Charity Accounts Intelreading the accounts so you don’t have to

PENNY APPEAL

Registered charity 1128341 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also registered in Scotland as SC049025 (OSCR)

Penny Appeal provides poverty relief across Asia, the Middle East and Africa, with dedicated programmes to help the poor and needy by building wells, caring for orphans, providing nutritious food, delivering emergency aid in response to crisis situations and providing healthcare. Penny Appeal also works in the UK to help homeless people and women who have experienced domestic abuse.

Causes: General Charitable Purposes · Education/training · The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives · The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Overseas Aid/famine Relief · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£13.1m
Latest spending
£13.8m
Registered
2009
Accounts read
FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that total income declined to £13,136,985 from £22,429,858 in the prior year, resulting in a net deficit of £619,645. Despite the income drop, the charity maintained its commitment to charitable activities, spending £10,260,387, which represented 77% of total income. Free/unrestricted reserves stood at £6,363,544, which the trustees consider adequate against their policy target of three months' operational expenditure.

Automated summary of the FY2024 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Related-party transaction: Expenditure with British Muslim TV (Esplanade Vale Media Limited)
“The charity’s relationship with Esplanade Vale Media Limited, trading as British Muslim TV (BMTV), was terminated in June 2024. Expenditure with the organisation during the year amounted to £325,976.” — page 63
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Governance: Charity Commission and ICO investigations concluded
“Following the conclusion of the Charity Commission’ and Information Commissioner’s Office investigations, we have emerged with invaluable insights” — page 7
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Armstrong Watson Audit Limited. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Regulator actions

Fundraising Regulator: Penny Appeal June 2024

The Fundraising Regulator investigated Penny Appeal regarding complaints about misleading information in child sponsorship appeals, the handling of restricted donations, ambiguous terms for Direct Debits, and poor complaints handling. The regulator found that the charity breached the Fundraising Code by failing to clearly communicate how funds were used, omitting essential information about ongoing monthly payments, and not adequately addressing donor concerns. Penny Appeal has agreed to comply with the regulator's recommendations to improve transparency and record-keeping.

Official record

In the news

Recent coverage mentioning this charity by name (automated match; headlines belong to their publishers).

Corporate structure

PENNY APPEAL VENTURES LIMITED — per its own Companies House accounts
    PENNY APPEAL TRADING COMPANY LIMITED — per its own Companies House accounts
    • Profit before tax: £-51.1m
    • None

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

    Leadership, per the charity’s website

    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.

    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 £1.4m. 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 · linkedin

    Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2024)

    Total income
    £13.1m
    Total spending
    £13.8m
    Cost of raising funds
    £3.5m
    Reserves (reported)
    £6.4m
    Employees
    68

    Reported reserves equal ~5.6 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

    Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (95% 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: 26.6% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 3.8%) (benchmarks).

    Trustees · trustee networks

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

    Operates in: Afghanistan · Australia · Azerbaijan · Bangladesh · Bosnia And Herzegovina · Burma · Cameroon · Central African Republic · Djibouti · Eritrea · Ethiopia · Greece

    Income and spending

    Financial year endIncomeSpending
    31/12/2024£13.1m£13.8m
    31/12/2023£22.4m£23.8m
    31/12/2022£23.1m£22.1m
    31/12/2021£16.2m£17.2m
    30/04/2021£28.7m£23.3m

    Common questions

    Is PENNY APPEAL financially healthy?

    Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that total income declined to £13,136,985 from £22,429,858 in the prior year, resulting in a net deficit of £619,645. Despite the income drop, the charity maintained its commitment to charitable activities, spending £10,260,387, which represented 77% of total income. Free/unrestricted reserves stood at £6,363,544, which the trustees consider adequate against their policy target of three months' operational expenditure. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Armstrong Watson Audit Limited.

    Who funds PENNY APPEAL?

    Funders whose own accounts filings name PENNY APPEAL as a grant recipient include THE IMAM HUSSEIN FOUNDATION, SAVE AN ORPHAN (INTERNATIONAL).

    Known funders

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

    FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
    THE IMAM HUSSEIN FOUNDATIONFY2022£3k
    SAVE AN ORPHAN (INTERNATIONAL)FY2022£-53k

    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.

    FunderSimilar charities fundedAmount to them
    THE PEARS FAMILY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION1£300k
    DHAKA AHSANIA MISSION1£233k
    THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST SAVIOURS IFORD (WINCHESTER)1£21k
    THE ORR MACKINTOSH FOUNDATION LIMITED1£20k
    OVE ARUP PARTNERSHIP CHARITABLE TRUST1£11k
    FRIENDS FOUNDATION1£9k
    THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST. MARY'S, OVERTON, DIOCESE OF WINCHESTER1£9k
    BUSHEY BAPTIST CHURCH1£6k

    Charities like this

    Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with UMMAH APPEAL.

    Side by side with its peers

    CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
    PENNY APPEAL£13.1m—0unclear—no doubt
    UMMAH APPEAL FY2025£523k——unclear—no doubt
    THE PENNIES FOUNDATION FY2024£16.4m——unclear—no doubt
    ARYANA AID FY2025£421k—0unclear—no doubt
    HUMAN APPEAL FY2024£90.2m——unclear—no doubt
    WORLD APPEAL FY2025£101k—0unclear—no doubt

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