HASTINGS ADVICE AND REPRESENTATION CENTRE

Registered charity 1083566 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as HARC

HARC provides an accessible information, advice and advocacy service, specialising in welfare benefits and tax credits up to and including the Upper Tier Tribunal. We offer home visits to elderly and housebound people and advice surgeries in Hastings & Rother. Our aim is to relieve local poverty by ensuring the correct benefit is received by people on a low income.

Objects

A) TO PROMOTE THE BENEFIT OF THE INHABITANTS OF EAST SUSSEX AND THE SOUTH COAST OF ENGLAND (HEREINAFTER CALLED THE AREA OF BENEFIT). THIS WILL BE WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF SEX OR OF POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS OR OTHER OPINION BY ASSOCIATING WITH THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES, VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS AND INHABITANTS. THIS WILL BE IN A COMMON EFFORT TO ADVANCE EDUCATION AND TO PROVIDE FACILITIES IN THE INTEREST OF SOCIAL WELFARE, WITH THE OBJECT OF IMPROVING THE CONDITIONS OF LIFE FOR THE SAID INHABITANTS. (B) TO RELIEVE THE POVERTY OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE AREA OF BENEFIT, PARTICULARLY THROUGH THE PROVISION OF A COMPREHENSIVE WELFARE BENEFIT AND TAX CREDITS ADVICE SERVICE? TO MAINTAIN AND MANAGE AN ADVICE AND COMMUNITY CENTRE IN CO-OPERATION WITH LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN EAST SUSSEX AND THE SOUTH COAST OF ENGLAND AND TO SECURE THE SUPPORT OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN EAST SUSSEX AND THE SOUTH COAST OF ENGLAND IN ACHIEVING THE ABOVE OBJECTS

Area of benefit: HASTINGS AND DISTRICT

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

Causes: Education/training · The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives · Disability · The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Economic/community Development/employment · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Hastings, South East, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity maintained a good level of unrestricted funds despite limited resources and funding insecurities. The directors consider that reserves are maintained at a level equivalent to between two and three months of expenditure, which they believe ensures continuity of activities in the event of a significant drop in funding.

Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Accounts independently examined (not a full audit). Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

• Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
• Campaigns and political activity policy and procedures
• Complaints handling
• Complaints policy and procedures
• Conflicting interests
• Engaging external speakers at charity events policy and procedures
• 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

From the charity’s annual return (Part A, self-declared)

Answers and figures the charity gave in Part A of its annual return to the Charity Commission. They are self-declared: not verified by the Commission or by this site. Only positive answers and figures are listed; items not listed are simply not shown.

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Corporate structure

• Registered company of the charity Companies House 04048683 · Financial health read from its filings

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — HARC (matched by registered charity number).

Company officers (Companies House)

Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.

• ROSER, Rachael Louise — director, appointed 11/02/2025on trustee list
• MAPSTONE, Frances — director, appointed 16/05/2024on trustee list
• BURNETT, Andrew Stanley — director, appointed 08/12/2020on trustee list
• FELDMAN, Shelley — director, appointed 22/05/2018on trustee list
• LEWIS, Stephen John — director, appointed 14/05/2018on trustee list
• WOOLLARD, Cordelia — director, appointed 25/11/2016on trustee list
• EVERARD, Jacqueline — secretary, appointed 16/05/2019

Official officers record.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~4.9 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (75% 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: 14.2% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.9%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• CORDELIA ANN WOOLLARDchair
• ANDREW STANLEY BURNETT
• Frances Mary Mapstone
• Michael John Gratton · trustee of 1 other charity
• Rachael Louise Roser
• SHELLEY FELDMAN
• STEPHEN JOHN LEWIS

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: East Sussex · West Sussex

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

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 HILLINGDON AUTISTIC CARE & SUPPORT LIMITED.

• HILLINGDON AUTISTIC CARE & SUPPORT LIMITED income £669k
• HERTS AREA RAPE CRISIS AND SEXUAL ABUSE CENTRE (HARCSAC) income £77k
• EAST BRISTOL ADVICE & INFORMATION CENTRES income £52k
• TAKING PART income £245k
• COUNSELLING PLUS COMMUNITY income £250k
• Citizens Advice East Hampshire Limited income £779k

Side by side with its peers

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.