Overall GiG Score: 7 ?
Finance Score: 3
Governance Score: -1
Support Score: 5
  • Low unrestricted reserves: -2
  • Strong growth: +2
  • Fundraising costs low: +3
  • Only 4 Trustees: -1
  • Grant maker support: +5

THE HUMAN MILK FOUNDATION 

Overview

The Human Milk Foundation support the provision of equitable access to screened donor milk in hospital neonatal units across the UK. They also provide much needed donor milk to disadvantaged families in communities, and conduct scientific studies to progress research in the area.

Founders, Dr Natalie Shenker and Gillian Weaver have been successful in raising awareness of donor milk necessity and their collaboration with partners is propelling advancements. Donor milk demand has increased significantly in recent years, which they have responded to well by consistently delivering more milk annually and expanding locations to supply.

Source: Giving is Great

Mission:

To support parents to feed their babies with human milk, supply information, education and training across the field, and fund groundbreaking scientific research projects
Analysis by Giving is Great

Positives:

  • The charity has received backing from several prominent grant makers recently
  • There has been strong growth in spending over the last 5 years
  • There have been no material income shortfalls in recent years
  • Fundraising costs are unusually low relative to funds raised

Regulatory & Governance issues to consider:

  • There are only 4 trustees

Financial issues to consider:

  • Unrestricted reserves appear to be dangerously low at the latest year end
Established: 7 years

http://humanmilkfoundation.org

info@humanmilkfoundation.org

01442 505020

Charity Commission for England and WalesFacebookX
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
31/03/23£522£555£-33£5£197£1292.81224
31/03/22£469£448£21n/an/an/an/an/a24
31/03/21£410£286£124n/an/an/an/an/a34
31/03/20£235£180£56n/an/an/an/an/a12
31/03/19£57£32£25n/an/an/an/an/a2
31/03/18£4£1£3£0£0£0n/a00

Financial Ratios
Fundraising Costs/Relevant Income: 0.9%
Fundraising Costs/Total Spending: 0.9%
Senior Staff Costs/Total Spending: 14%
Highest pay band: £60,000-£70,000
Liabilities/Assets: 6%
Liabilities/Income: 2%
Unrestricted Funds/Total Funds: 66%
Reserves/Spending: 2.8 months
Net Current Assets/Spending: 3 months
Quick Ratio: 6.1
Asset Split ?
Comment: All income from sales relates to the sale of donated breast milk to NHS Hospitals accounted for on an accruals basis. Such sales are not subject to VAT and account for just over 50% of income

Source: Giving is Great

What it does
  • Education/Training
  • General Charitable Purposes
  • Human Rights/Religious Or Racial Harmony/Equality Or Diversity
  • The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives
The Human Milk Foundation provides screened donor milk to babies in hospital or the community, where breastfeeding is impossible or taking time to establish. The HMF also makes grants available for research and educational purposes, and develops programmes of education related to disseminating the science of human milk.
Who works here?
  • 12 employees
  • 24 volunteers
Who it helps
  • Children/Young People
  • The General Public/Mankind
How it operates
  • Makes Grants to Organisations
  • Provides advocacy/advice/information
  • Provides buildings/facilities/open space
  • Provides other finance
  • Sponsors or undertakes research
Where it operates
  • Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Throughout England And Wales,

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
DCMS£51,100
The EQ Foundation£10,000
The Funding Network£8,466
The Childhood Trust£2,500
Specific Donations
Amount When
Months
To be used for
Masonic Trust - MCF Matched Funding
£1,000 11/08/2021
Unrestricted matched funding in partnership with the local masonic province
The Childhood Trust - Help us save babies' lives with donor human milk
£2,500 22/06/2021
Much like donated blood, donor human milk is life-saving for premature babies. The Human Milk Foundation supplies donor milk to hospital neonatal intensive care units and to mums at home with cancer ....more
The EQ Foundation - Grant to The Human Milk Foundation
£10,000 15/06/2021
Unrestricted via TFN
DCMS - DCMS VSCE CMC Covid Funding
£51,100 27/11/2020
"The fund aims to:1) To reduce closures of essential charities that provide essential services to vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 crisis by ensuring they have the financial resources to ....more
The Funding Network - Milk donor screening programme
£8,466 05/12/2019
We currently turn down milk donations due to a lack of resources. This project would enable us to screen more of the women who want to donate their milk.

Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How is it governed?

Trustees (4)
Current Trustees appointed
Gender Split

Gemma has lived experience of of HMF work having been a milk donor following the birth of her son. She is a Consultant Obstetrician with a special interest in maternal medicine at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, providing holistic care for women with diabetes and other medical conditions in pregnancy and beyond.....more
After spending 9 years as a primary school teacher and Deputy Head in inner London, Emma became a mother and realised how desperately breastfeeding support was needed by so many. She qualified as a Breastfeeding Counsellor with the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers in 2007 and started volunteering on the Department of Health’s National....more
Tina is co-founder and director of TCR UK Solutions, implementing scalable systems and processes for life science companies. She has 25 years’ life science business experience and is an experienced charity trustee
Legal constitution
  • Charity registered in England & Wales on 11/04/2017, number: 1172522
Gift Aid
  • Registered with HMRC for Gift Aid
Policies in force
  • Campaigns and political activity policy and procedures
  • Complaints handling
  • Conflicting interests
  • Financial reserves policy and procedures
  • Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
  • Internal risk management policy and procedures
  • Investment
  • Paying staff
  • Risk management
  • Safeguarding policy and procedures
  • Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
  • Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
  • Trustee expenses policy and procedures
  • Volunteer management
Filing Record
6 returns made; all on time
Main office

Human Milk Foundation
Gossoms End Health Centre
Victory Road
Berkhamsted
HP4 1DL

Objectives

THE OBJECT[S] OF THE CIO ARE:(1) THE PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF PUBLIC HEALTH OF MOTHERS AND INFANTS IN PARTICULAR BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY BY THE PROVISION OF INFORMATION AND ADVICE IN ALL AREAS OF HUMAN MILK BANKING.(2) TO ADVANCE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH IN THE FIELD OF HEALTH IN PARTICULAR BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN MILK WITH THE DISSEMINATION OF THE USEFUL RESULTS OF SUCH RESEARCH.

Data Sources

Charity Commission for England and Wales
360 Giving
CharityBase

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