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British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)

79 /100

Clarity score

Good

Charity accounts, evidence & financial rating

79/100 Clarity Score · 4 stars · Charity Commission filings · How we score

Register checked 4 October 2026 · latest accounts 2024

Official regulator data Give with confidence
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Quick answer

Is British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) a good charity?

British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) scores 79/100 (4 stars, Good) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, calculated from its UK regulator filings. Its latest accounts year is 2024 (£6.5m total income, 81% cause spend, 3-yr avg). This reflects financial transparency and stewardship on paper — not the real-world impact of its programmes. See the full breakdown.

Income

£6.5m

Accounts 2024-12-31

Spending

£6.5m

Accounts 2024-12-31

Charitable activities

81%

3-yr avg · share of spending

Accounts filing

On time

Charity Commission

On this pageJump to a section
Chelmsford · CM2 0QT Reg 1084189 Registered charity Official website Charity Commission register

What does British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) do?

Blesma supports all serving and ex service men and women who lose limbs or the use of limbs, or one or both eyes in service or as a result of service. It also supports those ex service men and women who lose limbs not as a result of service or loss of use of limbs as a result of a traumatic incident. Blesma also supports widows and dependents of the above.

Activities reported by the charity on the official register · extract . This is separate from the accounts data used for its rating.

British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) hasn't added a description directly to CharityCompare yet. Work here? Add it free →

How much does British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) raise and spend?

Accounts period 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Source: Charity Commission filings

British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) revenue and expenses for 2024
Category Amount % of spend
Total income £6.5m —
Total expenditure £6.5m —
Charitable activities £5.2m 80%
Fundraising £1.3m 20%
Reported governance £51k 1%

Governance can already be allocated within other expenditure categories. It is not a separate measure of all administration costs; do not add these rows without checking the accounts notes.

What changed in British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)’s latest accounts?

Reported totals for 2024 compared with 2023. Changes can reflect the accounting period, restricted grants or restructuring as well as the charity’s work.

Income change
+21.8%
£5.4m → £6.5m
Spending change
+7.5%
£6.1m → £6.5m
Charitable activities share
−0.7 pp
81% → 80% · percentage points

These are annual figures. The Clarity Score may use averages across several disclosed years. Source: official accounts.

80%On charitable activities

Where does the money go?

Latest accounts (2024) · £6.5m spent

  • Charitable activities80%
  • Fundraising20%

Charities usually allocate governance costs across their other spending categories, and these reported figures add up to more than total spending, so governance is not drawn as a separate slice. The accounts table shows it separately.

From the annual return

What does British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) pay its staff, and where does its money come from?

Answers British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) gave in its annual return to the Charity Commission for the year ending 31 December 2025, plus its register entry. These are the charity's own disclosures, not part of the Clarity Score.

How much are British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s highest-paid staff paid?

British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s annual return for the year ending 31 December 2025 reports 4 employees paid more than £60,000, including 1 employee paid more than £100,000. The highest reported pay band is £100,001–£110,000 (1 employee).

British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) employees paid over £60,000, by salary band
Salary bandEmployees
£100,001–£110,000 1
£90,001–£100,000 1
£80,001–£90,000 1
£70,001–£80,000 1

The register reports headcounts in salary bands, not names. The chief executive's pay is normally disclosed in the remuneration note of the trustees' annual report.

Where does British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s money come from?

British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) reported £4.3m total income for the year ending 31 December 2025. The largest sources were donations and legacies £3.5m (82%), investments £711k (17%), other income £65k (2%). Legacies (gifts in wills) contributed £1m.

  • Donations and legacies £3.5m · 82%
  • Investments £711k · 17%
  • Other income £65k · 2%

Cash at year end: £2.8m · unrestricted funds: £42m · restricted funds: £685k. Restricted funds can only be spent on purposes set by the donor.

Can I claim Gift Aid, and are the trustees paid?

The register records British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) as registered with HMRC for Gift Aid, so a UK taxpayer can usually add 25p to every £1 they give by making a Gift Aid declaration. Work out your Gift Aid

British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s annual return for the year ending 31 December 2025 reports that no trustee received remuneration or other benefits from the charity.

Registration details

Registered as a charity
Company number
04102768 (Companies House)
Also known as
Blesma
Where it says it operates
Scotland · Northern Ireland

Source: Charity Commission register and annual return data, Open Government Licence v3.0. A blank answer in the return is shown as not reported, never as “no”.

How have British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s finances changed over five years?

Income rose 37% from £4.8m in 2020 to £6.5m in 2024; spending was £6.5m in 2024.

£0 £2.0m £4.0m £6.0m £8.0m 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Income 2020: £4.8m Spending 2020: £5.2m Cause spend 2020: £4.2m Income 2021: £4.2m Spending 2021: £5.4m Cause spend 2021: £4.3m Income 2022: £4.0m Spending 2022: £6.4m Cause spend 2022: £5.3m Income 2023: £5.4m Spending 2023: £6.1m Cause spend 2023: £4.9m Income 2024: £6.5m Spending 2024: £6.5m Cause spend 2024: £5.2m
  • Income
  • Spending
  • Cause spend
British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) income and spending by accounts year
Year Income Spending Charitable activities
2024 £6.5m £6.5m £5.2m
2023 £5.4m £6.1m £4.9m
2022 £4.0m £6.4m £5.3m
2021 £4.2m £5.4m £4.3m
2020 £4.8m £5.2m £4.2m

Cause spend is plotted only when the filing discloses a split · Source: Charity Commission filings

How does British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) compare?

The share of each group scoring at or below British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma), including tied scores. A group matched on cause, income band and accounts year appears when at least ten records qualify. Broader groups below may mix reporting periods and operating models. Groups include this charity; percentiles measure our financial rating, not impact.

Income band (£5m–£10m) 51stpercentile

Scores at or above 51% of 620 charities in its income band · 79/100 vs 77 peer average.

Armed forces charities 65thpercentile

Scores at or above 65% of 82 charities in this cause · 79/100 vs 72 peer average.

Where British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) sits

The causes this charity is classified under, and other charities working nearby.

Evidence and interpretation

What the evidence says about British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)

In 2024, reported income was £6,537,390 and expenditure was £6,539,978. Expenditure exceeded income by £2,588. This annual balance is not the charity’s available cash or unrestricted reserves.

More financial context

Income rose 21.8% compared with 2023. Read the accounts notes for restricted grants, legacies and one-off receipts before treating the movement as a trend.

Calculated from our dated accounts dataset, refreshed 2026-09-06. This is not an audit or a manual review of every filing. Original register and accounts · How calculations work.

Find the right support

Who it supports and how to access its work

Reported beneficiaries: Elderly/old People; People With Disabilities; Other Defined Groups.

How it works: Makes Grants To Individuals; Provides Services; Provides Advocacy/advice/information; Sponsors Or Undertakes Research.

Use the official contact details to check eligibility, referrals, waiting lists and current service coverage. Broad register classifications and a contact address do not confirm that a particular service is available to you.

Explore source-checked support routes

Classifications supplied to the register; extract 2026-10-04. Register contact and activity details · Website listed for this charity

Look beyond the score

Results and impact evidence

We have not added a source-checked programme outcome for this charity. That is a gap in this profile, not evidence that the charity has no impact. Its annual report may contain results that have not been assessed here.

Reported grants to institutions: £0 (2024-12-31). This is spending reported in the annual return, not a measure of beneficiary outcomes or an open grant opportunity. It may already be included in charitable expenditure. Check the source accounts.

What these results can tell you

Counts of services delivered describe activity. They do not by themselves establish lasting change, what would have happened without the programme, or cost-effectiveness. Results with different definitions, populations or years should not be ranked against each other.

How to judge charity impact evidence

What is British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'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.

100/100

Accountability & Transparency metrics for British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)
Metric Score Value
Filing history (5 years)

No recorded lateness in available history = 15 pts · one late filing = 5 pts · two or more or unknown status = 0 pts. Missing data is not proof of late filing.

100% 15/15 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.

50/100

Financial Health metrics for British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)
Metric Score Value
Reserves (months of expenditure)

3–24 months = full marks, tapering on both sides · 0 months or 4+ years = 0 pts. Reserves are not necessarily cash; needs vary by operating model.

0% 78 months · 0/15 pts
Income stability / growth

+20% or more over the window = 10 pts · flat = 5 pts · −20% or worse = 0 pts, scaled between.

100% 10/10 pts · 3-year average
Liabilities to assets

0% liabilities-to-assets = 5 pts, scaling down to 0 pts at 60%+ debt.

100% 1% · 5/5 pts

Financial Efficiency

How efficiently funds reach the cause — program spend and fundraising cost ratios.

70/100

Financial Efficiency metrics for British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)
Metric Score Value
Program expense ratio

90%+ on charitable activities = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 50% or below.

80% 81% · 8/10 pts (3-year average)
Fundraising efficiency

≤10p to raise £1 = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 40p or above (fundraising cost ÷ income).

60% 23p per £1 income · 6/10 pts (3-year average, disclosed years)

Community Support

Grassroots backing from Charity Commission workforce data — volunteers vs paid staff.

100/100

Community Support metrics for British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)
Metric Score Value
Volunteer-to-staff ratio

Volunteers at 2x staff or more = full marks · no volunteers = 0 pts, scaled between.

100% 209 volunteers / 53 staff · 10/10 pts

How we calculate beacon scores →

What trust indicators does British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) have?

Pulled from the Charity Commission register — filing behaviour, board size, and workforce where reported.

  • Accounts filed on time

    up to date · last filing

  • Trustee board size (3–12)

    9 trustees on the Charity Commission register

  • Workforce on register

    53 employees · 209 volunteers (4:1 volunteer-to-staff)

Fundraising Regulator

Status not yet checked

Separate from our financial scores. Registration records a commitment to the Code of Fundraising Practice; it does not certify every fundraising activity.

Check Fundraising Regulator →

Official register

Reg 1084189

Full trustee list, accounts, and regulatory history on the Charity Commission.

View on Charity Commission →

Trustees & officers

  • Miles Courtenay Ambler since 2018
  • Stephen White since 2020
  • Robert Kerrigan since 2021
  • Richard Gilbert since 2022
  • Neil Heritage since 2023
  • Colin Whitworth since 2023
  • Alan Mistlin since 2023
  • Edward Grant Martin Davis CB CBE Chair · since 2024
  • Lisa Johnston since 2024

How reliable is British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s data?

Source
Charity Commission (England & Wales)
Accounts year
2024
Filing date
Data refreshed

High confidence — complete filing data

Scores reflect the accounts in our dated data extract. The live register may contain newer filings. Clarity Score measures how clearly the charity accounts for money in those filings — not programme impact.

Check the current register entry · Report a data correction

Financial source extract: 2026-09-06. Organisation identifier: 3978256. Method version: 1.1. View method changes.

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 .

Your donation decision

What should you check before donating to British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)?

  1. 1. Match the name and charity number

    Check 1084189 on the official register. A real charity number alone does not prove that a fundraiser or appeal is authentic.

    Verify the registration →
  2. 2. Read the accounts in context

    Our latest accounts data covers 2024. Compare the accounts period, spending and reserves. An administration cost ratio alone cannot tell you how effective a charity is.

    Explore the financial evidence →
  3. 3. Look for evidence of results

    Read the trustees’ annual report for activities, outcomes and limitations. The Clarity Score measures public reporting; it does not establish the impact of a donation.

    How to read charity accounts →
  4. 4. Compare charities serving your cause

    Compare up to four charities, check the dates behind their figures, and decide which work you want to support. Complete your donation through a verified charity channel.

    Start a comparison with British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) →
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.

Full methodology →

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.

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What red flags does British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) have?

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s rating, finances, and Charity Commission status.

Is British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) a good charity? +

British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) scores 79 out of 100 (4 stars — Good) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, our independent read of its UK regulator filings. Around 81% of its spending goes to charitable activities (3-yr avg) and its accounts are up to date. 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 British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) a legitimate charity? +

The register data used for this profile lists British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) as a registered charity (charity number 1084189). Verify it on the official register: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regId=1084189&subId=0. Check the current entry and the identity of anyone requesting money. Registration does not verify a particular appeal; Clarity Score summarises filing transparency, not programme impact.

What is British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s charity number? +

British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s charity number is 1084189. 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 British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s charity rating? +

British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) scores 79 out of 100 on CharityCompare (4 stars — Good). The Clarity Score (method v1.1) 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 British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) have reviews and complaints? +

CharityCompare does not host public user reviews for British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma). Instead you get a filing-based Clarity Score, cause spend, reserves and red flags such as late accounts (one red flag on this profile: very high reserves). For formal complaints about a charity, contact the Charity Commission, OSCR, CCNI or the Fundraising Regulator as appropriate.

How much of my donation reaches British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)? +

Across the recent disclosed accounts used for this score, 81% of British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'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 British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s overheads? +

Across the recent disclosed accounts used for this score, fundraising costs were about 19% of total expenditure and fundraising plus separately reported governance figures amount to about 19% of expenditure (2022–2024, disclosed years); these categories can overlap, so this is not a distinct total of all administration costs at British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma). British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s annual return for the year ending 31 December 2025 reports 4 employees paid more than £60,000, including 1 employee paid more than £100,000. The highest reported pay band is £100,001–£110,000 (1 employee). Individual salaries, including the chief executive's, are disclosed in the trustees' annual report rather than on the register.

How much income does British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) receive? +

British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) reported £6.5m total income in its 2024 accounts, based on UK regulator filings. Five-year trend: growing.

Are British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s accounts up to date? +

Filing status: up to date (last filing 2025-07-15). CharityCompare flags late or missing accounts separately from the financial score.

Where is British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) based? +

British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s registered contact address is in Chelmsford (CM2 0QT). It tells the regulator it operates in Scotland, Northern Ireland, with a focus on armed forces.

How much is British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s chief executive paid? +

The Charity Commission register does not name individual salaries. British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s annual return for the year ending 31 December 2025 reports 4 employees paid more than £60,000, including 1 employee paid more than £100,000. The highest reported pay band is £100,001–£110,000 (1 employee). Charities normally disclose the chief executive's pay, or the pay of their highest-paid staff, in the remuneration note of the trustees' annual report and accounts.

Where does British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s money come from? +

British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) reported £4.3m total income for the year ending 31 December 2025. The largest sources were donations and legacies £3.5m (82%), investments £711k (17%), other income £65k (2%). Legacies (gifts in wills) contributed £1m.

Can I claim Gift Aid on a donation to British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)? +

The register records British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) as registered with HMRC for Gift Aid, so a UK taxpayer can usually add 25p to every £1 they give by making a Gift Aid declaration.

Are British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s trustees paid? +

British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s annual return for the year ending 31 December 2025 reports that no trustee received remuneration or other benefits from the charity.

When was British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) registered as a charity? +

British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma) was entered on the register on 19 December 2000. It is also a company registered at Companies House (company number 04102768).

How does CharityCompare score British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)? +

We calculate a Clarity Score of 0–100 from four pillars in British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'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 6 September 2026 from the latest UK regulator data available to CharityCompare, and British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma)'s most recent accounts cover 2024. Scores and figures refresh whenever we re-ingest the register, so the page reflects our latest data pull rather than a one-off review.