Finance Score: -3
Governance Score: 6
Support Score: 12
  • Volatile income: -3
  • No PartB
  • Good trustee age range: +3
  • Gender balanced board: +3
  • Overall weighted support: +12
Overall GiG Score: 15 ?

SOUTH WALES LAW CENTRE

The South Wales Law Centre, t/a The Speakeasy Law Centre, aims to relieve poverty and distress in S Wales. The Speakeasy Law Centre provides free legal advice regarding debts and problems with welfare benefits, housing and employment.
Analysis by Giving is Great

Positives:

  • There have been no material income shortfalls in recent years
  • 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

Financial issues to consider:

  • Income has been volatile recently
  • A PartB annual return has not been required and so detailed financial information is not available from the online data

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
31/03/24£294£317£-23n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/23£347£358£-11n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/22£371£339£32n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/21£441£373£68n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/20?£271£244£27n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/18£356£348£8n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/17£352£351£1n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/16£328£330£-2n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/15£249£250£-1n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/14£249£248£1n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/13£302£248£53n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/12£552£202£349£11£349£34920.770

Highest pay bracket: less than £60,000
Established: 14 years

www.speakeasy.cymru

warren.palmer@speakeasy.cymru

02920453111

Charity Commission for England and WalesCompanies House
UN SDGs
?
Listed activities
  • General Charitable Purposes
  • The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty
GiG Classification
  • Legal & financial advice
How it operates
  • Provides advocacy/advice/information
  • Provides services
Where it operates
  • Cardiff, Vale Of Glamorgan,
Who it helps
  • Other Defined Groups
  • 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
Access to Justice Foundation£178,314
The Legal Education Foundation£169,719
Henry Smith Charity£121,900
AB Charitable Trust£57,000
Specific Donations
Amount When
Months
To be used for
Henry Smith Charity - Grant to Speakeasy Law Centre
£121,900 05/12/2023
towards three years‘ salary and on costs of a Social Welfare Legal Adviser at a project providing legal advice for people from disadvantaged communities in Cardiff, Wales.
AB Charitable Trust - A grant to South Wales Law Centre - t/a Speakeasy Law Centre
£22,000 28/06/2023
An unrestricted grant of £22,000 (This grant is renewable - year 2 of up to 3 years)This grant includes a 10% cost of living uplift. South Wales Law Centre provides legal advice, casework and representation in debt, housing, welfare benefits and ....more
The Legal Education Foundation - JFF Host 2023
£90,661 25/05/2023
A grant to South Wales Law Centre Ltd trading as Speakeasy Law Centre to fund one Justice First Fellowship as part of cohort 10
Lloyds Bank Foundation - One off gift towards cost of living crisis to Speakeasy Law Centre
£2,250 14/12/2022
One off gift to support with the cost of living crisis
Access to Justice Foundation - Community Justice Fund Wave Three
£14,672 22/11/2022
Wave three of the Community Justice Fund aims to support organisations delivering social welfare advice services to people most impacted by the cost-of-living crisis.
Access to Justice Foundation - Help Accessing Legal Support (HALS)
£92,903 13/09/2022
Help Accessing Legal Support (HALS) is a programme of The Access to Justice Foundation with the Ministry of Justice. We are working with organisations to sustain and improve access to early social welfare and family legal advice, to enable users ....more
AB Charitable Trust - A grant to South Wales Law Centre - t/a Speakeasy Law Centre
£20,000 30/06/2022
An unrestricted grant of £20,000 (This grant is renewable - year 1 of up to 3 years). South Wales Law Centre provides legal advice, casework and representation in debt, housing, welfare benefits and employment law.
Access to Justice Foundation - Spring Grants Round 2022
£18,539 30/03/2022
The 2022 Spring Grants Round aims to support the provision pro bono provision throughout the UK, at a regional and/or local level.
Access to Justice Foundation - Joint Initiative Flexible COVID-19 Grant
£48,000 09/08/2021
A flexible grant as part of wave 2 of the Community Justice Fund. A pooled fund to support the specialist legal welfare advice sector in its response to COVID60
The Legal Education Foundation - JFF Host 2021
£79,058 24/03/2021
A grant to Speakeasy Law Centre to fund one Justice First Fellowship as part of cohort 8.
Access to Justice Foundation - Joint Initiative Flexible COVID-19 Grant
£4,200 19/10/2020
A flexible grant as part of wave 1 of the Community Justice Fund. A pooled fund to support the specialist legal welfare advice sector in its response to COVID19
AB Charitable Trust - A grant to South Wales Law Centre - t/a The Speakeasy
£15,000 02/07/2020
An unrestricted grant of £15,000. South Wales Law Centre (The Speakeasy) delivers legal advice and support on welfare benefits, housing, and employment law,
Lloyds Bank Foundation - Grant to Speakeasy Law Centre
£99,444 16/07/2019
36
Speakeasy is a Cardiff based independent legal advice charity. The project grant will fund a specialist housing solicitor to tackle complex issues, which contribute to and result from vulnerable tenancies and an increased risk of homelessness.
AB Charitable Trust - A grant to Action in the Community Trust - t/a The Speakeasy
£20,000 25/04/2019
An unrestricted grant of £20,000. The Speakeasy aims to reduce the amount of people living in poverty through providing drop-in clinics with free advice. The clinics include advice on benefits, debt, housing and employment.
AB Charitable Trust - A grant to Action in the Community Trust - t/a The Speakeasy
£10,000 31/10/2017
£10,000 towards a Solicitor focusing on support of clients accused of benefit fraud. The Speakeasy aims to reduce the amount of people living in poverty through providing drop-in clinics with free advice. The clinics include advice on benefits, ....more
Garfield Weston Foundation - Main Grants award
£20,000 20/09/2017
Core funding
Lloyds Bank Foundation - Grant to Action in the Community Trust
£14,810 22/09/2016
12
Delivery of a pilot housing advice service in Cardiff in partnership with TAVS with the aims of delivering a holistic support service and reaching hard to reach clients.
National Lottery Community Fund - East Cardiff Financial Inclusion
£122,422 24/09/2014
36
Not Available
Lloyds Bank Foundation - Grant to Speakeasy Advice Centre
£14,100 28/08/2013
Speakeasy gives people advice and support to help them manage their affairs independently. Funding will enable it to increase the availability of and ease of access to free face-to-face specialist debt advice in Cardiff.
National Lottery Community Fund - RECESSION - Debt, Benefit and Housing Advice
£49,928 11/03/2010
23
The project will allow Action in the Community Trust, through outreach work, to provide free legal advice and assistance on debt, welfare benefits and housing issues to beneficiaries in Treorchy and Merthyr Tydfil.
Show more rows

Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How is it governed?

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

Age Range of Trustees: 35-87
  • CHRISTINA JOY KIO-BENNETT Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Civil Engineer
  • DAVID HORTON Appointed: 2020, Occupation: Charity Worker
  • JOHN HARRINGTON LOOSEMORE Appointed: 2011, Occupation: Consultant
  • MADELINE ROSE REES Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Government Lawyer
  • NKINI PULEI Appointed: 2016, Occupation: Occupational Therapist
  • REBECCA JANE MATYUS Appointed: 2020, Occupation: Charity Worker
  • STEPHEN GALE WILLIAMS Appointed: 2011, Occupation: M D
Legal constitution
  • Charitable company registered in England & Wales on 18/03/2011, number: 1140949
  • Registered at Companies House on 03/03/2011, number: 07550894
Gift Aid
  • Registered with HMRC for Gift Aid
Other Regulators
  • Financial Conduct Authority
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
  • Investing charity funds 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
12 returns made; all on time
Main office

Speakeasy Law Centre
166 Richmond Road
Cardiff
CF24 3BX

Objectives

THE PROMOTION OF ANY CHARITABLE PURPOSE FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE COMMUNITY OF SOUTH WALES BY THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION, THE PROTECTION OF HEALTH AND THE RELIEF OF POVERTY, SICKNESS AND DISTRESS.

Defined Area of Benefit:

CARDIFFBLAENAU GWENTRHONDDA CYNON TAFFMERTHYR TYDFIL

Data Sources

Charity Commission for England and Wales
360 Giving

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