FIRST STEP TRUST
Registered charity 1077959 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as FST
FST seeks to enable socially excluded people experiencing enduring mental health problems & other disadvantages to have the opportunity to work & to access paid employment. FST, in partnership with statutory agencies & other partners, sets up projects that assist its service users to gain work skills & qualifications while overcoming the barriers & difficulties to employment in their daily life.
Causes: General Charitable Purposes · Education/training · Disability · The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Economic/community Development/employment · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that the charity reported a net expenditure of £63,604 for the year, resulting in a decrease in total funds. However, the trustees report that the overall financial position remains strong, supported by unrestricted reserves of £4,450,295 and a reserves policy targeting nine months of core expenditure. The charity continues to generate income from service contracts, grants, and trading activities to support its operations.
Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Reserves policy: nine month’s core expenditure (held: £4.5m)
“It is the policy of the charity that reserves should be maintained at a level equivalent to nine month’s core expenditure.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Payments to trustees: R Barringer received remuneration of £3,324
“One director, R Barringer received remuneration of £3,324 (2024: none).” — page 26
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by Buzzacott Audit LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.
Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — First Step Trust (matched by registered charity number).
Leadership, per the charity’s website
Listed on the charity’s own website when we last crawled it; roles may have changed. Pay-band disclosures above are anonymous statutory disclosures and are not attributed to any named individual.
Public-sector contracts awarded
From the official Contracts Finder and Find a Tender notices (supplier matched by exact registered name). Contract income is distinct from grants.
Property (HM Land Registry)
4 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (1 freehold); recorded price paid £780k. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.
Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)
Reported reserves equal ~0.5 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (94% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.
Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 0.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).
- Andrew Phillip Milneschair
- Anthony Martin Parker-Stewart
- Clive Edward Jelf
- Dr Bernard Bukala
- Linda Bird · trustee of 2 other charities
- Mohammad Mohtashim Khan
- Paula Arnold · trustee of 1 other charity
- Steven Garry Nash
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Bexley · Bury · Greenwich · Lambeth · Salford City · St Helens
Income and spending
Common questions
Is FIRST STEP TRUST financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a net expenditure of £63,604 for the year, resulting in a decrease in total funds. However, the trustees report that the overall financial position remains strong, supported by unrestricted reserves of £4,450,295 and a reserves policy targeting nine months of core expenditure. The charity continues to generate income from service contracts, grants, and trading activities to support its operations. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Buzzacott Audit LLP.
Government & lottery funding
Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).
Funders of similar charities
Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.
Charities like this
Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with STEP ONE CHARITY.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.