ACORN VILLAGES LIMITED

Registered charity 263954 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as ACORN VILLAGE, ACORN VILLAGE TRUST, ACORNS

To advance the education of adults with a learning disability and associated problems, to provide and support a village community and permanent homes for the beneficiaries where they may lead independent, yet supported lives to the maximum capability of each individual.

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

Latest income

£4.7m

Latest spending

£4.7m

Registered

1972

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a small surplus of £1,891 for the year ended 31 March 2025, with total net assets increasing slightly to £4,749,393. The trustees note that while liquid reserves of £1,591,569 exceed the stated policy target of approximately £1,141,110, there is a continuing need to reduce reliance on donations due to financial pressures on local authority funding.

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

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £60,001 - £70,000 — below the median for charities its size (£70k)

“In the band £60,001 - £70,000 1” — page 33

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Largest income source: Charitable activities (89% of income)

“Income from charitable activities - Acorn Village Community 4,192,894” — page 29

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Reserves policy: three months of community running costs (held: £1.6m)

“The board has examined the charity’s requirements for reserves in the light of the main risks to the organisation. It has established a reserve policy to ensure there is a minimum of three month’s community running costs in unrestricted funds in a cash reserve.” — page 10

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Griffin Chapman. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Acorn Village Charity (matched by registered charity number).

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Michelle Cook — Chief Executive (source)
John Whittaker — Chair of Trustees (source)
Alice Stutter — Interim Deputy CEO (source)

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.

Property (HM Land Registry)

6 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (6 freehold); recorded price paid £835k. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

CQC provider record: Acorn Villages Limited — Registered, 3 registered locations, 1 regulated activity, last inspected 16/10/2018.charity number confirmed by CQC CQC record

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)

Total income

£4.7m

Total spending

£4.7m

Cost of raising funds

£137k

Reserves (reported)

£1.1m

Employees

172

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: Charitable activities (89% 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: 2.9% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (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).

Acorn Village: Good (24/11/2018) · CQC record

Trustees · trustee networks

JOHN DEREK WHITTAKERchair
Brenda Elizabeth Eyers
Brian Henry Taylor
COLIN DAINES
David John Willis · trustee of 2 other charities
Edwina Holly Wyndham Shields
JEREMY MARTIN GRAY
James Brian McElhinney · trustee of 1 other charity
Judith Anne Owens

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

Operates in: Essex

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/03/2025	£4.7m	£4.7m
31/03/2024	£4.7m	£4.7m
31/03/2023	£4.4m	£4.5m
31/03/2022	£4.2m	£4.4m
31/03/2021	£4.2m	£4.1m

Common questions

Is ACORN VILLAGES LIMITED financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a small surplus of £1,891 for the year ended 31 March 2025, with total net assets increasing slightly to £4,749,393. The trustees note that while liquid reserves of £1,591,569 exceed the stated policy target of approximately £1,141,110, there is a continuing need to reduce reliance on donations due to financial pressures on local authority funding. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Griffin Chapman.

What does the highest-paid employee of ACORN VILLAGES LIMITED earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £60,001 - £70,000 band.

Who funds ACORN VILLAGES LIMITED?

Funders whose own accounts filings name ACORN VILLAGES LIMITED as a grant recipient include THE BAILY THOMAS CHARITABLE FUND, THE WILL CHARITABLE TRUST, FOWLER SMITH AND JONES TRUST, COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY, THE INMAN CHARITY.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
THE BAILY THOMAS CHARITABLE FUND	FY2023	£35k
THE WILL CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£20k
FOWLER SMITH AND JONES TRUST	FY2025	£15k	Towards the replacement of a boiler and installation of a boiler management system within the charity's supported living facilities
THE WILL CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£15k	Care of People with Learning Disabilities
COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY	FY2023	£10k	Wellbeing Project
THE INMAN CHARITY	FY2023	£4k	Social - Physically and Mentally Disabled

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	01/08/2024	£20k	Acorn Village Essential IT Infrastructure Update Project
Sport England	02/02/2024	£6k	Pilates and Relaxation Techniques Project
The National Lottery Community Fund	19/05/2023	£10k	Core Running Costs of Creative Craft Centre
Sport England	05/05/2023	£3k	Get Moving at Acorn
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	24/06/2022	£100k	"Improving nature connectedness at Acorn Village"

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
NORFOLK COMMUNITY FOUNDATION	1	£62k
THE ROPER FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£37k
THE VANNECK CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£26k
THE NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR YOUTH MUSIC	1	£15k
HOPESTEAD	1	£7k
THE BEATRICE LAING TRUST	1	£5k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with ACORN COMMUNITY CARE.

ACORN COMMUNITY CARE income £2.4m
ACORN PRE-SCHOOL CIO income £127k
CARITAS CARE LIMITED income £8.3m
STROUD & DISTRICT HOMES FOUNDATION LIMITED income £2.6m
POLESWORTH GROUP HOMES LIMITED income £4.3m
SOUTH WEST ACTION FOR LEARNING AND LIVING OUR WAY LIMITED income £1.8m

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
ACORN VILLAGES LIMITED	£4.7m	£60,001 - £70,000	—	unclear	—	no doubt
ACORN COMMUNITY CARE FY2025	£2.4m	£60,001 - £70,000	1	unclear	—	no doubt
ACORN PRE-SCHOOL CIO FY2025	£127k	—	0	above	—	no doubt
CARITAS CARE LIMITED FY2025	£8.3m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
STROUD & DISTRICT HOMES FOUNDATION LIMITED FY2025	£2.6m	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
POLESWORTH GROUP HOMES LIMITED FY2025	£4.3m	£60,001 - £70,000	2	above	—	no doubt

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