Finance Score: 13
Governance Score: 9
Support Score: 13
  • Good reserves management: +3
  • Strong growth: +2
  • Fundraising costs low: +3
  • Future income +5
  • Good trustee age range: +3
  • Dynamic board: +3
  • Gender balanced board: +3
  • Overall weighted support: +13
Overall GiG Score: 35 ?

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:

  • The charity has received backing from multiple prominent grant makers recently and there are significant future grants due to be received
  • Reserves management has been consistently within official guidelines
  • There has been strong growth in spending over the last 5 years
  • Fundraising costs are unusually low relative to funds raised
  • The Board appears to be well diversified in terms of age and gender and dynamic in terms of composition

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
31/03/23£721£625£96£0£470£3787.313120
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/an/a
31/03/18£373£381£-8n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/17£321£288£32n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/16£215£256£-41n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/15£332£258£74n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/14£274£262£12n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/13£300£311£-12n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/12£345£289£56n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/11£165£112£53n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/10£70£98£-28n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/09£20£87£-67n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/08£53£93£-39n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/07£38£62£-24n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/06*£114£63£51n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/05£21£65£-44n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/04*£25£58£-33n/an/an/an/an/an/a

Financial Ratios
Fundraising Costs/Relevant Income: 0.1%
Fundraising Costs/Total Spending: 0.1%
Highest pay band: Less than £60,000
Liabilities/Assets: 22%
Liabilities/Income: 18%
Unrestricted Funds/Total Funds: 80%
Reserves/Spending: 7.3 months
Net Current Assets/Spending: 8 months
Quick Ratio: 4.7
Asset Split ?
Balance Sheet History
Established: 35 years
(46 years as a company)

www.londonfriend.org.uk

office@londonfriend.org.uk

02078331674

Charity Commission for England and WalesCompanies HouseFacebookInstagramX
UN SDGs
?
Listed activities
  • Education/Training
  • Other Charitable Purposes
  • The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives
GiG Classification
  • LGBTQ+ support
  • Emotional support, counselling or therapy
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 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

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
City Bridge Trust£276,296
Henry Smith Charity£177,000
DCMS£78,984
National Lottery Heritage Fund£43,300
The Charity of Sir Richard Whittington£33,000
The London Community Foundation£19,580
The Clothworkers Foundation£10,000
National Lottery Community Fund£9,999
Specific Donations
Amount When
Months
To be used for
The Charity of Sir Richard Whittington - Grant to Friend Counselling London Limited
£33,000 15/05/2024
18
Supporting LGBTQ+ older people.
City Bridge Trust - Grant to Friend Counselling London Limited
£184,610 29/01/2024
36
£184,610 over five years - £39,460 in year one, £38,170 in year two, £36,895 in year three, £35,655 in year four and £34,430 in year five - towards a new group counselling service , targeting underrepresented LGBTQ+ communities.
Lloyds Bank Foundation - One off gift towards cost of living crisis to Friend Counselling (London) Ltd
£2,250 14/12/2022
One off gift to support with the cost of living crisis
Henry Smith Charity - Grant to London Friend
£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 - Grant to Friend Counselling (London)
£10,000 03/12/2021
installation of ventilation system for a charity supporting disadvantaged minority communities in London
National Lottery Heritage Fund - Grant to Friend Counselling London Limited
£43,300 11/11/2021
London Friend at 50
National Lottery Community Fund - Ventilation Installation for Covid-safe working
£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 in-person support.
City Bridge Trust - Grant to Friend Counselling London Limited
£44,900 22/04/2021
towards the salaries of the CEO, Counselling Coordinator and Volunteer Coordinator
City Bridge Trust - Grant to Friend Counselling London Limited
£9,500 08/12/2020
0
City Bridge Trust - Grant to Friend Counselling London Limited
£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 - Coronavirus Community Support Fund
£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 operate, thereby reducing the burden on public ....more
The London Community Foundation - Grant to London Friend
£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 capacity for counselling, groups, and making ....more
City Bridge Trust - Grant to Friend Counselling (London) Limited
£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 - London Friend
£21,500 01/04/2019
London Friend
DCMS - Tampon Tax Community Fund
£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 support groups such as our Changes coming out group, ....more
Lloyds Bank Foundation - Grant to Friend Counselling (London) Ltd
£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 cease their use and to address related issues
LGBT Consortium - Grant to London friend
£9,500 08/03/2019
Organisational Sustainability
The Leathersellers' Company Charitable Fund - Grant to Friend Counselling London Limited
£60,000 05/10/2018
48
Main Grant unrestricted core costs
Henry Smith Charity - Grant to London Friend
£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
Henry Smith Charity - Grant to London Friend
£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 - Grant to Friend Counselling (London) Ltd
£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 funding is requested to support Antidote
City Bridge Trust - Grant to Friend Counselling (London) Limited
£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, programme and management costs.
Lloyds Bank Foundation - Grant to Friend Counselling (London) Ltd
£29,500 06/02/2012
the salary of the Volunteer Co-ordinator including volunteer costs, marketing and promotion and project overheads
National Lottery Community Fund - ANTIDOTE - LGBT Drug and Alcohol Service
£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 project will provide a range of activities. An ....more
Show more rows

Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How is it governed?

Trustees (5)
Current Trustees appointed
Gender Split

Age Range of Trustees: 26-53
  • DR VIVIENNE SMITH Appointed: 2021, Occupation: Doctor
  • JONAS JOSEPH THOMPSON-MCCORMICK Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Public Health Consultant
  • JOSHUA JOHN LOLEK RICAFRENTE DE LUNA Appointed: 2020
  • MUBEEN AHMED (Chair) Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Project Manager
  • OLIVIA KIERA VERA ANDREWS Appointed: 2021, Occupation: None
Legal constitution
  • Charitable company registered in England & Wales on 18/12/1989, number: 299307
  • Registered at Companies House on 22/12/1977, number: 01345530
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
  • 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
20 returns made; AR06: 1 days late, AR04: 26 days late,
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

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