ONWARDS & UPWARDS

Registered charity 1194457 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Our mission is to free ex-offenders from the cycle of reoffending by creating jobs that change lives for good. We are creating a suite of companies in which to employ ex-offenders, bringing employment rates up & re-offending rates down. By creating best-in-class products and services and shining a light on our staff, we will also help shift business attitudes towards employing ex-offenders.

Causes: Education/training · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£1.2m
Latest spending
£1.1m
Registered
2021
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity generated a surplus of £145,865 for the year ended 31 May 2025, with total income of £1,212,487 against total expenditure of £1,066,622. Per the trustees' report, free reserves stood at £260,151, which is above the stated policy target of holding between 3 and 6 months of operating 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 26
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves policy: three to six months of operating expenditure (held: £260k)
“Our policy is to aim to hold between 3 and 6 months of operating expenditure in reserve.” — page 6
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by TC Group. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Onwards and Upwards (matched by registered charity number).

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Listed on the charity’s own website when we last crawled it; roles may have changed. Pay-band disclosures above are anonymous statutory disclosures and are not attributed to any named individual.

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/05/2025)

Total income
£1.2m
Total spending
£1.1m
Cost of raising funds
£392k
Reserves (reported)
£260k
Employees
17

Reported reserves equal ~2.9 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (61% 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: 32.3% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/05/2025£1.2m£1.1m
31/05/2024£624k£418k
31/05/2023£252k£237k
31/05/2022£139k£87k

Common questions

Is ONWARDS & UPWARDS financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity generated a surplus of £145,865 for the year ended 31 May 2025, with total income of £1,212,487 against total expenditure of £1,066,622. Per the trustees' report, free reserves stood at £260,151, which is above the stated policy target of holding between 3 and 6 months of operating expenditure. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by TC Group.

What does the highest-paid employee of ONWARDS & UPWARDS earn?

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

Who funds ONWARDS & UPWARDS?

Funders whose own accounts filings name ONWARDS & UPWARDS as a grant recipient include IGY FOUNDATION, DRAPERS CHARITABLE FUND, THE WILLIAM WATES MEMORIAL TRUST, THE WEAVERS' COMPANY BENEVOLENT FUND, THE W A HANDLEY CHARITY TRUST.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
IGY FOUNDATIONFY2025£323k
IGY FOUNDATIONFY2023£200k
DRAPERS CHARITABLE FUNDFY2025£75kSocial enterprise XO Bikes training ex-offenders
THE WILLIAM WATES MEMORIAL TRUSTFY2024£50k
THE WILLIAM WATES MEMORIAL TRUSTFY2025£50k
DRAPERS CHARITABLE FUNDFY2024£25kSecond of three annual grants for XO Bikes
THE WILLIAM WATES MEMORIAL TRUSTFY2023£20k
THE WEAVERS' COMPANY BENEVOLENT FUNDFY2023£13kSupport for new project - XO Bikes providing training for 12 ex-offenders
THE W A HANDLEY CHARITY TRUSTFY2024£10k
WATES FOUNDATION LIMITEDFY2024£10kGrant to Onwards & Upwards
THE WOODWARD CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£1k

Government & lottery funding

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

FunderDateAmountPurpose
The National Lottery Community Fund06/06/2024£20kCommunity That Cares
The National Lottery Community Fund06/04/2023£10kOnwards to Community Engagement

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 PROGRESS TO CHANGE.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
ONWARDS & UPWARDS£1.2m£80,001 - £90,000—above—no doubt
PROGRESS TO CHANGE FY2025£2.5m—0within—no doubt
THE CLINK CHARITY FY2024£6.9m——below—no doubt
THE SHERIFFS' AND RECORDERS' FUND FY2025£439kUnder £60,0000unclear—no doubt
GRACE ENTERPRISES NOTTINGHAM LTD FY2025£608k—0below—no doubt
BOUNCE BACK FOUNDATION FY2025£2.8m£60,000 - £69,9991unclear—noted

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