The Regulator for Charities in England and Wales

A snapshot of charities in Wales

(January 2009)

You can also view the printed colour version of this publication: A snapshot of charities in Wales (PDF format).

Contents

The Charity Commission regulates charities throughout England and Wales, of which there are currently over 190,000 registered and approximately 110,000 unregistered. Charities undertake an incredibly wide range of activities and this is one of a series of reports that are designed to help broaden understanding of charities and their work. The reports are part of our mission to help charities comply with their legal obligations, and to enhance their effectiveness, impact and accountability.

The data for this report was collated between July and December 2008.

Key findings

  • There are just over 9,000 registered charities in Wales, with nearly 42,000 trustees.
  • Together these charities have a combined income of £982 million.
  • Around 250 new charities are registered in Wales each year.
  • The oldest registered charity found so far dates back to around 1290.

Background figures

There are 9,006 main charities in Wales1 and 760 subsidiary charities2 registered in Wales. Together these have an income of £982 million and account for 5% of all charities on the Register.

8,118 (90%) of them work solely in Wales and 230 (3%) work internationally. The remaining 658 of the 9,006 (7%) work in Wales and England.

The largest charities in Wales by income include the Arts Council for Wales, the Wales Council for Voluntary Action, and the Welsh National Opera. Other examples of charities with income over £10 million can be found in table 1.

Table 1 Charities in Wales with incomes over £10 million

Registered number

Charity name

Income (£)

1034245

Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru, The Arts Council For Wales

£38,645,000

525774

National Museum of Wales

£29,685,000

1073332

WJEC CBAC Limited

£26,600,000

218093

Wales Council for Voluntary Action

£26,096,429

702290

Cartrefi Cymru Limited

£18,820,000

221538

Welsh National Opera

£17,273,049

517149

Opportunity Housing Trust

£17,164,800

1060458

Wales Millennium Centre

£13,582,000

525775

National Library of Wales

£13,325,000

1046763

Perthyn

£11,567,553

1048771

The Trinity College Carmarthen Foundation

£11,557,147

232835

The English Province of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Annecy

£10,226,961

703002

Drive

£10,118,348

We estimate that there might also be around 2,000 unregistered charities with exempt or excepted status,3 making the total number of charities in Wales nearer 11,000. This figure would represent just over one third of all third sector organisations included in a recent analysis of the third sector in Wales carried out by the Wales Council for Voluntary Action ‘The third sector in Wales 2008.’4

Income of charities in Wales

The breakdown of charities in Wales by income band is slightly different to the breakdown of charities across the Register. The graph below shows that the number of small charities, those where income is under £1 million, is larger than the proportion of small charities across the Register as a whole. It also shows that Wales has a smaller proportion of larger charities ie those with incomes over £5 million than the Register as a whole.

Percentage of income held in each income band

Graphic showing percentage of income held in each income band

Registration and removals

Since 2004, (the year the Wales office opened), the number of charities in Wales has (with the exception of the last financial year in which there was a slight decrease) continued to grow. In this time, 1,188 new charities in Wales have been added to the Register and 1,009 charities removed.

Total number of registered charities in Wales 1 April 2004 to 1 April 2008

Graphic showing total number of registered charities in Wales 1 April 2004 to 1 April 2008

Details of recently registered charities are available on the Charity Commission website.

Trustees and volunteers in Wales

Registered charities in Wales have 41,839 trustees. This is an average of five trustees per charity and is the same as the average per charity recorded across the whole Register. The average trustee age in Wales is 58. The average across the Register as a whole is 57 (see annex 1, table 5 for further details). The proportion of female and male trustees is also similar to that of all trustees across the Register, with 55% of trustees being male and 45% female.

Charities with incomes over £500,000 now supply the Charity Commission with information about volunteer numbers. So far, we have received details from 276 of these charities in Wales. Between them, they have 79,584 volunteers. The total number of volunteers in Wales is likely to be much larger.

Age breakdown of trustees

Graphic showing age breakdown of trustees

Where do charities in Wales operate?

Charities based in Wales are slightly more likely to work locally or nationally within Wales and slightly less likely to work internationally than charities across the Register. For example, 8,118 (90%) charities working in Wales work solely within Wales (this is 4% higher than the equivalent figure for charities in England operating solely in England). 230 or 3% report they work internationally (see pie chart below for details), against the 6% of charities that report they work internationally across the Register.

Area of operation

Graphic showing area of operation

Activities of charities in Wales

It is common for a charity to carry out multiple activities. For example, a community development based charity might provide activities for children and young people, and an advice service for the elderly. For this reason, charities are given the opportunity in the annual return forms collected by the Charity Commission to select more than one category of activity. The chart below displays the numbers of charities selecting each category. Please note that one charity may have selected more than one category.

Types of activity carried out by charities in Wales

Graphic showing types of activity carried out by charities in Wales

Charities in Wales deliver the same types of activities as charities right across the Register (see annex 1, table 1 for comparative data). The three groups of major charitable activity include:

  • education or training, delivered by 46% of charities in Wales;
  • sports and recreational activities, delivered by 21% of charities in Wales; and
  • arts and cultural activities, delivered by 20% of charities in Wales.

Geography of charities in Wales

Initial research suggests that the distribution of charities in Wales reflects the general pattern across the Register as a whole; that is there appears to be more charities per head of the population in rural areas than in non-rural areas.

The maps show a breakdown of charities by local authority area. The first map shows the number of charities in each area and the second shows the number of charities per thousand of the population. It is also interesting to note that the methodology has highlighted the existence of particular hotspots; for example, there are far more charities in some towns and counties than we might have expected. This includes parts of Port Talbot and Carmarthen.

Number of charities in Wales by local authority area

Graphic showing number of charities in Wales by local authority area

Number of charities per thousand of the population

Graphic showing number of charities per thousand of the population

The oldest charity in Wales

The Laugharne Corporation Lands (charity no. 218121) is the oldest currently registered charity identified so far in Wales, dating back to around 1290. This information was traced from the information on the Register of Charities.5

The charity’s purposes are the relief of poverty, advancement of education, provision of public amenities and preservation and conservation of land and buildings of historical, scientific, architectural, or educational merit; these have not changed since its original inception. Yet the types of work it undertakes have changed over time to reflect changing social and economic conditions. Where the charity once provided help to orphans and widows of the Battle of Trafalgar, it has more recently given funds to help local schools and youth projects and worked with the Countryside Council for Wales to clear and renovate land designated as a site of Special Scientific Interest.

Monmouth Photograph

Newly registered charities

Monmouthshire Environment Trust, Thornhill Church Trust, and the Carmarthen Youth Project are just some examples of charities that have been registered in recent years in Wales.

The Monmouthshire Environment Trust (charity no. 1119625) conducts research and collects information to educate people about the economic, social, and environmental benefits of recycling, reducing pollution, and promoting the protection of the environment. The Thornhill Church Trust (charity no. 1122810) advances the Christian faith amongst residents of North Cardiff and the Carmarthen Youth Project (charity no. 1124727) educates and assists young people through leisure activities to develop their physical, mental and spiritual capacities so they may grow to full maturity as individuals and members of society.

Work of the Commission's Wales office

Our team at the Wales office, in Newport, provide dedicated support to charities throughout Wales aiming to maximise their impact and effectiveness. The office has built links with the Welsh Assembly and works in partnership with umbrella bodies including County Voluntary Councils, CISWO (Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation) and the Wales Council for Voluntary Action. We aim to be actively in touch with the sector in Wales providing one-to-one support to individual charities through advice and regulatory consent. We welcome correspondence and telephone calls in Welsh and English.

We hope this snapshot reflects the strength of the charitable sector in Wales, as well as serving as a useful baseline against which to track change in coming years.

For further information or questions about this data please contact the Research Team by email: Research@charitycommission.gsi.gov.uk

Alternatively, please contact our team in Wales via Harry Iles, Head of the Wales Office: Harry.Iles@charitycommission.gsi.gov.uk

Or telephone Charity Commission Direct on 0845 300 0218.

Annex 1

Table 1 Activities of registered charities in Wales, July 2008

Type of activity

Number in Wales

% of charities in Wales selecting each category

Numbers across the Register

% across the Register selecting each category

Education / Training

4,154

46

82,093

48

General charitable purposes

2,251

25

45,663

27

Sport / Recreation

1,927

21

31,083

18

Arts / Culture

1,834

20

27,141

16

Economic / Community development / Employment

1,169

13

18,725

11

Religious activities

1,137

13

25,432

15

Environment / Conservation / Heritage

1,109

12

17,972

11

Medical / Health / Sickness

1,083

12

23,489

14

Disability

1,017

11

19,797

12

Relief of poverty

935

10

26,935

16

Overseas aid / Famine relief

379

4

9,521

6

Accommodation / Housing

332

4

8,753

5

Animals

243

3

3,515

2

Other charitable purposes

148

2

2,813

2

Total

17,718

 

342,932

 

Charities can select more than one category

Table 2 Registration and removal of charities in Wales, financial year 2004/05-2007/8

 

Number of registrations

Number of removed charities

Total number of charities in Wales across the Register

Number of charities across the Register

2004/05

264

177

8,886

163,345

2005/06

278

254

8,910

165,401

2006/07

206

209

8,907

166,662

2007/08

240

157

8,990

167,307

Total

988

797

 

 

Table 3 Income of registered charities in Wales, July 2008

 

Total income of charities in Wales by income band (£)

% of income for charities in Wales by income band

Total income of charities across the Register by income band (£)

% of income for charities across the Register

Under £10k

0.01 bn

1.62

0.0279 bn

0.06

£10k-£100k

0.07 bn

7.3

1.714 bn

3.73

£100k-£250k

0.08 bn

7.69

1.752 bn

3.81

£250k-£1mn

0.19 bn

19.1

4.360 bn

9.5

£1mn-£5mn

0.29 bn

29.08

8.712 bn

18.98

£5mn-£10mn

0.1 bn

10.3

5.781 bn

12.6

£10mn+

0.24 bn

24.91

23.312 bn

50.78

Total

0.98 bn

 

45.91 bn

 

Table 4 Number of registered charities in Wales by income band, July 2008

 

Total number in Wales

% in Wales

Total number across the Register

% across the Register

Under £10k

5,796

64.36

94,240

55.65

£10k-£100k

2,192

24.34

49,812

29.42

£100k-£250k

463

5.14

10,910

6.44

£250k-£1mn

387

4.3

8,822

5.21

£1mn-£5mn

139

1.54

4,028

2.38

£5mn-£10mn

16

0.18

815

0.48

£10mn+

13

0.14

706

0.42

Total

9,006

 

169,333

 

Table 5 Number of trustees of registered charities in Wales by age band, July 2008

 

Number of trustees for charities in Wales

% of trustees for charities in Wales

Number of trustees across the Register

% of trustees across the Register

Under 30

832

1.99%

15,553

1.90%

30-39

3,498

8.36%

82,123

10.04%

40-49

6,926

16.55%

160,543

19.63%

50-59

8,852

21.16%

176,797

21.62%

60-69

11,621

27.78%

210,841

25.78%

70 and over

10,110

24.16%

171,921

21.02%

Total

41,839

 

817,778

 

Annex 2

Resources

Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation (CISWO)
Woodland Terrace
Maesycoed
Pontypridd
Mid Glamorgan
CF37 1DZ

Wales Council for Voluntary Action
Helpdesk: 0800 2888 329
Email: help@wcva.org.uk
http://www.wcva.org.uk/

County Voluntary Councils

  • Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations
  • Bridgend Association of Voluntary Organisations
  • Voluntary Action Cardiff
  • Carmarthenshire Association of Voluntary Services
  • Ceredigion Association of Voluntary Organisations
  • Conwy Voluntary Services Council
  • Flintshire Local Voluntary Council
  • Gwent Association of Voluntary Organisations
  • Mantell Gwynedd
  • Denbighshire Voluntary Services
  • Medrwn Mon
  • Voluntary Action Merthyr Tydfil
  • Neath Port Talbot Council for Voluntary Service
  • Pembroke Association of Voluntary Organisations
  • Interlink
  • Swansea Council for Voluntary Service
  • Torfaen Voluntary Alliance
  • Vale Centre for Voluntary Services
  • Association of Voluntary Organisations in Wrexham

Footnotes

1. This is based on data taken from the address of the charity correspondent.

2. The accounts of subsidiary charities are aggregated with those of the main charity.

3. Excepted charities still fall under the jurisdiction of the Charity Commission although they are currently excepted from the registration and annual reporting requirements. Exempt charities are charities where another principal regulator has jurisdiction eg the Housing Corporation has regulatory power over Registered Social Landlords.

4. For further information on the Wales Council for Voluntary Action see www.wcva.org.uk

5. The Register records details of organisations that:

º have been recognised as charitable in law;

º have all or the majority of their trustees normally resident in England and/or Wales;

º or are companies incorporated in England and Wales.

See the following link for further details: http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/showcharity/registerofcharities/registerhomepage.aspx.