BREAKING BARRIERS
Helping refugees living in the UK rebuild their lives through education, training and employment.
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that the charity made a surplus of £0.14m for the year ended 31 May 2025, with total income of £3.60m and total expenditure of £3.46m. Per the trustees' report, unrestricted reserves stood at £1.12m, which the charity considers to be three months of forward expenditure, meeting its stated policy target.
What the accounts disclose
“The following number of employees received compensation (excluding employer pension and NI) during the year between: £60,000 - £69,999” — page 65
“The following number of employees received compensation (excluding employer pension and NI) during the year between: £60,000 - £69,999” — page 65
“Income from trusts and foundations £1.80m (FY24: £1.17m)”
“Expenditure on raising funds was £0.68m, which was a reduction on the previous year (FY24: £0.82m) and represented 19.5% (FY24: 19.9%) of total expenditure.”
“At Breaking Barriers, our reserves policy is to maintain a general fund, which represents three months of forward expenditure.”
“During the year, we received a donation of £148.5K from the Apax Foundation (FY24: £75K), our Trustee Andrew Waidhofer is Vice President of Apax Partners.” — page 70
“Additionally, we received £55.2K (FY24: £25k) from the GSR Foundation, where our former Trustee James Newell is on the leadership team.” — page 70
“During the year, we received a donation of £148.5K from the Apax Foundation (FY24: £75K), our Trustee Andrew Waidhofer is Vice President of Apax Partners.” — page 70
“Additionally, we received £55.2K (FY24: £25k) from the GSR Foundation, where our former Trustee James Newell is on the leadership team.” — page 70
“During the year, we received a donation of £148.5K from the Apax Foundation (FY24: £75K), our Trustee Andrew Waidhofer is Vice President of Apax Partners.” — page 70
“Additionally, we received £55.2K (FY24: £25k) from the GSR Foundation, where our former Trustee James Newell is on the leadership team.” — page 70
“The charity has one subsidiary undertaking, Breaking Barriers Trading Ltd, which is wholly owned by the charity and was established in 2018.”
Year-over-year changes
- Reserves position vs the charity's own policy moved from "above" (FY2024) to "within" (FY2025).
Corporate structure
- Trading subsidiary: BREAKING BARRIERS TRADING LTD Companies House 11707875
- Amounts owed to group undertakings: £22,149 (2025) vs £30,583 (2024)
Leadership, per the charity’s website
- Alba Lamberti — Chair of the Board of Trustees
- Andrew Fordham — Deputy CEO
- Megan Williams — Director of Finance, Data and Innovation
- Louise Thomson — Director of Services
Funders the charity credits
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/05/2025)
Register events
- Received assets from another charity (03/02/2023)
Trustees
- Alba Lambertichair
- Alexandra Lucy Traynor
- Andrew Waidhofer
- Helen Downie
- Katie Rickard
Income and spending
| Financial year end | Income | Spending |
|---|---|---|
| 31/05/2025 | £3.6m | £3.5m |
| 31/05/2024 | £3.9m | £4.1m |
| 31/05/2023 | £3.8m | £3.3m |
| 31/05/2022 | £2.9m | £2.3m |
| 28/05/2021 | £1.8m | £1.6m |
Common questions
Is BREAKING BARRIERS financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity made a surplus of £0.14m for the year ended 31 May 2025, with total income of £3.60m and total expenditure of £3.46m. Per the trustees' report, unrestricted reserves stood at £1.12m, which the charity considers to be three months of forward expenditure, meeting its stated policy target. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Godfrey Wilson Limited.
What does the highest-paid employee of BREAKING BARRIERS earn?
Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £60,001 - £70,000 band, and 1 employees earned over £60,000.
Who funds BREAKING BARRIERS?
Funders whose own accounts filings name BREAKING BARRIERS as a grant recipient include THE APAX FOUNDATION, BERNARD LEWIS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST, CARETECH CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, John Lewis Partnership Foundation, The Considered Ask Foundation.
Known funders
| Funder | Year | Amount | Purpose (as stated by the funder) |
|---|---|---|---|
| THE APAX FOUNDATION | FY2025 | £303k | Social mobility |
| THE APAX FOUNDATION | FY2023 | £150k | Social mobility |
| BERNARD LEWIS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST | FY2023 | £120k | General funding |
| CARETECH CHARITABLE FOUNDATION | FY2025 | £105k | Transforming access into social care for refugees |
| John Lewis Partnership Foundation | FY2024 | £100k | Grant over two years for targeted programme for young refugees |
| The Considered Ask Foundation | FY2024 | £100k | |
| AKO FOUNDATION | FY2022 | £97k | Refugee employment |
| AKO FOUNDATION | FY2022 | £97k | Refugee employment |
| AKO FOUNDATION | FY2022 | £97k | Employment for refugees |
| CARETECH CHARITABLE FOUNDATION | FY2022 | £95k | |
| BOLTON TOGETHER | FY2023 | £95k | |
| WILLIAM ADLINGTON CADBURY CHARITABLE TRUST | FY2023 | £76k | Vulnerable Groups |
| THE APAX FOUNDATION | FY2024 | £75k | |
| AKO FOUNDATION | FY2024 | £75k | Education |
| THE FIDELITY UK FOUNDATION | FY2024 | £75k | Towards a new finance system to support operational efficiencies. |
| BOLTON TOGETHER | FY2025 | £72k | |
| The Considered Ask Foundation | FY2022 | £66k | |
| THE APAX FOUNDATION | FY2021 | £65k | Social enterprise and relief of financial hardship |
| CARETECH CHARITABLE FOUNDATION | FY2023 | £60k | Securing roles for refugees in health and social care |
| BOLTON TOGETHER | FY2024 | £60k | |
| THE BIG YELLOW FOUNDATION | FY2024 | £55k | General grant and targeted grant (Employment programme services) |
| BERNARD LEWIS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST | FY2024 | £50k | General funding |
| THE CITY AND GUILDS OF LONDON INSTITUTE | FY2022 | £50k | Employability programme for refugees |
| THE BIG YELLOW FOUNDATION | FY2025 | £48k | General grant |
| THE BIG YELLOW FOUNDATION | FY2022 | £45k | |
| The Considered Ask Foundation | FY2023 | £45k | |
| THE BIG YELLOW FOUNDATION | FY2023 | £40k | Supporting Breaking Barriers expand their refugee employment support into Glasgow and Liverpool |
| THE FORRESTER FAMILY TRUST | FY2023 | £40k | Theme of the Year |
| THE GSR FOUNDATION | FY2023 | £30k | |
| THE GSR FOUNDATION | FY2024 | £25k | |
| THE RAYNE FOUNDATION | FY2023 | £25k | Towards the delivery of bespoke employment support to refugees and people of refugee background across Greater Manchester and Liverpool. |
| THE BRITFORD BRIDGE TRUST | FY2023 | £25k | Primary |
| THE BRITFORD BRIDGE TRUST | FY2024 | £25k | Secondary |
| RE:VISION NORTH LIMITED | FY2025 | £24k | Relief of unemployment and provision of training/employment opportunities |
| BOLTON TOGETHER | FY2022 | £23k | |
| THE RAYNE FOUNDATION | FY2025 | £20k | Embedding Refuaid's language acquisition and accreditation programme into Breaking Barriers |
| H C D MEMORIAL FUND | FY2024 | £20k | Refugee |
| THE NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT CHARITABLE FOUNDATION | FY2022 | £20k | |
| THE NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT CHARITABLE FOUNDATION | FY2023 | £15k | |
| BOLTON COMMUNITY AND VOLUNTARY SERVICES | FY2023 | £15k | |
| THE 4814 TRUST | FY2024 | £15k | |
| THE MOTIVATION CHARITABLE TRUST | FY2023 | £11k | Breaking Barriers |
| EAST END COMMUNITY FOUNDATION | FY2023 | £10k | Support for Ukrainian Refugees |
| SOCIETY OF THE HOLY CHILD JESUS CIO | FY2023 | £10k | towards core costs to continue to support refugees |
| THE SIMMONS AND SIMMONS CHARITABLE FOUNDATION | FY2022 | £10k | Social inclusion |
| THE EVAN CORNISH FOUNDATION | FY2025 | £10k | UK Round July 2024 |
| THE SAID FOUNDATION | FY2022 | £10k | Humanitarian Programme (UK) |
| THE HOBSON CHARITY LIMITED | FY2025 | £10k | Community |
| THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST. MARY, PETERBOROUGH | FY2021 | £9k | Direct donation |
| SKIPTON BUILDING SOCIETY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION | FY2025 | £6k |
Government & lottery funding
| Funder | Date | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation Scotland | 14/04/2025 | £500 | Unrestricted cost of living increase award from Foundation Scotland. |
| City Bridge Foundation | 10/03/2025 | £42k | Grant to Breaking Barriers |
| Foundation Scotland | 26/07/2024 | £5k | Unlocking employment for marginalised refugees in Glasgow |
| The National Lottery Community Fund | 28/09/2023 | £240k | Supporting refugees in Birmingham into employment |
| City Bridge Foundation | 21/07/2022 | £123k | Grant to Breaking Barriers |
| The National Lottery Community Fund | 17/06/2022 | £10k | Refugees at Work: Talent Beyond Barriers |
| City Bridge Foundation | 30/05/2022 | £3k | Grant to Breaking Barriers |
| Barrow Cadbury Trust | 07/10/2020 | £50k | COVID-19 - Breaking Barriers |
| UK government | 29/07/2020 | £40k | Coronavirus Community Support Fund |
| A B Charitable Trust | 09/01/2020 | £10k | A grant to Breaking Barriers |
Funders of similar charities
| Funder | Similar charities funded | Amount to them |
|---|---|---|
| THE A B CHARITABLE TRUST | 3 | £173k |
| THE TOLKIEN TRUST | 2 | £426k |
| The Marks Family Charitable Trust | 1 | — |
| JUSTICE COLLABORATIONS | 1 | £621k |
| THE CRUCIBLE FOUNDATION | 1 | £210k |
| SANTANDER UK FOUNDATION LIMITED | 1 | £171k |
| THE BROMLEY TRUST | 1 | £70k |
| THE EMMANUEL KAYE FOUNDATION | 1 | £65k |
Charities like this
- BREAKING BARRIERS BUILDING BRIDGES
- REFUGEES AT HOME
- REFUGEASE
- BARKA UK
- BREAKTHROUGH U.K. LTD
- ASYLUM WELCOME
Side by side with its peers
| Charity | Income | Top pay band | Staff >£60k | Reserves vs policy | Fundraising cost | Going concern |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BREAKING BARRIERS | £3.6m | £60,001 - £70,000 | 1 | within | 19.5% | no doubt |
| BREAKING BARRIERS BUILDING BRIDGES | £318k | — | 0 | unclear | — | no doubt |
| REFUGEES AT HOME | £1.2m | — | — | above | — | no doubt |
| REFUGEASE | £300k | — | 0 | below | 75.5% | noted |
| BARKA UK | £179k | — | 0 | unclear | — | no doubt |
| BREAKTHROUGH U.K. LTD | £350k | — | 0 | unclear | — | no doubt |