--- title: "Debra — charity rating & review | CharityCompare" description: "Is Debra a legitimate UK charity? Clarity Score 63/100. Accounts 2024: income £18m · 20% on charitable activities. Reg 1084958." source: https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/debra retrieved: 2026-08-18T04:11:03.706Z license: "Charity data © Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0" --- Quick answer ## Is Debra a good charity? Debra scores 63/100 (3 stars, Needs improvement) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, calculated from its UK regulator filings. Its latest accounts year is 2024 (£18m total income, 20% 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. Reading · UK-wide · RG12 8FZ | Reg [1084958](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/debra) | Registered charity | [Official website](https://www.debra.org.uk/) | [Charity Commission register](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/1084958) Donate ## How can you give to DEBRA? You leave CharityCompare to complete a donation on the official DEBRA form. We do not process payments or take commission. Opens their official online donation form. [Donate](https://www.debra.org.uk/?utm_source=charitycompare&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=donate&utm_content=1084958) ## What does Debra do? Debra is a registered charity (no. 1084958) working in disability across the United Kingdom. Its latest Charity Commission filing directs 20% of spending to charitable activities, holding roughly 1 month of reserves, and files its annual accounts on time. Reported income has been growing (≈12% a year). 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 — Debra hasn't added its own description yet. [Work here? Add it free →](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/claim?charity=debra) **In short:** DEBRA scores 63 out of 100 (3 stars). 20% average program spend (3-year average). Review the pillar breakdown below. ## What is Debra? Debra has a Clarity Score of 63 out of 100 on CharityCompare (3 stars, Needs improvement). Charity Commission registration number 1084958. Status: Registered. Primary cause area: Disability. Latest accounts year 2024: total income £18m, with 20% of expenditure on charitable activities. Accounts filing: up to date. Reserves: approximately 1 month 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](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/), last updated 17 July 2026. Overall score 63/100 3★ · Needs improvement Cause spend 20% 3-yr avg · charitable activities Accountability 100/100 Finance beacon Income £18m Latest year 2024 Reserves 1 mo 1 month of running costs Accounts filing On time Charity Commission £1.2 raised per £1 fundraising (3-yr avg) · 80% overhead · Website on register · Confidence: high ## How does DEBRA compare? Clarity Score percentile against similar UK charities — the share of peers DEBRA scores higher than. Income band (£10m+)11thpercentile **Scores higher than 11% of 943 charities in its income band** · 63/100 vs 77 peer average (marker). Disability charities14thpercentile **Scores higher than 14% of 711 charities in this cause** · 63/100 vs 79 peer average (marker). ## How reliable is Debra's data? Source Charity Commission (England & Wales) Accounts year 2024 Filing date 24 June 2026 Profile reviewed 17 July 2026 High confidence — complete filing data 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](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/), [Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator](https://www.oscr.org.uk/) and [Charity Commission for Northern Ireland](https://www.charitycommissionni.org.uk/). [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/). ## What is Debra'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 | 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. | 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% | 11 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. 43/100 | Metric | Score | Value | | --- | --- | --- | | Reserves (months of cash) 3–24 months = full marks, tapering on both sides · 0 months or 4+ years (hoarding) = 0 pts. | 33% | 1 month · 5/15 pts | | Income stability / growth +20% or more over the window = 10 pts · flat = 5 pts · −20% or worse = 0 pts, scaled between. | 80% | 8/10 pts · 3-year average | | Liabilities to assets 0% liabilities-to-assets = 5 pts, scaling down to 0 pts at 60%+ debt. | 0% | 60% · 0/5 pts | ### Financial Efficiency How efficiently funds reach the cause — program spend and fundraising cost ratios. 0/100 | Metric | Score | Value | | --- | --- | --- | | Program expense ratio 90%+ on charitable activities = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 50% or below. | 0% | 20% · 0/10 pts (3-year average) | | Fundraising efficiency ≤10p to raise £1 = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 40p or above (fundraising cost ÷ income). | 0% | 81p per £1 income · 0/10 pts (3-year average) | ### Community Support Grassroots backing from Charity Commission workforce data — volunteers vs paid staff. 100/100 | Metric | Score | Value | | --- | --- | --- | | Volunteer-to-staff ratio Volunteers at 2x staff or more = full marks · no volunteers = 0 pts, scaled between. | 100% | 1,200 volunteers / 362 staff · 10/10 pts | [How we calculate beacon scores →](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/methodology) ## What is Debra's Clarity Score? 63/100 total · Needs improvement · 3 of 5 stars Four pillars (40 + 30 + 20 + 10 points) from Charity Commission filings — see methodology for full weightings. 100/100 Accountability & Transparency 43/100 Financial Health 0/100 Financial Efficiency 100/100 Community Support ### Accountability & Transparency Baseline trust from filing discipline, board oversight, and declared governance policies. 100/100 Filing history (5 years)15/15 pts Trustee oversight11 trustees · 15/15 pts Declared policies10/10 pts ### Financial Health Stability and solvency — reserves, revenue trend, and debt from Charity Commission accounts. 43/100 Reserves (months of cash)1 month · 5/15 pts Income stability / growth8/10 pts · 3-year average Liabilities to assets60% · 0/5 pts ### Financial Efficiency How efficiently funds reach the cause — program spend and fundraising cost ratios. 0/100 Program expense ratio20% · 0/10 pts (3-year average) Fundraising efficiency81p per £1 income · 0/10 pts (3-year average) ### Community Support Grassroots backing from Charity Commission workforce data — volunteers vs paid staff. 100/100 Volunteer-to-staff ratio1,200 volunteers / 362 staff · 10/10 pts ## How much does Debra raise and spend? Latest filed year 2024 · Source: Charity Commission filings | Category | Amount | % of spend | | --- | --- | --- | | Total income | £18m | — | | Total expenditure | £19m | — | | Charitable activities | £3.8m | 21% | | Fundraising | £15m | 79% | | Governance & admin | £25k | 0% | 21%On charitable activities ## Where does the money go? Latest accounts (2024) · £19m spent - Charitable activities21% · £3.8m - Fundraising79% · £15m - Governance0% · £25k ## What trust indicators does Debra have? Pulled from the Charity Commission register — filing behaviour, board size, and workforce where reported. - ✓ Accounts filed on time up to date · last filing 24 June 2026 - ✓ Trustee board size (3–12) 11 trustees on the Charity Commission register - ✓ Workforce on register 362 employees · 1,200 volunteers (3:1 volunteer-to-staff) Fundraising Regulator Status not yet checked Separate from our financial scores — shows whether the charity follows the Code of Fundraising Practice. [Check Fundraising Regulator →](https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/members/) Official register Reg 1084958 Full trustee list, accounts, and regulatory history on the Charity Commission. [View on Charity Commission →](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/1084958) ### Trustees & officers - Rev David Bendor-Samuel since 2019 - Carly Fields since 2019 - MICHAEL PARRY THOMAS since 2020 - Simon Colin Talbot since 2021 - Simone Bunting since 2021 - Laura Briggs since 2025 - Gareth Jones since 2025 - Katy Hinchcliffe since 2025 - Sandrine Germaine Miriam Letellier since 2025 - Jaspreet Singh Jhaj since 2025 - Zoe Louise Bailey since 2025 100 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 →](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/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. ## How have Debra'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 Debra? Overall score 63/100 (3★) Income £18m Cause spend 20% of expenditure Reg number 1084958 Scope UK-wide Reserves 1 month Trustees 11 Accounts year 2024 Filing up to date ## How does DEBRA compare, and where else can you look? [Compare DEBRA with others](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/compare-charities?ids=debra) [More disability charities](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/browse/disability) [How we score charities](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/methodology) ### Where DEBRA sits The causes this charity is classified under, and other charities working nearby. - [disability charities](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/browse/disability) - [health charities](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/browse/health) - [children charities](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/browse/children) - [Charities in Reading](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/cities/reading) - [disability charities in Reading](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/browse/disability/reading) ### Similar disability charities Top-rated peers by CharityCompare score - [POLKA CHILDREN'S THEATRE LIMITED](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/polka-children-s-theatre-limited) 100/100 · £3.6m - [TREWEN MEADOWS](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/trewen-meadows) 100/100 · £1.4m - [CAMBRIDGE RAPE CRISIS CENTRE](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/cambridge-rape-crisis-centre) 100/100 · £916k - [Kent Neuro Therapy Centre Limited](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/kent-neuro-therapy-centre-limited) 100/100 · £858k ## How can you share Debra's rating? Share: [X](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Debra%20%E2%80%94%2063%2F100%20Clarity%20Score%20on%20CharityCompare&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.charitycompare.org.uk%2Fcharity%2Fdebra)[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.charitycompare.org.uk%2Fcharity%2Fdebra)[Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.charitycompare.org.uk%2Fcharity%2Fdebra)[Bluesky](https://bsky.app/intent/compose?text=Debra%20%E2%80%94%2063%2F100%20Clarity%20Score%20on%20CharityCompare%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.charitycompare.org.uk%2Fcharity%2Fdebra) Copy link Print / save as PDFOpens a printer-friendly view of this profile for Debra. For this charity ## How do you add Debra's rating to your site? Free to use — a lightweight HTML badge or an embeddable score widget, each linking back to this independent profile and our [methodology](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/methodology). BadgeScore widget [♥ CharityCompare Clarity Score 63/100 ★★★★★](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/debra) Lightweight HTML badge (no iframe) — paste anywhere ♥ CharityCompare Clarity Score 63/100 ★★★★★ Copy code ## What red flags does Debra have? ## Frequently asked questions Common questions about Debra's rating, finances, and Charity Commission status. Is Debra a good charity? + Debra scores 63 out of 100 (3 stars — Needs improvement) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, our independent read of its UK regulator filings. Around 20% of its spending goes to charitable activities 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 Debra a legitimate charity? + Yes — Debra is a legitimate registered charity (charity number 1084958). Verify it on the official register: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/1084958. Registration proves status; Clarity Score then summarises filing transparency on paper, not programme impact. What is Debra's charity number? + Debra's charity number is 1084958. 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 Debra's charity rating? + Debra scores 63 out of 100 on CharityCompare (3 stars — Needs improvement). 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 Debra have reviews and complaints? + CharityCompare does not host public user reviews for Debra. 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 Debra? + According to its 2024 regulator filing, 20% of Debra'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 Debra's overheads? + According to its 2024 regulator filing, fundraising costs were about 80% of total expenditure and combined overheads (fundraising plus governance) were about 80% of total expenditure at Debra. The filings CharityCompare uses do not publish CEO or senior-staff pay, so we cannot say what Debra'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 Debra receive? + Debra reported £18m total income in its 2024 accounts, based on UK regulator filings. Five-year trend: growing. Are Debra's accounts up to date? + Filing status: up to date (last filing 2026-06-24). CharityCompare flags late or missing accounts separately from the financial score. Where is Debra based? + Debra is listed at Reading · UK-wide · RG12 8FZ and operates UK-wide, focused on disability. How does CharityCompare score Debra? + We calculate a Clarity Score of 0–100 from four pillars in Debra'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 Debra'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.