Overview 2019 20

Overview 2019-20

Despite an already difficult fundraising environment, FY19-20 was a relatively successful year: generating an income of £14.8m (FY18-19: £17.7m) and delivering a deficit of £3.34m, not including investment losses (FY18-19: a deficit of £5.22m). This yet again demonstrated the charity stretching itself in already challenging times to deliver to those in need.

The year-on-year disparities included the charity receiving a final LIBOR payment of £1m in FY18-19; its subsequent expenditure, along with other previously received LIBOR grants, in FY19-20; and the near-finalisation of a major legacy. Income came from the normal wide range of sources such as donations from individuals, trust and foundations; direct marketing appeals; legacies; high-profile events and income from investments and cash deposits. We are extremely grateful to every person and organisation that makes our grant-making possible.

Charitable Activity

Charitable expenditure was £12.2m, representing an increase of some 19% on the previous year –excluding our one-off £7m grant to the Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre in FY18-19. This steep increase was largely due to the expenditure of £2.1m from past LIBOR funding that was awarded to us for two important projects: to help improve childcare and community centre facilities for Army families in disadvantaged locations and to enable a bespoke welfare service for the Armed Forces community in hospitals across southern England, working in partnership with the Defence Medical Welfare Service. We thank the Chancellor of the Exchequer for his confidence in our governance of these substantial funds.

We dispensed £3.9m (FY18-19: £3.7m) as grants to individuals and spent £5.9m funding 89 other charities and organisations operating across 62 countries worldwide –all of which provide support to the Army family. For many of these charities, we are often consistently their single biggest source of funding year-on-year. In addition to these two major grant-making programmes, we also spent £2.4m on charitable activities that fall outside our core business of making grants but are key to ensuring soldiers, veterans and their immediate families’ needs are met in a timely and effective manner. This expenditure included funding the sector-wide casework management system, undertaking due diligence and administering funds on behalf of others. This again demonstrates our key role in not only delivering our own support but also providing wider assistance to the sector.

Individual grants remained relatively stable. We assisted 4,534 people in FY19-20 (4,528 in FY18-19), but there has been a general increase in the cost of individual grants. As is normal our support is truly “for life” with individuals supported aged from a oneyear-old baby to a veteran aged 102, with the average beneficiary being in their late 40searly 50s. Most of our casework is provided by our key partners: 63% is received from SSAFA, 18% from The Royal British Legion and the remainder comes from various other sources.