CoLab Exeter
Registered charity 1100990 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as EXETER COUNCIL FOR VOLUNTARY SERVICE, EXETER CVS
CoLab is a multi-agency wellbeing hub in Exeter. We enable people and organisations to work together, to create the conditions for people to lead their best lives and do their best work; and for organisations to achieve their greatest impact and value.
Causes: General Charitable Purposes · Education/training · Economic/community Development/employment · Other Charitable Purposes · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that the charity achieved its highest level of income in its history, with unrestricted free reserves decreasing to £106,460 due to a transfer to the Designated Property Fund. The trustees acknowledge that low reserves represent a vulnerability but remain confident in the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.
Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Reserves policy: three months of operating costs (held: £106k)
“remain committed to increasing organisational cash reserves sufficiently in order to meet three months of operating costs.” — page 9
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Fiona Carden is a director and shareholder in The Green Hat Company Ltd. CoLab paid this company £120 for services.
“Fiona Carden is a director and shareholder in a company called The Green Hat Company Ltd. During the year, CoLab paid this Company £120 in respect of services provided (2024: £180). During the year, CoLab paid £600 in respect of services provided by Fiona Carden.” — page 34
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by Thompson Jenner LLP. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.
Year-over-year changes
- Going concern: going-concern doubt noted (FY2024) → no going-concern doubt (FY2025).
Comparing this charity’s FY2024 and FY2025 accounts as analysed by this site.
Corporate structure
Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — CoLab Exeter (matched by registered charity number).
Leadership, per the charity’s website
- Fiona Carden — Chief Executive Officer (source)
- Jon Cook — Deputy CEO (Director of Practice & Operations) (source)
- Andy Puleston — Director of Finance (source)
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.
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.
- GOWER, Lucy — director, appointed 01/03/2026on trustee list
- GROVES, Hugh Charles — director, appointed 23/08/2024on trustee list
- ALDER, Jonathan — director, appointed 01/12/2023on trustee list
- VANSTONE BROWN, Lisa Catherine — director, appointed 19/05/2022not on trustee list
- MCLAREN, Julie — director, appointed 19/05/2022on trustee list
- FARNSWORTH, Anthony Sean — director, appointed 24/06/2021on trustee list
- DENT, Julie Elizabeth — director, appointed 05/10/2020on trustee list
- PULESTON, Andrew — secretary, appointed 02/03/2026
- SKINNER, Heather Louise — secretary, appointed 19/05/2022
Official officers record.
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)
1 registered title in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (0 freehold). All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.
Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): instagram
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)
Reported reserves equal ~0.6 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 (89% 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).
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Devon
Income and spending
Common questions
Is CoLab Exeter financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity achieved its highest level of income in its history, with unrestricted free reserves decreasing to £106,460 due to a transfer to the Designated Property Fund. The trustees acknowledge that low reserves represent a vulnerability but remain confident in the charity's ability to continue as a going concern. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Thompson Jenner LLP.
Who funds CoLab Exeter?
Funders whose own accounts filings name CoLab Exeter as a grant recipient include SMALLWOOD TRUST, COMMUNITY COUNCIL OF DEVON.
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 COLCHESTER KORBAN PROJECT.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.