fencing jobs, and track and drainage maintenance for farmers, land owners ....more
National Lottery Community Fund - Natural Skills
£314,622 05/04/2017
60
The project will support those with learning and other disabilities through agricultural and land-based activities and develop their self-esteem and life- skills. The aim of the project is for service users to move towards independence and ....more
Lloyds Bank Foundation - Grant to Natural Ability
£68,137 09/09/2015
36
providing advocacy support to people with learning disabilities, supporting individuals to consider future living arrangements and to access work, volunteering placements and community activities. The grant will fund the salary and core costs.
Community Foundation Tyne & Wear & Nthmbrlnd - To support the salary and on-costs of a Service Manager and a Financial Administrator for three years (Year 3)
£29,700 01/04/2015
36
To support the salary and on-costs of a Service Manager and a Financial Administrator for three years (Year 3)
Henry Smith Charity - Grant to Natural Ability
£87,500 13/06/2013
36
towards three years’ salary costs at a horticulture project for disabled young people in Northumberland
National Lottery Community Fund - Natural Ability
£330,739 14/12/2011
60
This project, based in Hexham, Northumberland aims to provide training, employment and volunteering opportunities to people with learning and other disabilities in a rural/farming environment. The group liaises with landowners, farmers, local ....more
Show more rows

Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How is it governed?

Trustees (5)
Current Trustees appointed
Gender Split

Age Range of Trustees: 45-77
  • BRUCE HOWORTH (Chair) Appointed: 2014, Occupation: Solicitor
  • DAISY ANNE GARDENER Appointed: 2021, Occupation: Senior Teaching Fellow & Associate Lecturer
  • MOYA HOLMES Appointed: 2014, Occupation: Teacher
  • MICHAEL QUINN Appointed: 2014, Occupation: Retired
  • ROBERT PHILIPSON Appointed: 2009, Occupation: Farmer
Legal constitution
  • Charitable company registered in England & Wales on 30/06/2010, number: 1136665
  • Registered at Companies House on 11/07/2009, number: 06959710
Gift Aid
  • Registered with HMRC for Gift Aid
Other Regulators
  • Care Quality Commission
Policies in force
  • Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
  • Complaints handling
  • Complaints policy and procedures
  • Conflicting interests
  • 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
13 returns made; all on time
Main office

West Orchard House
Allendale Road
HEXHAM
Northumberland
NE46 2DE

Objectives

THE RELIEF OF YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES AND OR PHYSICALAND/OR MENTAL DISABILITIES, IN PARTICULAR BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY BY THE PROVISION OF:A. HOUSING, SUPPORTED LIVING, SHORT BREAKS, EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION, TRAINING ANDLEARNING OPPORTUNITIES, EMPHASISING THE PROTECTION OR CONSERVATION OF THEENVIRONMENT AND LOCAL HERITAGE, WHEREVER POSSIBLE.B. DEVELOPING SUCH OTHER CHARITABLE FORMS OF SUPPORT AS REQUIRED.

Defined Area of Benefit:

UNDEFINED. IN PRACTICE, NATIONAL

Data Sources

Charity Commission for England and Wales
360 Giving

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