LEIGH CARING KITCHEN

Registered charity 1164347 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as The Bridge Community, The Bridge at Leigh

THE PREVENTION AND RELIEF OF POVERTY IN LEIGH, WIGAN AND SURROUNDING AREAS, WORKING WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE ON LOW INCOMES OR EXPERIENCING POVERTY, HOMELESSNESS, CRISIS OR WORKLESSNESS BY PROVIDING FOOD, SHELTER, SUPPORT, PRACTICAL SKILLS, ADVICE AND USING FOOD SURPLUS REDISTRIBUTION IN THE COMMUNITY TO REDUCE WASTE AND RAISE ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS.

Objects

The prevention and relief of poverty in Leigh, Wigan and surrounding areas, working with people who are on low income or experiencing poverty, homelessness, crisis or worklessness by providing food, shelter, support, practical skills, advice and using food surplus redistribution in the community to reduce waste and raise environmental awareness.

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

Causes: The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · website · Get email alerts

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

Financial health, per its FY2026 accounts

The charity reported a net expenditure for the year, resulting in a decrease in total fund balances from £389,151 to £381,366. Despite this deficit, the trustees state they have adequate resources to continue operating and maintain unrestricted reserves of £355,721, which aligns with their policy target of holding between three to six months of committed expenditure.

Automated summary of the FY2026 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Accounts independently examined (not a full audit). Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

• Reserves position vs the charity's own policy moved from "below" (FY2025) to "within" (FY2026).

Comparing this charity’s FY2025 and FY2026 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.

• Complaints handling
• Complaints policy and procedures
• Financial reserves policy and procedures
• Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
• Internal risk management policy and procedures
• 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.

Property (HM Land Registry)

2 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (0 freehold); recorded price paid £79k. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/01/2026)

Reported reserves equal ~5.8 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (78% 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 (4.9%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• FRANK BOWKERchair · trustee of 1 other charity
• DOROTHY MARGARET BOWKER · trustee of 1 other charity
• Debra Susan Ann Wailes
• Elizabeth Thompson
• LEE FOGG
• Peter Alan Rowlinson · trustee of 1 other charity

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

Operates in: Wigan

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 WIGAN AND LEIGH COMMUNITY CHARITY.

• WIGAN AND LEIGH COMMUNITY CHARITY income £275k
• CAN COOK income £1.5m
• REFUGEE COMMUNITY KITCHEN income £493k
• LEIGH YOUTH AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TRUST income £379k
• HOMELESS SUPPORT PROJECT income £251k
• WIGAN & LEIGH CARERS CENTRE income £626k

Side by side with its peers

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