VSO
Registered charity 313757 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as VOLUNTARY SERVICE OVERSEAS
VSO IS THE WORLD'S LEADING INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY WORKING FOR CHANGE THROUGH VOLUNTEERS. VSO BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER TO SHARE SKILLS, CREATIVITY AND LEARNING TO BUILD A FAIRER WORLD. VSO HAS PROGRAMMES IN OVER TWENTY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES FOCUSING ON DELIVERING SUSTAINABLE CHANGE IN THREE THEMATIC AREAS: EDUCATION, HEALTH AND SECURE LIVELIHOODS.
Causes: The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that unrestricted general reserves stood at £6.5 million, which the trustees consider prudent and in line with their policy target. Although total reserves decreased significantly from £13.8 million to £7.9 million due to reduced income and restructuring costs, the charity maintains adequate resources to continue operations for at least twelve months. The organization faces financial sustainability risks due to constrained official development assistance funding and a reduction in the duration of its primary FCDO grant.
Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Reserves policy: target level set out in VSO’s reserves policy (held: £6.5m)
“At 31 March 2025, VSO’s general reserves stand at £6.5m, which is as per the target level set out in VSO’s reserves policy.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: VSO Trading Limited
“VSO Trading Limited whose principal activity was the delivery of non-charitable activities for the purpose of raising funds. It is now dormant.” — page 34
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by Crowe U.K. LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.
Year-over-year changes
- Reserves position vs the charity's own policy moved from "above" (FY2024) to "within" (FY2025).
Comparing this charity’s FY2024 and FY2025 accounts as analysed by this site.
Corporate structure
Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Voluntary Service Overseas (matched by registered charity number).
Leadership, per the charity’s website
- Julia Lalla-Maharajh OBE — Chair (source)
- Donné Cameron — Co-CEO (source)
- Kathryn Gordon — Co-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.
Funders the charity credits
Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).
- Lego Foundation — “In partnership with the Lego Foundation, teachers are championing play-based learning in Rwanda.” (source page)
- Ikea Foundation — “Through out partnership with the Ikea Foundation, ICDI, and local partner, Taka Taka Solutions, youth in Kenya are being supported to turn w…” (source page)
- Austrian Development Cooperation — “With funding from the Austrian Development Cooperation, on the Kenya/Ethiopia border conflicting tribes are being brought together to collec…” (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.
- BASHIR-ALI, Mashaer — director, appointed 23/07/2024on trustee list
- CHEFFIK, Belay Addise — director, appointed 13/06/2024on trustee list
- MUIR, Janet Marie — director, appointed 01/02/2023on trustee list
- SKINGSLEY, Geoffrey — director, appointed 01/11/2020on trustee list
- LALLA-MAHARAJH, Julia — director, appointed 14/07/2020on trustee list
- MUWANGUZI, Christopher — director, appointed 19/09/2019on trustee list
Official officers record.
Electoral Commission register entries
Entries on the Electoral Commission’s public register where this charity (or its company) appears as the source — typically sponsorship of an APPG or an overseas visit provided to an MP, which charities may lawfully do. Shown with the Commission’s own reference; this is a transparency record, not an allegation.
Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram · linkedin
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)
Cost of raising funds
£3.5m
Reported reserves equal ~2.7 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 14.2% of total income — above the median for charities its size (3.8%) (benchmarks).
Register events
- Received assets from another charity (14/05/2021) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
- Received assets from another charity (24/05/2016) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Bangladesh · Burma · Cambodia · Ethiopia · Ghana · India · Ireland · Kenya · Malawi · Mozambique · Nepal · Netherlands
Income and spending
Common questions
Is VSO financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that unrestricted general reserves stood at £6.5 million, which the trustees consider prudent and in line with their policy target. Although total reserves decreased significantly from £13.8 million to £7.9 million due to reduced income and restructuring costs, the charity maintains adequate resources to continue operations for at least twelve months. The organization faces financial sustainability risks due to constrained official development assistance funding and a reduction in the duration of its primary FCDO grant. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Crowe U.K. LLP.
Who funds VSO?
Funders whose own accounts filings name VSO as a grant recipient include STANDARD CHARTERED FOUNDATION, THE GUNTER CHARITABLE 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 VOLUNTARY & COMMUNITY.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.