SOS AFRICA

Registered charity 1188705 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

SOS Africa invests 100% of the funds it raises into holistic education, training and learning support programmes for disadvantaged African children and youth. This grassroots approach enables them to break the cycle of poverty and reach their full potential. Since 2003 SOS Africa has established 4 education centres supporting hundreds of children with many graduates at university or in employment.

Causes: Education/training · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£992k

Latest spending

£982k

Registered

2020

Accounts read

FY2026

Financial health, per its FY2026 accounts

The accounts state that SOS Africa held £170,864 in unrestricted reserves at the end of the financial year, which the trustees confirm is sufficient to safeguard all education programmes for a further year. The charity reported total income of £991,927 and UK expenditure of £62,440, noting that this expenditure was fully covered by Gift Aid claims of £170,473. The trustees describe the financial position as strong, with no material uncertainties or risks to continuing operations disclosed.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: never to remove a child from schooling for financial reasons (held: £171k)

“Each year SOS Africa holds reserves to ensure that the charity can guarantee the long-term education of all the children within its care, in line with the charity’s policy never to remove a child from schooling for financial reasons.” — page 34

Per its FY2026 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — SOS Africa (matched by registered charity number).

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2026)

Total income

£992k

Total spending

£982k

Cost of raising funds

£3k

Reserves (reported)

£0

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~0.0 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (57% 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: 0.3% of total income — below the median for charities its size (4.9%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Received assets from another charity (21/01/2021) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

Dr Matthew Lloyd Davieschair
Alexandre Dyer
Gavin Austin Thompson
Kim Williams

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

Operates in: South Africa

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/03/2026	£992k	£982k
31/03/2025	£313k	£308k
31/03/2024	£335k	£300k
31/03/2023	£324k	£490k
31/03/2022	£478k	£520k

Common questions

Is SOS AFRICA financially healthy?

Per its FY2026 accounts: The accounts state that SOS Africa held £170,864 in unrestricted reserves at the end of the financial year, which the trustees confirm is sufficient to safeguard all education programmes for a further year. The charity reported total income of £991,927 and UK expenditure of £62,440, noting that this expenditure was fully covered by Gift Aid claims of £170,473. The trustees describe the financial position as strong, with no material uncertainties or risks to continuing operations disclosed.

Who funds SOS AFRICA?

Funders whose own accounts filings name SOS AFRICA as a grant recipient include ROTARY CLUB OF STURMINSTER NEWTON TRUST FUND.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
ROTARY CLUB OF STURMINSTER NEWTON TRUST FUND	FY2025	£762	Charitable Donations Trust Fund
ROTARY CLUB OF STURMINSTER NEWTON TRUST FUND	FY2023	£600	Charitable Donations Trust Fund
ROTARY CLUB OF STURMINSTER NEWTON TRUST FUND	FY2022	£600	Charitable Donations Trust Fund
ROTARY CLUB OF STURMINSTER NEWTON TRUST FUND	FY2024	£500	Charitable Donations Trust Fund

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
THE PETER STEBBINGS MEMORIAL CHARITY	2	£16k
THE HEADLEY TRUST	1	£45k
THE E C SOSNOW CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£26k
COLEFAX CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£10k
THE WOGEN ANNIVERSARY TRUST	1	£3k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with SWANLAND EDUCATION AFRICA TRUST.

SWANLAND EDUCATION AFRICA TRUST income £103k
BUILD AFRICA income £540k
THE AFRICA TRUST income £1.6m
HOPE THROUGH ACTION income £203k
AFRICA EDUCATIONAL TRUST income £1.7m
SEAN DEVEREUX CHILDREN'S FUND income £213k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
SOS AFRICA	£992k	—	above	—	no doubt
SWANLAND EDUCATION AFRICA TRUST FY2025	£103k	—	below	—	no doubt
BUILD AFRICA FY2025	£540k	—	above	1.0%	no doubt
THE AFRICA TRUST FY2024	£1.6m	—	above	—	no doubt
HOPE THROUGH ACTION FY2025	£203k	—	unclear	—	no doubt
AFRICA EDUCATIONAL TRUST FY2025	£1.7m	—	below	—	no doubt

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