Overall Score: 25 based on 19 data points
Finance: 5
Governance: 9
Support: 11
Strong growth: +2, Fundraising costs low: +3,
Good trustee age range: +3, Dynamic board: +3, Gender balanced board: +3,
Supporters: +11

FRIEND COUNSELLING (LONDON) LTD 

London Friend provides a wide range of services and activities aimed at improving the health and well-being of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender community. Some of our services include one-to-one and group counselling, drug and alcohol support and coming-out and other peer support groups. We also run an LGBT community centre in Kings Cross.
Analysis by Giving is Great

Positives:

  • 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
  • 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 gender and dynamic in terms of composition

Regulatory & Governance issues to consider:

  • Over half the Board have joined recently
Established: 34 years
(45 years as a company)

www.londonfriend.org.uk

office@londonfriend.org.uk

02078331674

Charity Commission for England and WalesCompanies HouseTwitterFacebookInstagram
UN SDGs
?

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
31/03/22£618£570£49£1£374£2715.71292
31/03/21£575£505£70£1£326£2686.414121
31/03/20£529£451£78£1£255£2235.91196
31/03/19£344£360£-16n/an/an/an/an/a112
31/03/18£373£381£-8n/an/an/an/an/a144
31/03/17£321£288£32n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/03/16£215£256£-41n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/03/15£332£258£74n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/03/14£274£262£12n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/03/13£300£311£-12n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/03/12£345£289£56n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/03/11£165£112£53n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/03/10£70£98£-28n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/03/09£20£87£-67n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/03/08£53£93£-39n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/03/07£38£62£-24n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/03/06£114£63£51n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/03/05£21£65£-44n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/03/04£25£58£-33n/an/an/an/an/a0

Financial Ratios
Fundraising Costs/Relevant Income: 0.2%
Fundraising Costs/Total Spending: 0.2%
Liabilities/Assets: 29%
Liabilities/Income: 25%
Unrestricted Funds/Total Funds: 72%
Reserves/Spending: 5.7125879648316 months
Net Current Assets/Spending: 6 months
Quick Ratio: 4.1
Asset Split ?
What it does
  • Education/Training
  • Other Charitable Purposes
  • The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives
Who works here?
  • 12 employees
  • 92 volunteers
Who it helps
  • Children/Young People
  • Elderly/Old People
  • Other Charities Or Voluntary Bodies
  • Other Defined Groups
  • People Of A Particular Ethnic Or Racial Origin
  • People With Disabilities
  • The General Public/Mankind
How it operates
  • Provides advocacy/advice/information
  • Provides buildings/facilities/open space
  • Provides human resources
  • Provides services
  • Sponsors or undertakes research
Where it operates
  • Throughout London,

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 £177,000
City Bridge Trust£91,686
DCMS£88,944
Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales£86,230
The National Lottery Heritage Fund£43,300
Department of Health and Social Care£21,500
The London Community Foundation£19,580
The Clothworkers Foundation£10,000

Specific Donations

Amount When
Months
To be used for
Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales
£2,250 14/12/2022
One off gift to support with the cost of living crisis
The Henry Smith Charity
£177,000 26/05/2022
36
towards three years' continuation funding of the running costs of the 'Antidote Service', which provides drug and alcohol support for LGBT people in Greater London.
The Clothworkers Foundation
£10,000 03/12/2021
installation of ventilation system for a charity supporting disadvantaged minority communities in London
The National Lottery Heritage Fund
£43,300 11/11/2021
London Friend at 50
The National Lottery Community Fund
£9,999 05/11/2021
The funding will be used to install a new ventilation system in their centre supporting the LGBTQ+ community. The project aims to create a Covid-19 safe facility for beneficiaries to access vital ....more
City Bridge Trust
£44,900 22/04/2021
towards the salaries of the CEO, Counselling Coordinator and Volunteer Coordinator
City Bridge Trust
£9,500 08/12/2020
0
City Bridge Trust
£34,430 11/09/2020
towards the costs outlined in your application for the adaptation of office space and development of hybrid face-to-face and online delivery for LGBT people with health and wellbeing support.
DCMS
£78,984 25/06/2020
"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 London Community Foundation
£19,580 07/05/2020
The funding is for us to adapt and our mental health support for LGBT people to deal with the current issues and increased demand the pandemic and lock down are causing. It will allow us to increase ....more
City Bridge Trust
£2,856 24/04/2020
A grant of £2,856 to fund the essential and urgent costs outlined in the application, so that the organisation can carry on providing support to Londoners.
Department of Health and Social Care
£21,500 01/04/2019
London Friend
DCMS
£9,960 01/04/2019
Overall we want to improve health and wellbeing; some activities will also address other of the funds priorities.A new programme of social activities for LBT women will run alongside our existing ....more
Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales
£83,980 27/03/2019
36
London Friend is requesting funding towards staff and running costs of its Antidote LGBT drug and alcohol service supporting people experiencing problematic drug, alcohol and chemsex use to reduce or ....more
LGBT Consortium
£9,500 08/03/2019
Organisational Sustainability
The Leathersellers' Company Charitable Fund
£60,000 05/10/2018
48
Main Grant unrestricted core costs
The Henry Smith Charity
£178,000 14/03/2018
36
towards three years' continuation funding of the 'Antidote Service', which provides drug and alcohol support for LGBTQ people across London
The Henry Smith Charity
£42,500 12/03/2015
24
towards two years' running costs of 'SWAP', a psycho-social support programme for gay and bisexual men engaging in drug use in sexual contexts in London
Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales
£59,850 12/11/2014
London Friend is a central London based charity providing a range of counselling services and support groups. Its Antidote project provides substance misuse counselling and support services. Core ....more
City Bridge Trust
£135,300 16/07/2014
£135,300 (£43,500; £45,100; £46,700) towards the salary costs of the Volunteer Coordinator and Counselling Service Coordinator (up to a maximum of £30,000 per annum) plus clinical supervision, ....more
Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales
£29,500 06/02/2012
the salary of the Volunteer Co-ordinator including volunteer costs, marketing and promotion and project overheads
The National Lottery Community Fund
£493,976 10/11/2010
48
This project will promote safety, reduce harm and increase overall health and well-being amongst London's LGBT community, providing advice and support to those affected by substance misuse. The ....more
Show more rows

Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How is it governed?

Trustees (6)
Current Trustees appointed
Gender Split
Based on 5/6 persons

Age Range of Trustees: 25-52
  • MATT HORWOOD (Chair)
    Appointed: 2018, Occupation: Charity Worker
Legal constitution
  • Charitable company registered in England & Wales on 18/12/1989, number: 299307
  • Registered at Companies House on 22/12/1977, number: 01345530
  • Registered with HMRC for Gift Aid
Policies in force
  • Complaints handling
  • Conflicting interests
  • Paying staff
  • Risk management
  • Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
  • Volunteer management
Main office

86 CALEDONIAN ROAD
KINGS CROSS
LONDON
N1 9DN

Objectives

TO RELIEVE MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL CRISES SUFFERED BY PERSONS, PRIMARILY IN LONDON, WHO ARE HOMOSEXUAL, BI-SEXUAL OR IN DOUBT ABOUT THEIR SEXUAL IDENTITY OR BY THOSE WHO MAY BE AFFECTED OR INVOLVED WITH SUCH PERSONS, BY GIVING OF ADVICE, COUNSEL AND HELP FROM MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION WORKING UNDER DIRECTION, WHO HAVE BEEN SELECTED AND PREPARED TO GIVE SUCH ADVICE COUNSELLING AND HELP.

Defined Area of Benefit: NOT DEFINED

Data Sources

Charity Commission for England and Wales
360 Giving
CharityBase
Authorised officials of this charity can add information to this page (including a Donate Now button) for no cost

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