Finance Score: -2
Governance Score: 9
Support Score: 12
  • Good reserves management: +3
  • Multiple Deficits and declines: -5
  • Good trustee age range: +3
  • Dynamic board: +3
  • Gender balanced board: +3
  • Grant maker support: +12
Overall GiG Score: 19 ?

CARDBOARD CITIZENS 

Established in 1991, Cardboard Citizens is the UK's only professional homeless people's theatre company. The charity presents plays performed by homeless and marginalized people, so as to share experiences, problem-solve together and bring attention to the issues faced by homeless people today, whilst making great theatre.
Analysis by Giving is Great

Positives:

  • Reserves management has been consistently within official guidelines
  • A significant proportion of recent income was derived from major grant makers
  • The Board appears to be well diversified in terms of age and gender and dynamic in terms of composition

Financial issues to consider:

  • Income has been volatile and on several occasions in recent years less than spending
Established: 29 years

www.cardboardcitizens.org.uk

lisa@cardboardcitizens.org.uk

02073778948

Charity Commission for England and WalesCompanies HouseFacebookInstagramXYouTube
UN SDGs
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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£913£1,019£-106£102£403£4034.7152
31/03/22£1,266£1,645£-380£92£509£4493.3132
31/03/21£1,251£1,051£200£117£889£6187.1173
31/03/20£1,345£1,304£41£211£689£5995.5198
31/03/19£1,306£1,212£95£144£648£50652126
31/03/18£1,420£1,249£171£207£553£4994.8180
31/03/17£1,221£1,256£-35£162£383£3703.5190
31/03/16£1,160£1,121£40£162£418£3904.2170
31/03/15£925£885£40£183£378£2984150
31/03/14£942£911£32£225£339£3394.5150
31/03/13£703£754£-52£167£307£2774.4160
31/03/12£910£937£-27£119£358£2633.4160
31/03/11£1,008£739£269£171£386£3265.3140
31/03/10£806£847£-40£143£117£1171.7120
31/03/09£796£781£16£136£157£1572.4160
31/03/08£988£901£87£207£141£1411.9180
31/03/07£1,176£1,144£32£177£55£550.6230
31/03/06£971£964£7£0£0£0n/a00
31/03/05*£737£679£58£0£0£0n/a00
31/03/04*£827£888£-62£0£0£0n/a00

Financial Ratios
Fundraising Costs/Relevant Income: 11.3%
Fundraising Costs/Total Spending: 10%
Senior Staff Costs/Total Spending: 15%
Highest pay band: £60,000-£70,000
Liabilities/Assets: 17%
Liabilities/Income: 9%
Unrestricted Funds/Total Funds: 100%
Reserves/Spending: 4.7 months
Net Current Assets/Spending: 5 months
Quick Ratio: 4.1
Asset Split ?
Listed activities
  • Arts/Culture/Heritage/Science
  • Education/Training
  • Other Charitable Purposes
How it operates
  • Acts as an umbrella or resource body
  • Other charitable activities
  • Provides advocacy/advice/information
  • Provides services
Where it operates
  • Throughout London,
Who it helps
  • Children/Young People
  • Elderly/Old People
  • Other Defined Groups
  • People Of A Particular Ethnic Or Racial Origin
  • People With Disabilities
  • The General Public/Mankind
Who works here?
  • 15 employees
  • 2 volunteers

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
National Lottery Community Fund£300,000
DCMS£210,825
City Bridge Trust£152,420
Henry Smith Charity£120,000
Backstage Trust£100,000
John Lyon's Charity£72,000
Comic Relief£62,305
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, UK Branch£60,000
Specific Donations
Amount When
Months
To be used for
Youth Music - Cardboard Collective
£29,397 28/09/2023
Cardboard Collective
Henry Smith Charity - Grant to Cardboard Citizens
£120,000 15/03/2023
36
towards three years' running costs of the 'Workshop Programme', providing training support for people with experience of homelessness in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
Backstage Trust - Core grant
£100,000 23/08/2022
Emergency core costs
The Foyle Foundation - Arts
£25,000 08/02/2022
towards a Residency Scheme offering individuals with experience of, or at risk of, homelessness shadowing opportunities and skills learning within professional theatre productions (awarded grant in ....more
DCMS - Culture Recovery Fund: Continuity Support
£49,890 22/10/2021
To support cultural organisations who have received funding from the Culture Recovery Fund: Grants programme, in the first or second rounds, and can clearly demonstrate the financial need for further ....more
Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust - Cardboard Citizens - 20/09/21
£1,500 12/10/2021
Workshop Programme
London Catalyst - Cardboard Citizens - 4
£1,000 09/02/2021
Hardship Fund
Garfield Weston Foundation - Main Grants award WCF award - COVID19 response
£30,000 05/02/2021
Weston Culture Fund to Regular Grant
DCMS - Coronavirus Community Support Fund
£40,295 05/10/2020
"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
Paul Hamlyn Foundation - COVID19 Emergency Funding
£20,000 16/09/2020
6
Support to aid the organisation in dealing with the challenges posed by COVID19.
City Bridge Trust - Grant to Cardboard Citizens
£152,420 08/07/2020
36
£152,420 over three years (£51,670; £52,740; £48,010) towards developing and embedding trauma informed practice into CC’s programme and promoting the value of this approach more widely ....more
Comic Relief - Cardboard Citizens Recovery Funding
£20,000 23/06/2020
6
COVID19 Recovery funding
DCMS - VSCE CMC Fund
£16,376 20/05/2020
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
Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government - MHCLG Homelessness Fund
£35,000 07/05/2020
Organisations supporting homelessness
Esmee Fairbairn - Grant to Cardboard Citizens (CC)
£30,000 05/05/2020
6
towards unrestricted costs as a COVID-19 Fast Response grant
Crisis UK - Grant to Cardboard Citizens
£5,000 23/04/2020
Funding to release Membership Manager from furlough and to expand Information Advice and Guidance & other activities to people in Temporary Accommodation
DCMS - Stabilise Citz 2020
£70,000 01/04/2020
To support Arts and Culture throughout England
DCMS - Restart and Open
£34,264 01/04/2020
To support Arts and Culture throughout England
The Rayne Foundation - Grant to Cardboard Citizens
£30,000 02/12/2019
24
Towards a programme of intensive creative residency projects in areas of low arts engagement that will draw in local expertise, empower communities to explore stories and create change.
National Lottery Community Fund - Change Your Story
£300,000 29/08/2019
36
Change Your Story
Comic Relief - Citz Young Storytellers
£42,305 03/07/2019
18
Cardboard Citizens support young people from London who have been affected by or are at risk of homelessness. Citz Young Storytellers is a young people-led, arts-based approach, to ensure disengaged ....more
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, UK Branch - Cardboard Citizens
£60,000 26/06/2019
Funding to support Cardboard Camps, a three-year project which seeks to train people in the creative arts via regional camp 'capitals', which will partner with local arts venues to become a hub for ....more
John Lyon's Charity - Main grant to Cardboard Citizens
£72,000 14/06/2019
36
ACT NOW Creative Residency Programme
Esmee Fairbairn - Grant to Cardboard Citizens (CC)
£180,000 19/06/2018
36
Towards Cardboard Camps, a three-year programme with homeless and other vulnerable people in areas of low arts engagement across England.
Paul Hamlyn Foundation - Ending the cycle of homelessness: a targeted, integrated, arts-based model
£240,000 11/12/2017
36
Following 25 years of successful arts engagement with those affected by homelessness, Cardboard Citizens seeks to develop its ‘wraparound model’ to meet the increasing demand and complex needs of ....more
Comic Relief - Citz Young Story-Tellers
£120,000 27/09/2017
36
Following 25 years of work with homeless & vulnerable people, Cardboard Citizens will launch Citz Young Story-Tellers, led by young people for young people.Through a unique, arts-based approach, ....more
Garfield Weston Foundation - Main Grants award
£20,000 29/06/2017
Cardboard Citizens' National Creative Residencies 2017-18
The Clothworkers Foundation - Grant to Cardboard Citizens
£30,000 02/03/2017
Building refurbishment for a charity which makes life-changing theatre with and for homeless people in London
National Lottery Heritage Fund - Grant to Cardboard Citizens
£45,800 02/02/2017
Home Truths Festival of heritage events
Youth Music - Music Lab
£12,295 21/07/2016
Music Lab
Henry Smith Charity - Grant to Cardboard Citizens
£99,000 10/03/2016
36
towards three years' continuation funding of salary costs relating to the 'ACT NOW' performing arts programme, providing a range of support services to homeless and at risk young people in London
John Ellerman Foundation - Project costs
£75,000 28/01/2016
24
Towards the costs of the expansion of its model throughout the UK to enable people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness realise their potential.
National Lottery Community Fund - Citz National Stage
£463,716 01/07/2015
36
A performing-arts centred project to support homeless people and those at risk of homelessness across London and England-wide. The scheme will use theatre as a tool to explore difficult issues ....more
City Bridge Trust - Grant to Cardboard Citizens
£49,700 26/05/2015
£49,700 to enable Cardboard Citizens to develop its business modelling in order to expand its training programme for external agencies.
National Lottery Community Fund - Database and Website Redevelopment
£10,000 27/06/2013
12
This is a project by a charity in Tower Hamlets. The group will use the funding to overhaul the current group website and customer database which is proving restrictive, to enable more efficient ....more
Lloyds Bank Foundation - Grant to Cardboard Citizens
£35,000 28/03/2013
the salary costs of the Programme Director, Director of Projects and Project Manager including rent, service charges and rates
Esmee Fairbairn - Grant to Cardboard Citizens (CC)
£150,000 13/02/2013
Towards core costs, enabling the organisation to continue to develop its programmes and long-term sustainability.
Henry Smith Charity - Grant to Cardboard Citizens
£91,100 12/09/2012
36
towards three years' running costs of the ACT NOW programme for homeless and at risk young people in London
National Lottery Community Fund - Cardboard Citizens: Next Stage
£296,166 15/02/2012
36
This project, which uses theatre to reach out to homeless people living in hostels and day care centres, will be expanded across London by the charity Cardboard Citizens (CC). The aim of the project ....more
National Lottery Community Fund - Hostels Outreach and Support through Theatre (HOST
£464,015 11/02/2010
24
Through a series of performances and workshops this project uses theatre to reach out to homeless adults living in London hostels and day centres. As well as developing self-esteem and confidence, ....more
Esmee Fairbairn - Grant to Cardboard Citizens (CC)
£150,000 30/09/2009
36
Towards Core costs Towards core costs over three years of a leading professional theatre company which employs predominantly homeless and ex-homeless people as actors.
Show more rows

Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How is it governed?

Trustees (10)
Current Trustees appointed
Gender Split
Based on 9/10 persons

Age Range of Trustees: 36-79
  • JON OPIE Appointed: 2016, Occupation: Manager
  • MS PRUE SKENE (Chair) Appointed: 2016, Occupation: Non Executive Director
  • SACHA MILROY Appointed: 2016, Occupation: Director Of Production
Legal constitution
  • Charitable company registered in England & Wales on 29/11/1994, number: 1042457
  • Registered at Companies House on 14/06/1994, number: 02938531
Gift Aid
  • Registered with HMRC for Gift Aid
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
  • Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
  • Trustee expenses policy and procedures
  • Volunteer management
Filing Record
20 returns made; AR05: 317 days late, AR04: 62 days late,
Main office

77A GREENFIELD ROAD
LONDON
E1 1EJ

Objectives

TO ADVANCE EDUCATION FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT BY THE PROMOTION OF THE ARTS, IN PARTICULAR BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY THE ART OF DRAMA

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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