Finance Score: 1
Governance Score: 6
Support Score: 17
  • Poor Liquidity: -1
  • Strong growth: +2
  • Dynamic board: +3
  • Gender balanced board: +3
  • Large volunteers +3
  • Grant maker support: +14
Overall GiG Score: 24 ?

DOORSTEP LIBRARY NETWORK 

The charity runs Doorstep Library projects sending volunteers to homes of children in disadvantaged areas to help them enjoy reading, read well, and to lend books. Parents are encouraged to contribute to their children's education, they are supported to access local services designed to help them and their children. The charity runs Doorstep Libraries in London.
Analysis by Giving is Great

Positives:

  • This charity has been successful in attracting volunteers relative to its size
  • The charity has received backing from multiple 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
  • The Board appears to be well diversified in terms of gender and dynamic in terms of composition

Regulatory & Governance issues to consider:

  • Over half the Board have joined recently

Financial issues to consider:

  • Liquidity appears to have been slender at the latest year end
Established: 10 years

www.doorsteplibrary.org.uk

enquiries@doorsteplibrary.org.uk

02088701476

Charity Commission for England and WalesFacebookInstagramX
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
31/03/23£828£875£-47£137£196£540.719230
31/03/22£641£741£-101£109£243£490.818100
31/03/21£742£463£279£83£344£1213.19113
31/03/20£455£413£41n/an/an/an/an/a132
31/03/19?£593£652£-60£81£24£180.38150
30/09/17£253£256£-3£0£0£0n/a00
30/09/16£184£142£41£0£0£0n/a00
30/09/15£135£125£11£0£0£0n/a00

Financial Ratios
Fundraising Costs/Relevant Income: 16.6%
Fundraising Costs/Total Spending: 15.7%
Highest pay band: Less than £60,000
Liabilities/Assets: 18%
Liabilities/Income: 5%
Unrestricted Funds/Total Funds: 27%
Reserves/Spending: 0.7 months
Net Current Assets/Spending: 3 months
Quick Ratio: 5
Asset Split ?
Listed activities
  • Education/Training
  • General Charitable Purposes
How it operates
  • Provides advocacy/advice/information
  • Provides services
Where it operates
  • City Of Westminster, Hammersmith And Fulham, Lambeth,
Who it helps
  • Children/Young People
  • Other Defined Groups
Who works here?
  • 19 employees
  • 230 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
The Charity of Sir Richard Whittington£243,000
City Bridge Trust£110,610
The Childhood Trust£104,242
John Lyon's Charity£80,000
OVO Foundation£80,000
Greater London Authority£65,000
Walcot Foundation£58,000
Westminster Foundation£30,000
Specific Donations
Amount When
Months
To be used for
Co-Operative Group - Grant to Doorstep Library
£2,415 21/10/2023
We would use any funding secured to cover the costs of our Chalk Farm home reading project. We need stools, backpacks and project equipment for our volunteers to use when reading with children.
Co-Operative Group - Grant to Doorstep Library
£1,361 21/10/2023
We'll use the funding to pay for the costs of our home reading project. We need stools, backpacks and project equipment for our volunteers to use when they're reading with children.
The Charity of Sir Richard Whittington - Grant to Doorstep Library Network
£45,000 06/07/2023
To deliver reading groups with children in Camden.
City Bridge Trust - Grant to Doorstep Library Network
£110,610 26/05/2023
£110,610 over two years (£54,240; £56,370) to support staffing (two Programme Managers (0.3FTE each), one Project Coordinator (0.2 FTE) and a Volunteer Coordinator (0.2 FTE) and project costs over ....more
Walcot Foundation - Lambeth Doorstep Library projects
£30,000 16/03/2023
Doorstep Library volunteers work with families of children aged 0-11, spending 20 minutes per week for up to two years, reading with children on their doorstep or in their homes. They aim to help ....more
The Childhood Trust - Doorstep Library Home-Reading Projects
£50,000 23/12/2022
Doorstep Library is dedicated to bringing the gift of books and the joy of reading directly into the homes of children living in poverty across London, who need our support.  With one in four ....more
John Lyon's Charity - Uplift grant to Doorstep Library Network
£5,000 05/12/2022
Cost-of-Living Uplift
Walcot Foundation - Cost of Living Top-Up Grant
£3,000 18/11/2022
Cost of Living Top Up Grant awarded to support small/medium-size organisations with additional costs incurred due to the cost of living crisis.
National Lottery Community Fund - Connecting communities through reading for pleasure
£9,760 28/07/2022
The funding will be used to read to children from birth to 11 years old from families living in disadvantaged areas of London. The project aims to empower families with the tools and support they ....more
The Childhood Trust - C-59257
£10,000 28/06/2022
Reading creates transformational opportunities. It empowers young people to create the future they deserve by developing the skills they need to be able to reach their full potential. Fighting ....more
The Clothworkers Foundation - Grant to Doorstep Library
£10,000 25/05/2022
purchase of laptops only for a charity supporting disadvantaged young people in London
The Grocers' Charity - 2022-Doorstep Library Network
£4,780 29/04/2022
towards core costs to enable home visits with families in some of the most disadvantaged estates in London bringing the gift of books and joy of reading directly into the homes of children who need ....more
Walcot Foundation - Lambeth Doorstep Library projects
£25,000 16/11/2021
Doorstep Library volunteers work with families of children aged 0-11, spending 20 minutes per week for up to two years, reading with children on their doorstep or in their homes. They aim to help ....more
The Childhood Trust - Improving children?s life chances through reading
£9,368 22/06/2021
Whether in person or online, Doorstep Library breaks the cycle of poverty through reading programmes for children living on London?s most disadvantaged estates. We give children from isolated ....more
John Lyon's Charity - Main grant to Doorstep Library Network
£75,000 10/03/2021
36
Core Costs
Greater London Authority - Grant to London Borough of Haringey
£40,000 01/12/2020
CookBook Edible Library
Greater London Authority - Grant to London Borough of Haringey
£25,000 01/12/2020
Gladstone Parklet
DCMS - Coronavirus Community Support Fund
£25,000 29/09/2020
"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 Charity of Sir Richard Whittington - Covid-19 Rapid Response Fund Grant
£4,000 03/07/2020
6
To send a specially-selected book to each child it currently supports but who cannot be reached due to Covid-19.
The Childhood Trust - Doorstep Library projects
£34,874 03/07/2020
Whether in person, online or in the post, Doorstep Library breaks the cycle of poverty through reading programmes for children living on London’s most disadvantaged estates. We give children from ....more
Westminster Foundation - Covid 19 response Fund
£30,000 01/07/2020
6
Covid-19: To offer reading support to vulnerable families online, or via post.
The Charity of Sir Richard Whittington - Covid-19 Rapid Response Fund Grant
£4,000 15/05/2020
12
To send a specially-selected book to each child it currently supports but who cannot be reached due to Covid-19.
The Fore - RAFT COVID-19 response grant to DoorStep Library
£5,000 01/05/2020
36
Grant from The Fore's RAFT Immediate Response Fund to DoorStep Library, as part of The Fore's COVID-19 Response programme.
The Charity of Sir Richard Whittington - Grant to Doorstep Library Network
£190,000 11/02/2020
36
Expansion of the organisation's home-reading support projects into Camden, helping to bring the benefits of reading for pleasure directly into family homes across the borough.
OVO Foundation - Early Years - When I Grow Up
£80,000 25/10/2019
This project helps disadvantaged preschool children – improving their chances of fulfilling their potential in school, and in later life too. This project sends volunteers to homes of disadvantaged ....more
The Leathersellers' Company Charitable Fund - Grant to Doorstep Library
£40,000 07/12/2018
48
Main Grant unrestricted core costs
Greater London Authority - Grant to Doorstep Library Network
£9,750 05/12/2018
Team London small grant 2018-19 - social integration
Greater London Authority - Team London Small Grants Programme - Doorstep Library Network
£9,750 01/11/2018
Volunteer Readers spend time reading with pre and primary school children living in deprived housing estates and who are at risk of underachievement
National Lottery Community Fund - Old Oak Doorstep Library
£8,958 21/02/2018
12
This project will run reading sessions for children who are educationally disadvantaged. This will raise aspirations and improve self-confidence while developing literacy and language skills.
Masonic Trust - Core funding
£5,000 01/07/2017
Volunteer-led reading sessions in the home for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The Childhood Trust - New London borough expansion
£7,500 02/12/2016
Working in deprived estates in London volunteers encourage disadvantaged children to learn to love books and reading for pleasure. Our aim is to improve literacy by inspiring children to read at home ....more
The Fore - Grant to Doorstep Library Network
£20,000 31/05/2014
36
Collaboration with the CriSeren Foundation to fund the development of a business plan and funding strategy to develop a ‘six-library hub model’ that can be replicated to extend its reach beyond ....more
Show more rows

Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How is it governed?

Trustees (6)
Current Trustees appointed
Gender Split

Legal constitution
  • Charity registered in England & Wales on 08/08/2014, number: 1158197
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
8 returns made; all on time
Main office

xandwhy Fivefields
8-10 Grosvenor Gardens
London
SW1W 0DH

Objectives

3.1 THE OBJECTS OF THE CIO ARE:3.1.1 THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION, IN PARTICULAR FOR CHILDREN AGED 1-11 YEARS FROM DEPRIVED AREAS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OR IN LOW-INCOME FAMILIES, PRIMARILY BY PROVIDING DOORSTEP LIBRARY PROJECTS WHICH PROVIDE BOOKS AND BOOK-LED LEARNING. 3.1.2 THE RELIEF OF NEED BY WORKING WITH LOW-INCOME FAMILIES TO SUPPORT THEM TO INCREASE AND DEVELOP THEIR SKILLS AND CONFIDENCE IN ORDER THAT THEY MAY BETTER PARTICIPATE IN THEIR COMMUNITY AND MEET THEIR OWN NEEDS.3.1.3 TO FURTHER SUCH OTHER PURPOSES AS ARE CHARITABLE ACCORDING TO THE LAWS OF ENGLAND AND WALES AS THE TRUSTEES FROM TIME TO TIME DECIDE.

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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