Overall GiG Score: 18 based on 11 data points
Finance: -5
Governance: 9
Support: 14
(no PartB)
Volatile income & significant deficit in latest year: -5,
Good trustee age range: +3, Dynamic board: +3, Gender balanced board: +3,
Large volunteers +5, Supporters: +9

NORTH LONDON CARES 

Overview

North London Cares is a community network that connects young professionals to the elderly in activities that help one another feel less isolated and reduce generational gaps.

Support from partners has provided substantial funding sources to deliver a long term income diversification strategy. Fundraising prospects look good for the future based on their proven track record and deepening relationships with funders.

Sharing leadership and staff across 'sibling' organisations has given them the ability to share learning's and increased effectiveness of programmes. Evaluations of impact by third party supporters has accelerated the charities development and plans for expansion to new areas of Nouth London are in the pipeline.

Source: Giving is Great

Mission:

Helping people find connection and reducing loneliness by bringing people together and bridging gaps across social and generational divides
Analysis by Giving is Great

Positives:

  • This charity has been very successful in attracting volunteers relative to its size
  • There have been no material income shortfalls in recent years
  • A significant proportion of recent income was derived from major grant makers and there are significant future grants due to be received
  • The Board appears to be well diversified in terms of age and gender and dynamic in terms of composition

Regulatory & Governance issues to consider:

  • Over half the Board have joined recently

Financial issues to consider:

  • A PartB annual return has not been required and so detailed financial information is not available from the online data
  • Income has been volatile recently and was significantly lower than spending in the latest year
Established: 10 years

www.northlondoncares.org.uk

alex.smith@northlondoncares.org.uk

02071183838

Charity Commission for England and WalesCompanies HouseTwitterFacebookInstagramYouTube
UN SDGs
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How you can help

Financial Data ?

Income & Spending ?
Sources of Income ?
Y/E Income
£k
Spending
£k
Surplus/
Deficit
Fundraising
Cost £k
Total
Funds £k
Unrestricted
Funds £k
Mths
Rsrvs
Staff Volun-
teers
31/08/22£344£452£-109n/an/an/an/an/a1,139
31/08/21£509£400£109£39£259£2597.871,728
31/08/20£464£462£1n/an/an/an/an/a800
31/08/19£481£481£1n/an/an/an/an/a4,614
31/08/18£438£426£12n/an/an/an/an/a3,105
31/08/17£369£337£32n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/08/16£335£306£28n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/08/15£190£180£11n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/08/14£152£131£21n/an/an/an/an/a0

No information about staff salaries has been filed, which means that no-one was paid more than £60,000 in the latest financial year
What it does
  • Arts/Culture/Heritage/Science
  • Economic/Community Development/Employment
  • General Charitable Purposes
  • Recreation
  • The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty
A community network mobilising young professionals to volunteer to support their older neighbours with a little extra time, practical help, social connection and human companionship in the London boroughs of Camden and Islington. We operate 2 core activities: Social Clubs which bring demographics together through group activities; and a one-to-one Love Your Neighbour project.
Who works here?
  • 1,139 volunteers
Who it helps
  • Children/Young People
  • Elderly/Old People
How it operates
  • Provides advocacy/advice/information
  • Provides human resources
  • Provides services
Where it operates
  • Camden, Islington,

Who's supporting them? ?

Donations from Grant Makers ?

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

Major supporters in last 5 years
The Henry Smith Charity £255,000
Camden Giving£219,951
DCMS£69,000
City Bridge Trust£45,000
Cripplegate Foundation£35,000
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation£30,000
The London Community Foundation£25,000
The EQ Foundation£6,750
Specific Donations
Amount When
Months
To be used for
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
£1,250 06/02/2023
Towards unrestricted core costs as a Cost of Living Uplift
The Henry Smith Charity
£180,000 09/11/2022
36
towards three years' continuation funding of the running costs of an organisation providing outreach and 'Buddying Up' opportunities for older people to combat isolation and loneliness in the London ....more
The EQ Foundation
£3,750 05/02/2021
Matched via Big Give Xmas Challenge 2020
City Bridge Trust
£45,000 15/10/2020
£45,000 over 5 years (£15,000; £10,000; £8,000 £7,000 £5,000) towards the salary of a Programme Coordinator to deliver the Love Your Neighbour service to older people in Islington and Camden.
The London Community Foundation
£25,000 17/09/2020
providing connection for 2,727 older and younger people who are most at risk of isolation and loneliness. Our transitioned programmes provide connection at a distance and now incorporate Virtual ....more
DCMS
£25,000 17/09/2020
NET, Comic Relief and Children in Need will use this funding to provide: increased support to vulnerable people and hidden groups, thus reducing the burden on public services; reach local grassroots ....more
Camden Giving
£10,000 26/06/2020
11
The funding is to continue to support six months of emergency response activities and six months of face-to-face Somers Town social club, reaching 160 older and younger neighbours.
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
£28,750 05/05/2020
6
towards unrestricted costs as a COVID-19 Fast Response grant
Camden Giving
£5,975 09/04/2020
To provide connection, support and friendship to older people in Camden who, due to Covid 19, are experiencing increased isolation and loneliness.The grant will support a month’s worth of activity ....more
The EQ Foundation
£3,000 15/12/2019
Matched via Big Give Christmas Challenge 2019
Cripplegate Foundation
£35,000 16/07/2019
Older Peoples Programme
Camden Giving
£5,866 30/04/2019
14
North London Cares was awarded £5,000 to start a new Social Club, bringing older neighbours (65+) and young professionals together to share time, stories and friendship.
Camden Giving
£99,055 18/04/2019
36
North London Cares will connect the community affected by the HS2 development by hosting 30 Social Clubs and supporting 12 Love Your Neighbour matches in south Camden every year, for three years.
DCMS
£22,000 01/04/2019
Expansion into Hackney and Tower Hamlets, East London. Friendship programme matches older people 65 and over with young professionals aged 21-40 benefitting 1000 of each. Good partnership working, ....more
Camden Giving
£99,055 31/03/2019
24
North London Cares will connect the community affected by the HS2 development by hosting 30 Social Clubs and supporting 12 Love Your Neighbour matches in south Camden every year, for three years.
DCMS
£22,000 02/01/2019
Expansion into Hackney and Tower Hamlets, East London. Friendship programme matches older people 65 and over with young professionals aged 21-40 benefitting 1000 of each. Good partnership working, ....more
The Henry Smith Charity
£75,000 12/12/2018
36
towards three years' running costs of an outreach programme designed to reach out to lonely, older people and engage them with community activities in the London Boroughs of Camden and Islington
The National Lottery Community Fund
£56,000 26/11/2018
36
East London Cares
Camden Giving
£5,000 22/05/2018
11
The project tackles isolation and loneliness amongst older neighbours (aged 65+) and young professionals by bringing them together to share time at a new Social Club in the KX Camden Giving Fund’s ....more
The EQ Foundation
£3,000 03/05/2018
Unrestricted via The Funding Network
The Funding Network
£16,604 02/05/2018
We want to recruit a Head of Development to sit across The Cares Family to diversity our income streams, manage our fundraising team and strengthen our organisational capacity.
The Rayne Foundation
£30,000 07/12/2017
36
Towards outreach work that identifies isolated older neighbours and connects them to a network that includes younger people, to tackle isolation and loneliness in our communities.
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
£210,500 06/07/2017
60
Towards project officer, management and evaluation costs to test the efficacy of a programme which reduces loneliness amongst older people, in a different geographic area.
Cripplegate Foundation
£35,500 24/04/2017
Towards the costs of Saturday Socials 2018-19
Cripplegate Foundation
£17,000 10/10/2016
Towards the costs of Saturday Socials 2017
Nesta
£754,000 20/07/2016
60
Accelerating Ideas programme grant to The Cares Family Grant Ref AC00573
Nesta
£15,000 05/11/2015
2
Accelerating Ideas programme grant to NL Cares (T/A North London Cares) Grant Ref AC00506
Nesta
£131,000 28/07/2014
Centre for Social Action Innovation Fund programme grant to NL Cares (T/A North London Cares) Grant Ref AC20035
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
£20,000 08/10/2013
Towards the development and expansion of a programme that gets young professionals to support older, isolated people.
The Fore
£27,000 30/04/2013
Grant funded the training of ‘super volunteers’ who have since been able to dramatically expand the capacity of the organisation; this has included doubling the number of Social Clubs and ....more
Show more rows

Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How do they operate?

Community Network Services

Objectives: To reduce isolation and loneliness amongst the elderly and young people

Intervention period: Ongoing social clubs and community work throughout the year

Beneficiaries: Young people and the elderly

Description: Community Network Services support people through social clubs, community fundraising events and the Love Your Neighbour programme, creating one-to-one friendships between young professionals and older neighbours. Group activities could include film nights, dance parties, new technology workshops, choir sessions, men's cooking classes and 'Desert Island Disc' nights. Older and younger community members share time, laughter, friendship and new experiences to help those who may struggle to get out and feel part of their community

Winter Wellbeing Programme

Objectives: To reduce isolation and loneliness amongst the elderly and young people

Intervention period: Seasonal through Winter

Beneficiaries: Young people and the elderly

Description: The programme reaches out to support people over 65, helping them stay warm, active, and connected at a challenging time of year. Support includes knocking on doors of older neighbours to check in and let them know they are not alone, delivering hot water bottles, blankets or thermal items of clothing to homes, signposting to organisations who can help keep homes warm and safe, providing benefits advice and help reducing bills, help in accessing physical and mental health services, arranging small grants for those in extremely difficult circumstances, offering to pay bills and buy food vouchers where applicable, and help in finding social activities in the local area. Outreach is made at sheltered housing units, GP surgeries,

....more
How effective are they?
Commentary: Engagement of 60-80+ year olds in social clubs and neighbouring support activities has been shown as more valuable when regularly used over a shorter period than sporadically visited over yearly periods. There are varying numbers of beneficiaries using The Care Family programmes over the year, but impact data drawn from evaluations by several social research partners has highlighted older neighbours report decreased loneliness and improved wellbeing consistently.

Who works here?

  • ALEX SMITH
Alex is CEO and founder of North London Cares and The Cares Family independent ‘sibling’ organisations. He was formerly an aide to Ed Miliband and editor of one of the biggest political websites in the UK. He is a governor at Holloway School and was a volunteer during the 2012 Olympics. He has been awarded two UnLtd social enterprise awards for his work founding North London Cares in 2011 and South London Cares in 2014. In 2018 he became one ....more
Commentary: North London Cares Limited is an independent charity – affiliated by brand, six joint trustees, and four shared staff members to independent ‘sibling’ organisations South London Cares Limited, Manchester Cares Limited, Liverpool Cares Limited and The Cares Family Limited, which as independent organisations each report their annual accounts separately. The organisations share learning and some economies of scale, with a shared Chief Executive, Director of Operations, Head of Development and Partnerships Co-ordinator working across all branches.

Source: Giving is Great

How is it governed?

Trustees (7)
Current Trustees appointed
Gender Split
Based on 6/7 persons

Age Range of Trustees: 34-76
  • IANA VIDAL Appointed: 2021Occupation: Policy And Public Affairs Director
Polly is Head of Communications and Marketing at Royal Trinity Hospice where she leads on messaging and campaign delivery. She was previously responsible for communications and partnership campaigns at Missing People, and helped to establish HIV support charity Body & Soul’s social enterprise ‘Brave’.
Legal constitution
  • Charitable company registered in England & Wales on 30/07/2013, number: 1153137
  • Registered at Companies House on 11/08/2011, number: 07737818
  • Registered with HMRC for Gift Aid
Policies in force
  • Complaints handling
  • Conflicting interests
  • Investment
  • Paying staff
  • Risk management
  • Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
  • Volunteer management
Main office

North London Cares
C/O Collective
5-7 Buck Street
LONDON
NW1 8NJ

Objectives

THE FOLLOWING OBJECTS ARE FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT:- 1)TO PROMOTE SOCIAL INCLUSION AMONGST PEOPLE AGED OVER 55 IN CAMDEN AND ISLINGTON WHO DO NOT REGULARLY PARTICIPATE IN COMMUNITY LIFE, AS THEY DO NOT HAVE LARGE OR STRONG NETWORKS OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY AROUND THEM; WHO ARE LONELY OR ISOLATED; AND WHO ARE HAVING DIFFICULTY ACCESSING STATUTORY AND NON-STATUTORY SERVICES BECAUSE THEY ARE HOUSE-BOUND, IMMOBILE, UNABLE TO DRIVE OR TO EASILY ACCESS TRANSPORT, BY THE PROVISION OF: A. A “LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR” PROGRAMME, WHICH MATCHES YOUNG PROFESSIONAL VOLUNTEERS TO OFFER A LITTLE EXTRA PRACTICAL SUPPORT WITH EVERY DAY TASKS, OR A LITTLE ADDED COMPANIONSHIP; B. A “SOCIAL CLUBS” PROGRAMME, WHICH PROVIDES REGULAR ACTIVITIES WITHIN COMMUNITY CENTRES, CAFES, PARKS AND OTHER TRUSTED HUBS OF THE COMMUNITY TO BRING OLDER PEOPLE TOGETHER WITH PEERS AND YOUNG PROFESSIONALS TO SHARE NEW EXPERIENCES AND BUILD FRIENDSHIPS; AND C. SUCH OTHER PROGRAMMES DEEMED APPROPRIATE AND VIABLE BY THE CHARITY’S LEADERSHIP. 2) TO ADVANCE IN LIFE AND [HELP YOUNG PEOPLE THROUGH:(A)THE PROVISION OF RECREATIONAL AND LEISURE TIME ACTIVITIES PROVIDED IN THE INTEREST OF SOCIAL WELFARE, DESIGNED TO IMPROVE THEIR CONDITIONS OF LIFE; AND (B)PROVIDING SUPPORT AND ACTIVITIES WHICH DEVELOP THEIR SKILLS, CAPACITIES AND CAPABILITIES TO ENABLE THEM TO PARTICIPATE IN SOCIETY AS MATURE AND RESPONSIBLE INDIVIDUALS.

Defined Area of Benefit: CAMDEN AND ISLINGTON

Data Sources

Charity Commission for England and Wales
360 Giving
CharityBase

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