WILLOW FOUNDATION

Registered charity 1106746 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · Wikidata: Q8022310 · also registered in Scotland as SC045811 (OSCR)

Willow supports seriously ill 16 to 40 year olds throughout the UK to get more out of life by providing unique and unforgettable Special Days and Special Treats. For some it gives a positive focus away from diagnosis and treatment and may be a final chance to create lasting memories. For others it marks recovery, boosting confidence and providing motivation to move forward with their lives.

Objects

THE RELIEF OF YOUNG PERSONS BETWEEN THE AGES OF 16 AND 40 AND OTHERS IN THE COMMUNITY WHO ARE SUFFERING FROM SERIOUS ILLNESS OR HANDICAP BY THE FUNDING AND THE PROVISION OF FACILITIES WHICH ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF SUCH PERSONS.

Area of benefit: UNITED KINGDOM

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

Causes: The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives · Disability · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Welwyn Hatfield, East of England, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity recorded a net deficit of £202,000 for the year, which was offset by investment gains to result in an overall increase to reserves of £21,000. The trustees confirm that the general fund of £1,295,000 is in line with their policy to hold at least six months of costs, and they have a reasonable expectation that the charity will remain a going concern for at least 12 months.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Sayer Vincent LLP. 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
• Investment
• 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 05207070
• Trading subsidiary: WILLOW EVENTS LIMITED Companies House 05352056

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

Leadership, per the charity’s website

• Jonathan Aves — Chief Executive (source)
• Claire Kermode — Director of Finance, Resources & Retail (source)
• Dominic Heath — Special Days Director (source)
• Richard King — Chair of Trustees (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.

Funders the charity credits

Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).

• PayPal Giving Fund — ““At PayPal Giving Fund, we aim to make giving a part of everyday life. We are proud that, through programmes such as Give at Checkout, we ar…” (source page)
• De Vere — ““We are very proud of our long-standing partnership with Willow, an incredible charity which we’re delighted to work alongside in a number o…” (source page)
• Thrive Tribe — ““At Thrive Tribe, we’re incredibly proud to partner with the Willow Foundation. Having seen first-hand the life-changing support they provid…” (source page)

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.

• DE KLERK, Gavin John — director, appointed 17/09/2026not on trustee list
• WRIGGLESWORTH, Jack Matthew — director, appointed 31/10/2025on trustee list
• NEWMAN, James David — director, appointed 27/09/2024on trustee list
• SHAH, Sangita Vadilal Manilal — director, appointed 07/06/2024on trustee list
• PHEDON, Paul — director, appointed 03/02/2023on trustee list
• STEEL, Vanessa Helen — director, appointed 24/09/2021on trustee list
• RYAN, Martin John — director, appointed 18/05/2020on trustee list
• TAYLOR, Glyn Derek — director, appointed 11/04/2019on trustee list
• WADDINGTON, David Joseph — director, appointed 16/12/2015not on trustee list
• KING, Richard Walter — director, appointed 27/08/2009on trustee list
• KERMODE, Claire Margaret — secretary, appointed 30/05/2016

Official officers record.

Property (HM Land Registry)

10 registered titles 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): facebook · instagram

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~8.0 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 57.4% of total income — above the 90th percentile for charities its size (median 5.3%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• RICHARD KINGchair
• DAVID WADDINGTON MA RAF
• GLYN DEREK TAYLOR
• Gavin John De Klerk
• Jack Matthew Wrigglesworth
• James David Newman
• Martin John Ryan
• PAUL PHEDON
• Sangita Vadilal Manilal Shah
• Vanessa Steel · trustee of 1 other charity

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

Operates in: Northern Ireland · Scotland · Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

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

Grants marked “Unverified read” were flagged by automated checks as possibly misread from the funder’s filed accounts. They are listed, but left out of the totals, counts and funder relationships this site computes.

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 WILLOW CHILDCARE.

• WILLOW CHILDCARE income £1.3m
• Willow Tree income £108k
• Wilmslow Youth income £121k
• WILLOW GREEN income £1.5m
• THE WILLOW TRUST income £218k
• THE WILLIAM WATES MEMORIAL TRUST income £950k

Side by side with its peers

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