Homelessness · Reg 263954
Acorn Villages Limited
Charity rating & review
77/100 Clarity Score · 4 stars · Charity Commission filings · How we score
Clarity score
Good
Quick answer
Is Acorn Villages Limited a good charity?
Acorn Villages Limited scores 77/100 (4 stars, Good) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, calculated from its UK regulator filings. Its latest accounts year is 2025 (£4.7m total income, 98% of spending on charitable activities). This reflects financial transparency and stewardship on paper — not the real-world impact of its programmes. See the full breakdown.
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What does Acorn Villages Limited do?
Acorn Villages Limited is a registered charity (no. 263954) working in homelessness in Colchester · CO11 2NJ. Its latest Charity Commission filing directs 98% of spending to charitable activities, holding roughly 3 months of reserves, though its recent accounts were filed late. Reported income has been broadly stable over recent years. CharityCompare's Clarity Score rates the organisation only from public Charity Commission accounts — accountability, financial health, efficiency and community support — not the quality or impact of its programmes.
Summarised from public filings — Acorn Villages Limited hasn't added its own description yet. Work here? Add it free →
In short: ACORN VILLAGES LIMITED scores 77 out of 100 (4 stars). 98% average program spend (3-year average). Review the pillar breakdown below.
What is Acorn Villages Limited?
Acorn Villages Limited has a Clarity Score of 77 out of 100 on CharityCompare (4 stars, Good). Charity Commission registration number 263954. Status: Registered. Primary cause area: Homelessness. Latest accounts year 2025: total income £4.7m, with 98% of expenditure on charitable activities. Accounts filing: late. Reserves: approximately 3 months of operating costs. 1 filing concern(s) noted on this profile. Scores are independent and based on official filings — not a donation recommendation.
Data from Charity Commission register, last updated .
Overall score
77/100
4★ · Good
Cause spend
98%
3-yr avg · charitable activities
Accountability
75/100
Finance beacon
Income
£4.7m
Latest year 2025
Reserves
3 mo
Months of running costs
Accounts filing
Late
Check register
£40.3 raised per £1 fundraising (3-yr avg) · 3% overhead · Website on register · Confidence: medium
How does ACORN VILLAGES LIMITED compare?
Clarity Score percentile against similar UK charities — the share of peers ACORN VILLAGES LIMITED scores higher than.
Scores higher than 43% of 2,776 charities in its income band · 77/100 vs 78 peer average (marker).
Scores higher than 37% of 243 charities in this cause · 77/100 vs 79 peer average (marker).
How reliable is Acorn Villages Limited's data?
- Source
- Charity Commission (England & Wales)
- Accounts year
- 2025
- Filing date
- Profile reviewed
Medium confidence — some data missing or late
Scores reflect the latest annual accounts on the register. Clarity Score measures how clearly the charity accounts for money in those filings — not programme impact.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Sources: Charity Commission for England and Wales, Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator and Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. Open Government Licence v3.0 .
What is Acorn Villages Limited's Beacon report?
Detailed accountability and finance metrics from UK regulator filings — structured for transparency in our four-beacon report.
Accountability & Transparency
Baseline trust from filing discipline, board oversight, and declared governance policies.
75/100
| Metric | Score | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Filing history (5 years) 100% on-time over five years = 15 pts · one late filing = 5 pts · two or more = 0 pts. | 33% | 5/15 pts |
| Trustee oversight Three or more trustees on the register = 15 pts, scaled down for fewer (governance red flag below three). | 100% | 9 trustees · 15/15 pts |
| Declared policies Safeguarding (4) · conflict of interest (3) · volunteer management (3) — from Charity Commission annual return. | 100% | 10/10 pts |
Financial Health
Stability and solvency — reserves, revenue trend, and debt from Charity Commission accounts.
87/100
| Metric | Score | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Reserves (months of cash) 3–24 months = full marks, tapering on both sides · 0 months or 4+ years (hoarding) = 0 pts. | 100% | 3 months · 15/15 pts |
| Income stability / growth +20% or more over the window = 10 pts · flat = 5 pts · −20% or worse = 0 pts, scaled between. | 70% | 7/10 pts · 3-year average |
| Liabilities to assets 0% liabilities-to-assets = 5 pts, scaling down to 0 pts at 60%+ debt. | 80% | 7% · 4/5 pts |
Financial Efficiency
How efficiently funds reach the cause — program spend and fundraising cost ratios.
100/100
| Metric | Score | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Program expense ratio 90%+ on charitable activities = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 50% or below. | 100% | 98% · 10/10 pts (3-year average) |
| Fundraising efficiency ≤10p to raise £1 = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 40p or above (fundraising cost ÷ income). | 100% | 2p per £1 income · 10/10 pts (3-year average) |
Community Support
Grassroots backing from Charity Commission workforce data — volunteers vs paid staff.
10/100
| Metric | Score | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Volunteer-to-staff ratio Volunteers at 2x staff or more = full marks · no volunteers = 0 pts, scaled between. | 10% | 36 volunteers / 172 staff · 1/10 pts |
What is Acorn Villages Limited's Clarity Score?
77/100 total · Good · 4 of 5 stars
Four pillars (40 + 30 + 20 + 10 points) from Charity Commission filings — see methodology for full weightings.
Accountability & Transparency
Baseline trust from filing discipline, board oversight, and declared governance policies.
75/100
Financial Health
Stability and solvency — reserves, revenue trend, and debt from Charity Commission accounts.
87/100
Financial Efficiency
How efficiently funds reach the cause — program spend and fundraising cost ratios.
100/100
Community Support
Grassroots backing from Charity Commission workforce data — volunteers vs paid staff.
10/100
How much does Acorn Villages Limited raise and spend?
Latest filed year 2025 · Source: Charity Commission filings
| Category | Amount | % of spend |
|---|---|---|
| Total income | £4.7m | — |
| Total expenditure | £4.7m | — |
| Charitable activities | £4.6m | 97% |
| Fundraising | £137k | 3% |
| Governance & admin | £3k | 0% |
Where does the money go?
Latest accounts (2025) · £4.7m spent
- Charitable activities97% · £4.6m
- Fundraising3% · £137k
- Governance0% · £3k
What trust indicators does Acorn Villages Limited have?
Pulled from the Charity Commission register — filing behaviour, board size, and workforce where reported.
-
Accounts filed on time
Filing status: late
-
Trustee board size (3–12)
9 trustees on the Charity Commission register
-
Workforce on register
172 employees · 36 volunteers (0:1 volunteer-to-staff)
Fundraising Regulator
Not listed as member
Separate from our financial scores — shows whether the charity follows the Code of Fundraising Practice.
Check Fundraising Regulator →Official register
Reg 263954
Full trustee list, accounts, and regulatory history on the Charity Commission.
View on Charity Commission →Trustees & officers
- JEREMY MARTIN GRAY since 2007
- JOHN DEREK WHITTAKER Chair · since 2007
- Judith Anne Owens since 2013
- Brenda Elizabeth Eyers since 2013
- COLIN DAINES since 2018
- David John Willis since 2020
- Brian Henry Taylor since 2023
- Edwina Holly Wyndham Shields since 2023
- James Brian McElhinney since 2024
How we score charities +
The Clarity Score is a 100-point rating from UK regulator filings (Charity Commission for England and Wales, OSCR and CCNI). Four pillars — Accountability & Transparency (40), Financial Health (30), Financial Efficiency (20), and Community Support (10) — each scored on a continuous scale, not pass/fail cutoffs. A statutory inquiry sets the score to 0 automatically.
Accountability & Transparency
Scored from filings
40 points — filing history (15), trustee oversight (15, scaling up to a board of three or more), declared policies (10).
Financial Health
Scored from filings
30 points — reserves (15, full marks 3–24 months, tapering on both sides), income stability (10), liabilities to assets (5, scaling down as debt rises).
Financial Efficiency
Scored from filings
20 points — program expense ratio and fundraising cost, each on a graduated scale (not a single cutoff). Kept at 20% of the total: financial-ratio scoring alone is not a reliable effectiveness signal (see "why not just an overhead ratio?" below).
Community Support
Scored from filings
10 points — volunteer-to-staff ratio from Charity Commission workforce data, scaling continuously up to a 2:1 ratio.
Overall score
Sum of all pillar points. Display stars use the same bands as the labels: 90–100 → 5★ Exceptional; 75–89 → 4★ Good; 60–74 → 3★ Needs improvement; 1–59 → 2★ Poor; 0 → not rated.
How have Acorn Villages Limited's finances changed over five years?
- Income
- Spending
- Cause spend
Values in £ thousands · Cause spend plotted only when the filing discloses a split · Source: Charity Commission accounts
What are the key facts about Acorn Villages Limited?
- Overall score
- 77/100 (4★)
- Income
- £4.7m
- Cause spend
- 98% of expenditure
- Reg number
- 263954
- Scope
- Local (colchester)
- Reserves
- 3 months
- Trustees
- 9
- Accounts year
- 2025
- Filing
- late
How does ACORN VILLAGES LIMITED compare, and where else can you look?
Where ACORN VILLAGES LIMITED sits
The causes this charity is classified under, and other charities working nearby.
Similar homelessness charities
Top-rated peers by CharityCompare score
- ROUNDABOUT LIMITED 98/100 · £9.4m
- DEAFBLIND UK 98/100 · £3.6m
- SIGHT SUPPORT HULL AND EAST YORKSHIRE 96/100 · £666k
- Churches Housing Action Team (Devon) Ltd 95/100 · £489k
How can you share Acorn Villages Limited's rating?
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What red flags does Acorn Villages Limited have?
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Acorn Villages Limited's rating, finances, and Charity Commission status.
Is Acorn Villages Limited a good charity? +
Acorn Villages Limited scores 77 out of 100 (4 stars — Good) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, our independent read of its UK regulator filings. Around 98% of its spending goes to charitable activities and its accounts are late. That reflects how transparent and financially healthy it looks on paper — it does not measure the real-world impact of its work, so treat it as one factor alongside the cause you care about. CharityCompare never tells you where to donate.
Is Acorn Villages Limited a legitimate charity? +
Yes — Acorn Villages Limited is a legitimate registered charity (charity number 263954). Verify it on the official register: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/263954. Registration proves status; Clarity Score then summarises filing transparency on paper, not programme impact.
What is Acorn Villages Limited's charity number? +
Acorn Villages Limited's charity number is 263954. Check that number on the official register (Charity Commission, OSCR or CCNI) or this CharityCompare profile before you donate — scammers sometimes reuse real numbers on fake appeals.
What is Acorn Villages Limited's charity rating? +
Acorn Villages Limited scores 77 out of 100 on CharityCompare (4 stars — Good). The Clarity Score V1 sums four pillars from UK regulator filings: Accountability & Transparency (40 pts), Financial Health (30), Financial Efficiency (20), and Community Support (10). Stars use the same bands as those labels — 90+ is 5★ Exceptional. It is not an impact ranking.
Does Acorn Villages Limited have reviews and complaints? +
CharityCompare does not host public user reviews for Acorn Villages Limited. Instead you get a filing-based Clarity Score, cause spend, reserves and red flags such as late accounts (1 filing concern(s) noted on this profile). For formal complaints about a charity, contact the Charity Commission, OSCR, CCNI or the Fundraising Regulator as appropriate.
How much of my donation reaches Acorn Villages Limited? +
According to its 2025 regulator filing, 98% of Acorn Villages Limited's total spending went to charitable activities (3-yr avg across disclosed years). That is the closest official figure to "how much of your donation reaches the cause" — it is an average across all spending in the filing, not a pound-by-pound breakdown of an individual gift.
What are Acorn Villages Limited's overheads? +
According to its 2025 regulator filing, fundraising costs were about 2% of total expenditure and combined overheads (fundraising plus governance) were about 3% of total expenditure at Acorn Villages Limited. The filings CharityCompare uses do not publish CEO or senior-staff pay, so we cannot say what Acorn Villages Limited's chief executive is paid — where disclosure rules apply, senior pay appears in the trustees' annual report on the Charity Commission register.
How much income does Acorn Villages Limited receive? +
Acorn Villages Limited reported £4.7m total income in its 2025 accounts, based on UK regulator filings. Five-year trend: stable.
Are Acorn Villages Limited's accounts up to date? +
Filing status: late (last filing 2026-06-24). CharityCompare flags late or missing accounts separately from the financial score.
Where is Acorn Villages Limited based? +
Acorn Villages Limited is listed at Colchester · CO11 2NJ, focused on homelessness.
How does CharityCompare score Acorn Villages Limited? +
We calculate a Clarity Score of 0–100 from four pillars in Acorn Villages Limited's regulator filings: Accountability & Transparency (40 points — filing history, trustees, policies), Financial Health (30 — reserves, income trend, debt), Financial Efficiency (20 — cause spend and fundraising cost, on a graduated scale) and Community Support (10 — volunteer-to-staff ratio). An open statutory inquiry scores 0. The score measures reporting on paper, not programme impact. CharityCompare is free for donors, takes no commission on donations, and scores cannot be bought.
How often is this page updated? +
This profile was last updated on 17 July 2026 from the latest UK regulator data available to CharityCompare, and Acorn Villages Limited's most recent accounts cover 2025. Scores and figures refresh whenever we re-ingest the register, so the page reflects our latest data pull rather than a one-off review.