DISABILITY LAW SERVICE

Registered charity 280805 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as NETWORK FOR THE HANDICAPPED LIMITED, THE DISABILITY LAW SERVICE

Disability Law Service provides a high quality legal service for disabled people, their families, enablers and carers. Charity also provides specialist information and advice and training to other disability organisations and service providers.

Objects

For the public benefit and for general charitable purposes according to the laws of England and Wales and in particular, but not exclusively, for the promotion of equality, diversity, independence, and health of disabled people including, but not exclusively, by way of: the provision of free legal and other advice to disabled people; the provision of free legal representation for disabled people; the provision of free legal and other advice to those in poverty where to do so is part of a wider project that benefits disabled people; advocating for changes in law or policy or the way in which they are implemented where to do so will advance the interests of disabled people; the education of others about disabled people.

Area of benefit: UNDEFINED

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

Causes: Disability · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Lambeth, London, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a net expenditure of £26,308 for the year, resulting in a decrease in total reserves from £398,958 to £372,650. Per the trustees' report, free unrestricted reserves stood at £65,389, which is below the stated policy target of three to six months of operating costs. The charity noted that a significant portion of its reserves is tied up in Work in Progress, limiting available cash.

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 5 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
• Campaigns and political activity policy and procedures
• Complaints handling
• Complaints policy and procedures
• Conflicting interests
• Engaging external speakers at charity events policy and procedures
• Financial reserves policy and procedures
• Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
• Internal risk management policy and procedures
• Investing charity funds policy and procedures
• 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.

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

Corporate structure

• Registered company of the charity Companies House 01408520

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Disability Law Service (matched by registered charity number).

Funders the charity credits

Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).

• Legal Education Foundation — “If you have challenges with reasonable adjustments in the work place, please try our digital legal information platform called WorkRights, w…” (source page)

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.

• COOKE, Ian Nicholas — director, appointed 20/05/2026on trustee list
• NEWBERY, Mark — director, appointed 14/02/2024on trustee list
• HASSALL, Eleanor — director, appointed 06/05/2022on trustee list
• RICHARDS, Edward John — director, appointed 30/06/2020on trustee list
• WOOLFSON, Alexander Florey — director, appointed 20/10/2010on trustee list

Official officers record.

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

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

Reported reserves equal ~4.8 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (90% 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: 3.1% of total income — below the median for charities its size (4.9%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• DR ALEXANDER WOOLFSON
• Edward John Richards
• Eleanor Hassall
• Ian Nicholas Cooke
• Mark Newbery

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

Operates in: Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

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

Grants marked “Unverified read” were flagged by automated checks as possibly misread from the funder’s filed accounts. They are listed, but left out of the totals, counts and funder relationships this site computes.

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 DISABILITY ADVICE SERVICE LAMBETH.

• DISABILITY ADVICE SERVICE LAMBETH income £629k
• PARITY FOR DISABILITY income £1.9m
• THE DISABILITY RESOURCE CENTRE income £576k
• COMMUNITY CARE OPTIONS income £705k
• BRISTOL LAW CENTRE income £1.5m
• DISABILITY STOCKPORT CIO income £1.5m

Side by side with its peers

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