SELF HELP AFRICA (UK)
Registered charity 298830 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as Gorta, Gorta UK, HARVEST HELP
Self Help Africa (UK) is an international development, non-governmental organisation. Its main purpose is the assistance and advancement of people in need in less developed areas of the world. We have expertise in small-scale farming. We work with farmers to help them grow/sell more food, diversify their income/diets, make their livelihoods more sustainable and resistant to external shocks.
Causes: Education/training · The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Overseas Aid/famine Relief · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that unrestricted reserves were £169,088 at the end of 2025, which is above the stated minimum operational requirement of £50,000. The charity reported a net surplus of £0.7m for the year, driven by a significant increase in income from charitable activities.
Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Reserves policy: minimum level of unrestricted reserves needed is £50,000 for cashflow purposes (held: £169k)
“Hence, the minimum level of unrestricted reserves needed is £50,000 for cashflow purposes.” — page 19
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Grant to parent/group
“During 2025, Self Help Africa (UK) provided £320k grant to Self Help Africa for programmes activities in its countries of operation (2024: nil). During 2025, Self Help Africa awarded Self Help Africa (UK) a management fee recharge of £nil (2024: £0.36m) to fund elements of its UK based activities.” — page 44
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by RBK Audit UK Limited. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.
Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Self Help Africa (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).
- Irish Aid — “Supported by Irish Aid” (source page)
- UK Aid — “UK Aid The UK DFID promotes sustainable development and the elimination of world poverty.” (source page)
- European Union — “The European Union is the political and economic union of 27 European member states.” (source page)
- US Aid — “US Aid USAID promotes broad-scale human progress while expanding stable, free societies, creating markets and fostering good will abroad.” (source page)
- ILCU Foundation — “ILCU Foundation The Irish League of Credit Unions Foundation supports the development of credit unions and their representative organisation…” (source page)
- Big Lottery Fund — “Big Lottery Fund Big Lottery Fund distributes profits from the United Kingdom national lottery to appropriate causes and projects.” (source page)
- FAO — “FAO FAO is the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.” (source page)
- Google — “Google Google is the world’s largest internet search engine and service provider.” (source page)
Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2025)
Cost of raising funds
£120k
Reported reserves equal ~0.8 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 3.7% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Burkina Faso · Ethiopia · Ghana · Kenya · Malawi · Togo · Uganda · Zambia
Income and spending
Common questions
Is SELF HELP AFRICA (UK) financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that unrestricted reserves were £169,088 at the end of 2025, which is above the stated minimum operational requirement of £50,000. The charity reported a net surplus of £0.7m for the year, driven by a significant increase in income from charitable activities. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by RBK Audit UK Limited.
Who funds SELF HELP AFRICA (UK)?
Funders whose own accounts filings name SELF HELP AFRICA (UK) as a grant recipient include THE THOMAS J HORNE MEMORIAL TRUST.
Known funders
Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.
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 SELF HELP SERVICES.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.