THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE
Registered charity 285575 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as A R C, ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE · also registered in Scotland as SC039129 (OSCR)
As a UK membership umbrella organisation, ARC UK provides information, training and support, networking opportunities and promotes best practice in service provision for people with a learning disability; as a campaigning organisation it seeks to influence policy and practice at local and national level.
Causes: Education/training · Disability · Human Rights/religious Or Racial Harmony/equality Or Diversity · Other Charitable Purposes · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that the charity ended the year with an unrestricted deficit of £12,086, resulting in total unrestricted reserves of £390,020. Per the trustees' report, this level of reserves is above the stated policy target of three months' operational costs, calculated at £348,313 for the year. The cash position remains strong at £775,228, and the auditor confirmed there are no material uncertainties regarding the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.
Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Reserves policy: three months' operations (held: £390k)
“The trustees have agreed a policy with regard to achieving an unrestricted reserves level equivalent to the costs of three months’ operations” — page 12
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Trustee Lynnette Linton paid £730 for services provided to the National and Local Networks project.
“During the year, Lynnette Linton, a trustee, was paid £730 for services provided to the National and Local Networks project in 2024-25.(2024:£1,125)” — page 31
“During the year a payment of £223 for room hire was paid to Perth Autism support, a company whose Chief Executive officer is Angie Fergusnn.” — page 31
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Payment of £223 for room hire to Perth Autism Support, a company whose CEO is trustee Angie Ferguson.
“During the year, Lynnette Linton, a trustee, was paid £730 for services provided to the National and Local Networks project in 2024-25.(2024:£1,125)” — page 31
“During the year a payment of £223 for room hire was paid to Perth Autism support, a company whose Chief Executive officer is Angie Fergusnn.” — page 31
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Transactions totalling £6,065 with Real Life Options, whose CEO is trustee David Sargent, for Membership, Training and conference entry.
“During the year, Lynnette Linton, a trustee, was paid £730 for services provided to the National and Local Networks project in 2024-25.(2024:£1,125)” — page 31
“During the year a payment of £223 for room hire was paid to Perth Autism support, a company whose Chief Executive officer is Angie Fergusnn.” — page 31
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by BHP LLP. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.
In the news
Recent coverage mentioning this charity by name (automated match; headlines belong to their publishers).
What the charity says about itself (2024 - 2025)
From its own voluntary annual review / impact report — the charity’s account of its work, distinct from the statutory accounts analysed above.
Training statistics
“We ran 192 training courses and trained 3647 people.”
Advocacy outputs
“TILII advocacy groups of people with a learning disability and supported by ARC NI made 41 Easy Reads and 9 films.”
Police checks support
“ARC helped with 5,780 police checks for people who want to work in social care.”
Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Association for Real Change (ARC) (matched by registered charity number).
Leadership, per the charity’s website
- David Sargent — Chair (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.
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2026)
Reported reserves equal ~2.1 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (99% 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: 0.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).
- Amy Margaret Bradford
- David Ian Sargent
- Fiona McCabe
- Hope Lightowler
- Lynnette Linton
- STEPHEN COX · trustee of 2 other charities
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Northern Ireland · Scotland · Throughout England And Wales
Income and spending
Common questions
Is THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity ended the year with an unrestricted deficit of £12,086, resulting in total unrestricted reserves of £390,020. Per the trustees' report, this level of reserves is above the stated policy target of three months' operational costs, calculated at £348,313 for the year. The cash position remains strong at £775,228, and the auditor confirmed there are no material uncertainties regarding the charity's ability to continue as a going concern. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by BHP LLP.
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 L'ARCHE.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.