LISTENING EAR (MERSEYSIDE)

Registered charity 1117324 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Listening Ear provides a range of free, caring and confidential opportunities for you to share your concerns with trained Listeners and Counsellors

Objects

4(1) the relief of persons in the UK who are in conditions of poverty, sickness and distress, with the purpose of relieving such persons. 4(2) to promote, organise and facilitate co-operation and partnership working between third sector, statutory and other relevant bodies in the achievement of the above purposes within the area of benefit.4(3) for the purposes of this Article 4:(a) “Third sector” means charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises.(b) “Charities” are organisations, which are established for exclusively charitable purposes in accordance with the law of the UK. (c) “voluntary organisations and social enterprises” are independent organisations, which are established for purposes that add value to the community as a whole, or a significant section of the community, and which are not permitted by their constitution to make a profit for private distribution. Voluntary organisations and social enterprises do not include local government or other statutory authorities

Area of benefit: MERSEYSIDE

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 · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Knowsley, North West, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a deficit for the year of £276,370, reducing its total reserves to £891,682. The trustees acknowledge a shortfall in unrestricted reserves relative to their policy target of three months' operating costs, noting that free reserves of £414,775 are below the required £713,401. Despite this, the trustees and auditors confirm the charity has adequate resources to 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 Mitchell Charlesworth (Audit) Limited. Discloses 6 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

• Employees paid over £60,000: 1 (FY2024) → 3 (FY2025).

Comparing this charity’s FY2024 and FY2025 accounts as analysed by this site.

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 05999650

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Listening Ear (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.

• STEAD, Sarah — director, appointed 24/07/2023on trustee list
• CONNOR, Karl John — director, appointed 20/01/2021on trustee list
• THOMSON, Roderick Peter Macgregor — director, appointed 04/09/2019on trustee list
• HUNT, Heidi Elizabeth — director, appointed 20/08/2019on trustee list

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 (1 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 31/03/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~1.6 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (98% 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 (5.3%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• Sarah Steadchair
• Heidi Elizabeth Hunt
• Karl John Connor
• Linval Smith
• Professor Roderick Peter MacGregor Thomson

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

Operates in: Cheshire East · Cheshire West & Chester · Kent · Knowsley · Lancashire · Liverpool City · Sefton · St Helens · Staffordshire · Wirral

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 LISTENING EARS.

• LISTENING EARS income £30k
• Heard Organisation Limited income £929k
• THE LISTENING CENTRE income £104k
• THE LISTENING PLACE income £2.7m
• CROYDON HEARING RESOURCE CENTRE income £131k
• OPEN EARS income £216k

Side by side with its peers

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