CENTRE FOR ACTION ON RAPE AND ABUSE
Registered charity 1124282 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register
CARA (Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse) works with victims and survivors of sexual violence and child sexual abuse, providing independent, specialist support and promoting and representing their rights and needs.CARA works with adults, young people (aged 13-19) and children aged 12 and under from across mid and north Essex.
Causes: The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives · Other Charitable Purposes · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that the charity ended the year with a surplus and unrestricted reserves of £781,570, which the trustees consider to be within their stated policy target of 3-6 months of running costs. The trustees report adequate resources for the foreseeable future, although they note that finances beyond 2025/26 are more uncertain due to rising costs and the end of some multi-year grants.
Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Largest income source: Ministry of Justice (26% of income)
“The other main source of CARA's income has been from grants, including from the Ministry of Justice (26%)” — page 6
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves policy: between 3-6 months running costs (held: £782k)
“CARA's policy is that free unrestricted reserves should be held at a level equivalent to between 3-6 months running costs.” — page 6
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by Griffin Chapman. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.
Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — CARA (Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse) (matched by registered charity number).
Leadership, per the charity’s website
- Sarah Clementson — Chief Executive Officer (source)
- Helen Parr — Head of Finance and Income Development (source)
- Victoria Beckwith — 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).
- Awards for All — “CARA is very grateful for the support of the following funders who have supported our recent work: Awards for All” (source page)
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)
Cost of raising funds
£25k
Reported reserves equal ~5.8 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.8 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: 1.5% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).
Register events
- Received assets from another charity (23/07/2025) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
- Anil Yilmaz Vastardis
- Erica Watts
- Ilaria Boncori · trustee of 1 other charity
- Linda Isaac
- Lorna Mackinnon
- Ragini Rangarajan
- Sarah Wilkinson
- Victoria Beckwith
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Essex
Income and spending
Common questions
Is CENTRE FOR ACTION ON RAPE AND ABUSE financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity ended the year with a surplus and unrestricted reserves of £781,570, which the trustees consider to be within their stated policy target of 3-6 months of running costs. The trustees report adequate resources for the foreseeable future, although they note that finances beyond 2025/26 are more uncertain due to rising costs and the end of some multi-year grants. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Griffin Chapman.
Who funds CENTRE FOR ACTION ON RAPE AND ABUSE?
Funders whose own accounts filings name CENTRE FOR ACTION ON RAPE AND ABUSE as a grant recipient include LION WALK UNITED REFORMED CHURCH CHARITY.
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 RAPE AND SEXUAL ABUSE (RASA) CENTRE LTD.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.