NATIONAL STAR FOUNDATION

Registered charity 220239 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as ISOBEL CRIPPS CENTRE LIMITED, NATIONAL STAR CENTRE FOR DISABLED YOUTH LIMITED, NATIONAL STAR COLLEGE

OUR VISION IS A WORLD IN WHICH PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ARE ABLE TO REALISE THEIR POTENTIAL AS EQUAL AND ACTIVE CITIZENS IN CONTROL OF THEIR LIVES. OUR MISSION IS TO ENABLE PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES TO REALISE THEIR POTENTIAL THROUGH PERSONALISED LEARNING, TRANSITION AND DESTINATION SERVICES.

Objects

TO ADVANCE THE EDUCATION OF AND RELIEVE THE NEEDS OF DISABLED PEOPLE TO ENABLE THEM TO REALISE THEIR POTENTIAL AS EQUAL AND ACTIVE CITIZENS IN CONTROL OF THEIR LIVES.

Area of benefit: NOT DEFINED

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

Causes: Education/training · Disability · Accommodation/housing · website · Get email alerts

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

Latest income

£49.6m

Latest spending

£47.1m

Registered

1963

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the group reported an unrestricted surplus of £1.88m and held cash reserves of £7.96m, with total net assets of £40.6m. Per the trustees' report, the charity operates on a sound financial basis despite rising inflationary and staffing costs, and forecasts reaching its reserves policy target of £5m by August 2026.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: not less than £5m (held: £4.8m)

“The reserves policy states that these free reserves should equate to a value of not less than £5m.”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Crowe U.K. LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

In its annual return the charity told the Commission it is also regulated by: Care Quality Commission; Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW); Estyn: Her Majesty's Inspectorate For Education And Training In Wales; Ofsted (Office For Standards In Education). This is the charity’s own declaration; it is not a rating and has not been verified by the Commission or 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.

Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
Campaigns and political activity 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
Investing charity funds policy and procedures
Investment
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.

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/08/2025

Volunteers: 174
Government income: £45,928,083 — contracts £45,407,749 (301), grants £520,334 (3); 93% of the £49,595,712 total gross income on the same return
Employees paid over £60,000: 10 (£70,001–£80,000: 5; £80,001–£90,000: 2; £90,001–£100,000: 1; £130,001–£140,000: 1; £150,001–£200,000: 1)
Has a trading subsidiary

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/08/2024

Volunteers: 125
Government income: £40,208,181 — contracts £39,827,692 (296), grants £380,489 (3); 93% of the £43,044,284 total gross income on the same return
Employees paid over £60,000: 11 (£60,001–£70,000: 1; £70,001–£80,000: 6; £80,001–£90,000: 1; £90,001–£100,000: 1; £120,001–£130,000: 1; £130,001–£140,000: 1)
Has a trading subsidiary

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/08/2023

Volunteers: 183
Government income: £35,899,261 — contracts £35,582,916 (77), grants £316,345 (5); 90% of the £40,057,879 total gross income on the same return
Employees paid over £60,000: 11 (£60,001–£70,000: 4; £70,001–£80,000: 4; £80,001–£90,000: 1; £110,001–£120,000: 1; £120,001–£130,000: 1)
Has a trading subsidiary

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Corporate structure

Registered company of the charity Companies House 00522846
Trading subsidiary: NSF TRADING LIMITED Companies House 01168043

NSF TRADING LIMITED — per its own Companies House accounts

Turnover: £149k
Profit before tax: £81k

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — National Star (matched by registered charity number).

Company officers (Companies House)

Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.

PERERA, Sara-Jane — director, appointed 04/11/2025on trustee list
YAP, Toby — director, appointed 04/11/2025on trustee list
LESLIE, Stephen John Stuart — director, appointed 04/11/2025on trustee list
LIMB, Sarah Louise — director, appointed 04/11/2025on trustee list
PRICE, Helen — director, appointed 04/02/2025on trustee list
MELLORS, Martin — director, appointed 04/02/2025on trustee list
GRINHAM, Nicholas Charles — director, appointed 01/07/2024on trustee list
RICHARDSON, Nikki — director, appointed 26/07/2023on trustee list
MATHESON, Jane — director, appointed 09/02/2023on trustee list
HALLAM, Chris Simon — director, appointed 31/10/2022on trustee list
ALLCOCK, Frances — director, appointed 27/01/2022on trustee list
BAREFOOT, Peter Gordon John — director, appointed 27/01/2022on trustee list
SHEATHER, Margaret Eleanor, Canon — director, appointed 27/10/2021on trustee list

Official officers record.

Property (HM Land Registry)

21 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (12 freehold); recorded price paid £3.9m. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

CQC provider record: National Star Foundation — Registered, 7 registered locations, 3 regulated activities, last inspected 10/11/2021. CQC record

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook (10,001 followers) · instagram (3,453 followers) · linkedin

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/08/2025)

Total income

£49.6m

Total spending

£47.1m

Cost of raising funds

£1.1m

Reserves (reported)

£4.9m

Employees

1,269

Reported reserves equal ~1.2 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (94% 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: 2.3% of total income — below the median for charities its size (3.7%) (benchmarks).

Care Quality Commission ratings

CQC inspection ratings for services run by a provider matching this charity’s name (matched by name; verify provider identity on CQC’s site).

National Star College - Ullenwood: Outstanding (06/02/2018) · CQC record
Foundation House: Outstanding (28/04/2020) · CQC record
Bradbury Gardens: Good (27/07/2017) · CQC record
Matrixcare: Good (21/07/2018) · CQC record
National Star at Ledbury Road: Good (24/12/2021) · CQC record

Register events

Received assets from another charity (02/08/2023) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
Received assets from another charity (29/11/2016) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
Received assets from another charity (08/11/2012) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

Chris Hallam
Frances Allcock
Helen Price
Jane Matheson
Margaret Sheather
Martin Mellors
Nicholas Charles Grinham · trustee of 1 other charity
Nikki Richardson · trustee of 1 other charity
Peter Barefoot
Stephen Leslie
Toby Yap · trustee of 1 other charity

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

Operates in: East Sussex · Gloucestershire · Herefordshire · South Gloucestershire · Torfaen · Warwickshire · Worcestershire

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/08/2025	£49.6m	£47.1m
31/08/2024	£43.0m	£41.7m
31/08/2023	£40.1m	£38.5m
31/08/2022	£36.4m	£36.2m
31/08/2021	£32.3m	£31.1m

Common questions

Is NATIONAL STAR FOUNDATION financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the group reported an unrestricted surplus of £1.88m and held cash reserves of £7.96m, with total net assets of £40.6m. Per the trustees' report, the charity operates on a sound financial basis despite rising inflationary and staffing costs, and forecasts reaching its reserves policy target of £5m by August 2026. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Crowe U.K. LLP.

Who funds NATIONAL STAR FOUNDATION?

Funders whose own accounts filings name NATIONAL STAR FOUNDATION as a grant recipient include ST. JAMES'S PLACE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, THE EDWARD CADBURY CHARITABLE TRUST, THE SCHRODER FOUNDATION, THE BEATRICE LAING TRUST, E B M CHARITABLE TRUST.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
ST. JAMES'S PLACE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION	FY2024	£150k
THE EDWARD CADBURY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£50k	Education and Training
THE SCHRODER FOUNDATION	FY2023	£50k
THE EDWARD CADBURY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£50k	Education and Training
THE BEATRICE LAING TRUST	FY2023	£50k	Building a Brighter Future Appeal
E B M CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£40k	Grant paid to institution
THE EDWARD GOSTLING FOUNDATION	FY2024	£25k
E B M CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£15k
E B M CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£15k
THE ELIZABETH FRANKLAND MOORE AND STAR FOUNDATION	FY2022	£10k
THE GOSLING FOUNDATION LIMITED	FY2023	£10k	Youth
THE HOBSON CHARITY LIMITED	FY2022	£10k	Disability
WILLIAM ADLINGTON CADBURY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£5k	Grant
THE FIELDROSE CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£5k
THE FIELDROSE CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£5k
SUMNER WILSON CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£5k
THE EDWARD CADBURY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£3k	Education and Training
THE NOTGROVE TRUST	FY2023	£3k
THE CARMELA & RONNIE PIGNATELLI FOUNDATION	FY2022	£3k
THE ARDWICK TRUST	FY2024	£200

Government & lottery funding

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

Funder	Date	Amount	Purpose
The National Lottery Community Fund	18/12/2020	£10k	Inclusive Outdoor Gym
The National Lottery Community Fund	23/01/2020	£1k	Fringe activity at FestABLE
The National Lottery Community Fund	08/08/2019	£10k	National Star at 1 Ledbury Road
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	11/02/2015	£5k	"Poppy Fields"
The National Lottery Community Fund	03/11/2011	£10k	Smile Platform mobility project
The National Lottery Community Fund	04/05/2005	£250k	Cleeve Bungalow Project

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
Jill and Norman Franklin Trust	1	£114k
ROYAL COMMISSION FOR THE EXHIBITION OF 1851	1	£50k
THE RANDAL CHARITABLE FOUNDATION	1	£40k
THE ALBERT HUNT TRUST	1	£25k
DUCHY HEALTH CHARITY LIMITED	1	£25k
THE KIRBY LAING FOUNDATION	1	£20k
THE URSULA KEYES TRUST	1	£16k
E C GRAHAM BELFORD CHARITABLE SETTLEMENT	1	£15k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with Star Community Foundation.

Star Community Foundation income £300k
SPECIAL STARS FOUNDATION income £140k
STAR EDUCATION SOCIETY income £138k
THE NORTHSTAR FOUNDATION income £46k
BLYTH STAR ENTERPRISES LIMITED income £2.6m
SUPERSTAR ARTS CIO income £454k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
NATIONAL STAR FOUNDATION	£49.6m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
Star Community Foundation FY2025	£300k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
SPECIAL STARS FOUNDATION FY2025	£140k	Under £60,000	0	unclear	—	no doubt
STAR EDUCATION SOCIETY FY2025	£138k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
THE NORTHSTAR FOUNDATION FY2025	£46k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
BLYTH STAR ENTERPRISES LIMITED FY2025	£2.6m	—	2	above	—	no doubt

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