AUTISTICA

Registered charity 1107350 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · Wikidata: Q4826023 · Wikipedia · also known as AUTISM SPEAKS, NAAR (UK), NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR AUTISM RESEARCH (UK)

We are the UK's leading autism research and campaigning charity. Our Mission is to create breakthroughs that enable all autistic people to live happier, healthier, longer lives. We do this through research, shaping policy and working with autistic people to make more of a difference.

Objects

TO ADVANCE EDUCATION IN THE FIELD OF AUTISM, INCLUDING BY (1) THE PROMOTION, FACILITATION AND SUPPORT OF RESEARCH INTO ALL ASPECTS OF AUTISM AND (2) THE DISSEMINATION AND EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION AND IDEAS, SO AS TO INCREASE PUBLIC AWARENESS REGARDING ALL ASPECTS OF AUTISM;TO FURTHER THE EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF AUTISTIC PEOPLE, BY PROVIDING THEM WITH TRAINING, COURSES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR WORK EXPERIENCE AND BY THE PROVISION (TO EMPLOYERS AND AUTISTIC PEOPLE) OF TRAINING AND FACILITIES TO ENABLE AUTISTIC PEOPLE TO ACQUIRE AND DEVELOP SKILLS SO AS TO ENHANCE THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THE WORKPLACE;TO ADVANCE HEALTH AND RELIEVE SICKNESS, INCLUDING BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOOLS, INTERVENTIONS AND RESOURCES TO IMPROVE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH AMONG AUTISTIC PEOPLE AND THEIR FAMILIES;THE FURTHERANCE OF ANY OTHER CHARITABLE PURPOSE WHICH OPERATES TO BENEFIT AUTISTIC PEOPLE AS THE TRUSTEES IN THEIR ABSOLUTE DISCRETION SEE FIT.

Area of benefit: NOT DEFINED. IN PRACTICE WORLDWIDE.

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 · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Islington, London, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a net expenditure of £664,190 for the year, a shift from the previous year's net income, primarily due to the absence of a £1 million donation received in 2023/24. Despite this deficit, the trustees confirm that free reserves of £632,684 remain within their stated target range of £600,000 to £700,000, supporting the conclusion that the charity can continue as a going concern.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Azets Audit Services. Discloses 6 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
• 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 05184164

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

Leadership, per the charity’s website

• Dame Stephanie Shirley — Founder and President (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.

• MANDY, William Polmear Locke, Professor — director, appointed 19/09/2024on trustee list
• REMINGTON, Anna Michelle, Professor — director, appointed 19/09/2024on trustee list
• FEENEY, James Patrick — director, appointed 30/11/2023on trustee list
• HARLE, Katharine Anne — director, appointed 30/11/2023on trustee list
• COPLEY, Caroline Helen — director, appointed 30/11/2023on trustee list
• DILNOT, Peter George — director, appointed 09/05/2023on trustee list
• HAWKINS, Lynn — director, appointed 08/02/2022on trustee list
• HUDSON, Katherine Anne — director, appointed 18/03/2021on trustee list
• BOYLE, Stephen James — director, appointed 18/03/2021on trustee list
• MERCHANT, Joanne — secretary, appointed 19/02/2026

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 ~2.9 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (93% 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: 34.8% of total income — above the 90th percentile for charities its size (median 5.3%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• Stephen James Boylechair
• Caroline Copley
• James Feeney
• Katharine Harle
• Katherine Anne Hudson · trustee of 1 other charity
• Lynn Hawkins
• Peter George Dilnot
• Professor Anna Michelle Remington
• Professor William Polmear Locke Mandy

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

Operates in: 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 AUTISM CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE.

• AUTISM CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE income £263k
• AUTISTIC GIRLS NETWORK income £398k
• BERKSHIRE AUTISTIC SOCIETY income £207k
• THE TRANSFORMING AUTISM PROJECT income £201k
• AUTISM INITIATIVES (UK) income £72.6m
• Autism Unlimited Limited income £15.6m

Side by side with its peers

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