SPARK INSIDE

Registered charity 1148420 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Spark Inside coaches young people in prisons and on release to unlock their potential and reduce reoffending.

Causes: General Charitable Purposes · Education/training · Economic/community Development/employment · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£1.5m

Latest spending

£1.2m

Registered

2012

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a surplus of £262,909 for the year, with total net assets increasing to £1,199,005. Per the trustees' report, unrestricted funds stood at £864,154, representing approximately seven months of budgeted operating expenditure, which aligns with their stated reserves policy of holding four to eight months of expenditure.

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

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £80,001 - £90,000 — above the median for charities its size (£70k)

“In the band £80,001 - £90,000” — page 33

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Reserves policy: four to eight months of operating expenditure (held: £864k)

“The charity’s policy is to hold unrestricted general reserves equivalent to four to eight months of operating expenditure” — page 12

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Kreston Reeves Audit LLP. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

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

Funders the charity credits

Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).

The Triangle Trust — “"Our funding to Spark Inside recognises their innovative work with young people in prison, providing them with vital life skills that preven…” (source page)

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): instagram

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)

Total income

£1.5m

Total spending

£1.2m

Cost of raising funds

£43k

Reserves (reported)

£859k

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~8.6 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (77% 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: 3.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

Erica Louise Handlingchair · trustee of 1 other charity
Fionnuala Patricia Gordon
Hamish Douglas MacLellan · trustee of 1 other charity
Heather Jayne Whitehead
Jaskaren Singh Dayal
Jonathan Patrick Carter
Lynn Noelle Dunne
Melissa Case
ROBERT DOUGLAS FERGUSON
Simon Drysdale

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

Operates in: Throughout England

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/03/2025	£1.5m	£1.2m
31/03/2024	£1.1m	£1.0m
31/03/2023	£928k	£888k
31/03/2022	£835k	£739k
31/03/2021	£787k	£670k

Common questions

Is SPARK INSIDE financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a surplus of £262,909 for the year, with total net assets increasing to £1,199,005. Per the trustees' report, unrestricted funds stood at £864,154, representing approximately seven months of budgeted operating expenditure, which aligns with their stated reserves policy of holding four to eight months of expenditure. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Kreston Reeves Audit LLP.

What does the highest-paid employee of SPARK INSIDE earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £80,001 - £90,000 band.

Who funds SPARK INSIDE?

Funders whose own accounts filings name SPARK INSIDE as a grant recipient include THE CITY OF LONDON OCTOBER CLUB, THE DAWES TRUST, BERNARD LEWIS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST, THE BARROW CADBURY TRUST, THE AURUM CHARITABLE TRUST.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
THE CITY OF LONDON OCTOBER CLUB	FY2025	£492k	Charitable activities
THE CITY OF LONDON OCTOBER CLUB	FY2025	£317k	Direct grant payment to beneficiary
THE DAWES TRUST	FY2023	£220k	Big Christmas 2022 campaign
BERNARD LEWIS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£185k	General funding
THE BARROW CADBURY TRUST	FY2025	£141k	Being Well Being Equal – Embedding Systemic Change
BERNARD LEWIS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£80k	General funding
THE AURUM CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£80k
SIR HALLEY STEWART TRUST	FY2024	£60k
BERNARD LEWIS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2021	£58k	General funding
THE TOLKIEN TRUST	FY2022	£30k
THE BLAGRAVE TRUST	FY2023	£30k	The Listening Fund
PAUL HAMLYN FOUNDATION	FY2023	£30k	Youth Strategic Investment Fund package of support
The Goldsmiths' Foundation	FY2023	£30k	Prisoner Resettlement
THE AURUM CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£25k
The Portal Trust	FY2023	£25k	The Hero’s Journey: Transforming the Lives of Vulnerable and disadvantaged young people in HMPYOI Isis
THE TOLKIEN TRUST	FY2021	£25k
THE TOLKIEN TRUST	FY2024	£25k
THE BLAGRAVE TRUST	FY2024	£25k	The Listening Fund
The Portal Trust	FY2024	£25k	The Hero’s Journey: Transforming the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged young people in HMPYOI Isis
THE BLAGRAVE TRUST	FY2022	£23k	The Listening Fund
THE A B CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£22k
THE A B CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£22k
The Portal Trust	FY2025	£21k	Theatre Peckham
BERNARD LEWIS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£20k	General funding
MONDAY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£20k	Discretionary Grants
The Goldsmiths' Foundation	FY2022	£20k	Prisoner Resettlement
THE A B CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£20k	The Justice System and penal reform
THE 29TH MAY 1961 CHARITY	FY2022	£15k	core costs of an organisation helping young people in the criminal justice system
HIGHWAY ONE TRUST	FY2024	£15k
THE TRIANGLE TRUST 1949 FUND	FY2025	£13k	Young People with Criminal Convictions
THE CHILDHOOD TRUST	FY2022	£13k
THE TOLKIEN TRUST	FY2023	£11k
THE PWC FOUNDATION	FY2024	£11k	social mobility
THE PWC FOUNDATION	FY2023	£10k	social inclusion through social mobility
HIGHWAY ONE TRUST	FY2025	£10k
HIGHWAY ONE TRUST	FY2023	£10k
HIGHWAY ONE TRUST	FY2021	£10k
CHK Foundation	FY2023	£10k
CHK Foundation	FY2024	£10k
THE PWC FOUNDATION	FY2022	£10k	social mobility
D C R ALLEN CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£10k
THE 4814 TRUST	FY2024	£10k
THE PWC FOUNDATION	FY2025	£10k	social mobility
HIGHWAY ONE TRUST	FY2022	£10k
THE INNHOLDERS' CHARITABLE FOUNDATION	FY2024	£10k	fund one day per week of Spark Inside’s young person’s Participation and Engagement Manager in HMPYOI Isis for one year
THE DAWES TRUST	FY2024	£8k
THE CHILDHOOD TRUST	FY2023	£3k
CHK Foundation	FY2023	£0

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

Funder	Date	Amount	Purpose
The National Lottery Community Fund	07/05/2026	£20k	The Hero's Journey life coaching programme in HMPYOI Isis
Barrow Cadbury Trust	06/07/2024	£111k	Being Well Being Equal – Embedding Systemic Change
The National Lottery Community Fund	21/03/2024	£20k	Unlocking the potential of young people in HMPYOI Isis through life coaching.
A B Charitable Trust	14/03/2024	£22k	A grant to Spark Inside
City Bridge Foundation	23/02/2024	£200k	Grant to Spark Inside
UK government	24/11/2023	£109k	The Black Hero's Journey (BHJ)
A B Charitable Trust	20/04/2023	£22k	A grant to Spark Inside
A B Charitable Trust	21/04/2022	£20k	A grant to Spark Inside
Barrow Cadbury Trust	23/01/2021	£70k	Wellbeing & racial equity for young men in prison
A B Charitable Trust	08/10/2020	£15k	A grant to Spark Inside
City Bridge Foundation	26/09/2019	£58k	Grant to Spark Inside
A B Charitable Trust	25/04/2019	£15k	A grant to Spark Inside
City Bridge Foundation	14/07/2016	£90k	Grant to Spark Inside
The National Lottery Community Fund	06/08/2014	£10k	Through-the-gates life coaching pilot for young adult men leaving pris
The National Lottery Community Fund	21/02/2013	£808	Offering Life Coaching to Young Peoole after release from custody

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.

Funder	Similar charities funded	Amount to them
King Charles III Charitable Fund	1	—
THE OVO CHARITABLE FOUNDATION	1	£662k
IMPETUS - THE PRIVATE EQUITY FOUNDATION	1	£446k
THE YOUTH ENDOWMENT FUND CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£445k
SOMERSET NHS FOUNDATION TRUST CHARITABLE FUNDS	1	£174k
THE PAYBACK TIME TRUST	1	£125k
CAMDEN GIVING	1	£100k
THE LOCKWOOD CHARITABLE FOUNDATION	1	£75k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with SPARK COMMUNITY SPACE.

SPARK COMMUNITY SPACE income £162k
Spark2Life income £1.5m
SPARK SOMERSET income £1.6m
THE SPARKLE FOUNDATION income £852k
ENERGY SPARKS income £552k
BLUESPARK FOUNDATION income £121k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
SPARK INSIDE	£1.5m	£80,001 - £90,000	—	within	—	no doubt
SPARK COMMUNITY SPACE FY2025	£162k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
Spark2Life FY2025	£1.5m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
SPARK SOMERSET FY2025	£1.6m	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
THE SPARKLE FOUNDATION FY2024	£852k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
ENERGY SPARKS FY2025	£552k	£80,000 - £89,999	2	within	1.5%	no doubt

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