OFF THE FENCE TRUST LIMITED

Registered charity 1108777 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The charity tackles homelessness in Brighton and Hove. This includes an outreach to people who are street homeless, a drop-in advice service, and supported accommodation. The charity also runs a befriending service for women and a schools project.

Objects

THE OBJECTS, BASED ON CHRISTIAN VALUES, AREA. TO RELIEVE PERSONS WHO ARE IN CONDITIONS OF NEED OR HARDSHIP OR WHO ARE AGED OR SICK AND TO RELIEVE THE DISTRESS CAUSED THEREBY IN ANY PART OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OR THE WORLD AS THE TRUSTEES MAY FROM TIME TO TIME THINK FIT.B. TO PROMOTE AND FULFIL SUCH OTHER CHARITABLE PURPOSES IN ANY PART OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OR THE WORLD AS THE TRUSTEES MAY FROM TIME TO TIME THINK FIT.C. TO ADVANCE THE CHRISTIAN FAITH.

Area of benefit: UNITED KINGDOM OR THE WORLD.

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 · Accommodation/housing · Economic/community Development/employment · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Brighton and Hove, South East, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The charity reported a net deficit of £243,851 for the year, which was fully covered by unrestricted reserves, leaving total funds at £1,439,117. The trustees state the charity is debt-free and retains ownership of two key properties, with a renewed fundraising strategy in place to ensure long-term stability. Reserves of £564,170 are held against a policy target of £375,000 (six months of running costs).

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
• Complaints handling
• Complaints policy and procedures
• Financial reserves policy and procedures
• Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
• Internal risk management 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 05300691

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Off the Fence Trust Ltd (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.

• MELLARD, David Jonathan — director, appointed 17/09/2024on trustee list
• SHELLEY, Aat Janet — director, appointed 04/06/2024on trustee list
• RITCHIE, Simon James — director, appointed 10/02/2024on trustee list
• MKANDAWIRE, Max — director, appointed 07/09/2021on trustee list
• WEIR, Matthew Alan — director, appointed 05/03/2019on trustee list
• SHELLEY, Aat Janet — secretary, appointed 15/10/2025

Official officers record.

Property (HM Land Registry)

2 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (2 freehold); recorded price paid £565k. 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 31/03/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~8.1 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 16.7% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.9%) (benchmarks).

Register events

• Received assets from another charity (04/11/2026) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
• Received assets from another charity (12/01/2015) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

• Aat Janet Shelley
• David Jonathan Mellard · trustee of 1 other charity
• MAX MKANDAWIRE
• Simon James Ritchie

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

Operates in: Brighton And Hove

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 OFF THE STREETS.

• OFF THE STREETS income £367k
• THE TRUST FOR DEVELOPING COMMUNITIES income £3.1m
• THE FOXTON CENTRE income £2.0m
• KNIGHT SUPPORT income £113k
• SLOUGH OUTREACH income £130k
• SHELTER FROM THE STORM income £549k

Side by side with its peers

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