COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

Registered charity 1179693 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as FRIENDS OF STOUR CONNECT

To promote social inclusion for the public benefit in the areas of Sturminster Newton, Gillingham, Shaftesbury, Sherborne and Blandford, and surrounding villages by preventing people from becoming socially isolated.Our projects include Stour-Shed, a member of Mens Shed UK, hot lunch delivery service, adapted sporting facilities. Lunch Clubs. Transport to medical appointments etc.

Objects

THE OBJECTIVES OF THE CIO ARE:TO PROMOTE SOCIAL INCLUSION FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT IN THE AREAS OF STURMINSTER, NEWTON, GILLINGHAM, SHAFTESBURY, SHERBORNE AND BLANDFORD AND THE SURROUNDING AREAS BY PREVENTING PEOPLE FROM BECOMING SOCIALLY EXCLUDED, RELIEVING THE NEEDS OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE SOCIALLY EXCLUDED AND ASSISTING THEM TO INTEGRATE INTO SOCIETY BY ASSISTING IN THE PROVISION OF EQUIPMENT, FACILITIES, ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES OVER AND ABOVE THOSE PROVIDED BY THE STATUTORY AUTHORITIES.FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS CLAUSE ‘SOCIALLY EXCLUDED’ MEANS BEING EXCLUDED FROM SOCIETY, OR PARTS OF SOCIETY, AS A RESULT OF BEING ELDERLY OR DISABLED (EITHER WITH A LEARNING DISABILITY OR A PHYSICAL DISABILITY).

Area of benefit: IN THE AREAS OF STURMINSTER, NEWTON, GILLINGHAM, SHAFTESBURY, SHERBORNE AND BLANDFORD AND THE SURROUNDING AREAS

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

Causes: Other Charitable Purposes · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Dorset, South West, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The charity reported a surplus of £18,593 for the period ending June 2025, with total income of £175,222 and expenditure of £156,629. Unrestricted reserves stood at £21,290, which the trustees noted was equivalent to approximately 2.5 months of expenditure, falling short of their stated policy target of three months. Despite this lower-than-policy reserve level, the trustees confirmed the charity is a going concern based on continued grant funding and careful price monitoring.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts independently examined (not a full audit). Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

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.

• Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
• Complaints handling
• Complaints policy and procedures
• Conflicting interests
• 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
• 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.

Annual return filing dates (Charity Commission record)

Of its last 5 annual returns with a recorded received date, 1 was received after the due date: year ending 30/06/2025 (received 01/05/2026, 1 day after the 30/04/2026 due date).

Due and received dates as recorded in the Commission’s annual-return data; the data does not say whether an extension was agreed. Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

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

Trustees · trustee networks

• Anne Rich
• Gerald Rose · trustee of 2 other charities
• Kim Martin Riley
• Nigel Paul Biggs · trustee of 1 other charity
• Timothy Wilson

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

Operates in: Dorset

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 COMMUNITY SOUTHWARK.

• COMMUNITY SOUTHWARK income £1.4m
• THE LONG SUTTON MEN'S SHED income £20k
• RAVENSHEAD COMMUNITY PROJECT income £97k
• Community Transport South West Ltd income £1.1m
• SHREWSBURY MEN'S SHED income £55k
• SUTTON COMMUNITY WORKS income £423k

Side by side with its peers

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