THE PORCH

Registered charity 1089612 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as STEPPIN STONE

Since 2001 The Porch has provided a place of safety, change and challenge for Oxford's homeless and vulnerably housed single adults. Through our support work, our cafe serving nutritious subsidized meals, and our range of activities we help members find somewhere to live, reconnect socially, increase self-esteem, acquire new skills, make a contribution and gain employment.

Objects

1. THE RELIEF OF POVERTY AND HARDSHIP AMONG HOMELESS, NEEDY, ISOLATED AND POORLY HOUSED PEOPLE IN THE OXFORD AREA INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE PROVISION AND MANAGEMENT OF A DAY CENTRE AND/OR OTHER ACCOMMODATION.2. TO ADVANCE EDUCATION BY THE PROVISION OF 'SELF HELP' SKILLS, IT TRAINING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL SKILLS

Area of benefit: PEOPLE IN THE OXFORD AREA.

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 Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Accommodation/housing · website · Get email alerts

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

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that unrestricted reserves stood at £479,863, while total funds including designated and restricted reserves reached £792,800. The trustees report that financial operations remain tight and rising costs place pressure on resources, yet they conclude that current reserves are sufficient to continue as a going concern. The charity relies significantly on donations and grants, with total income decreasing from £423,012 to £394,151 in the reported year.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Wenn Townsend. Discloses 4 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
• 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
• Risk management
• Safeguarding policy and procedures
• Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
• Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
• Social media policy and procedures
• Volunteer management

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2021)

Reported reserves equal ~3.7 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 7.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (99% 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: 6.1% of total income — above the median for charities its size (3.0%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• Sue Tomkyschair
• Emma Louise Feeny
• George Currie
• Ian Gilders
• Neal Pelham Mallett
• Patricia Jane Silkin
• Sally Alden

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

Operates in: Oxfordshire

Income and spending

Common questions

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 THE CITY OF OXFORD CHARITY LIMITED.

• THE CITY OF OXFORD CHARITY LIMITED income £443k
• HOMELESS OXFORDSHIRE LIMITED income £6.3m
• THE OPENING DOORS PROJECT income £108k
• OPEN DOOR SOCIETY LIMITED income £1.9m
• OPEN DOOR (NORTH EAST) income £659k
• PORCH BOXES income £42k

Side by side with its peers

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