Health · Reg 215199
The British Diabetic Association
Charity rating & review
68/100 Clarity Score · 3 stars · Charity Commission filings · How we score
Clarity score
Needs improvement
Quick answer
Is The British Diabetic Association a good charity?
The British Diabetic Association scores 68/100 (3 stars, Needs improvement) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, calculated from its Charity Commission filings. Its latest accounts year is 2024 (£38m total income, 74% 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.
Donate
Give to THE BRITISH DIABETIC ASSOCIATION
You leave CharityCompare to complete a donation on the official THE BRITISH DIABETIC ASSOCIATION form. We do not process payments or take commission. Opens their official online donation form.
Mission
The British Diabetic Association is a registered charity (no. 215199) working in health across the United Kingdom. Its latest Charity Commission filing directs 74% of spending to charitable activities, holding roughly 1 month of reserves, and files its annual accounts on time. 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.
In short: THE BRITISH DIABETIC ASSOCIATION scores 68 out of 100 (3 stars). 74% average program spend (3-year average). Review the pillar breakdown below.
Overview
The British Diabetic Association has a Clarity Score of 68 out of 100 on CharityCompare (3 stars, Needs improvement). Charity Commission registration number 215199. Status: Registered. Primary cause area: Health. Latest accounts year 2024: total income £38m, with 74% 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, last updated .
Overall score
68/100
3★ · Needs improvement
Cause spend
74%
3-yr avg · charitable activities
Accountability
100/100
Finance beacon
Income
£38m
Latest year 2024
Reserves
1 mo
1 month of running costs
Accounts filing
On time
Charity Commission
£3.5 raised per £1 fundraising (3-yr avg) · 27% overhead · Website on register · Confidence: high
How THE BRITISH DIABETIC ASSOCIATION compares
Clarity Score percentile against similar UK charities — the share of peers THE BRITISH DIABETIC ASSOCIATION scores higher than.
Scores higher than 20% of 943 charities in its income band · 68/100 vs 77 peer average (marker).
Scores higher than 29% of 528 charities in this cause · 68/100 vs 76 peer average (marker).
Data & confidence
- Source
- Charity Commission (E&W)
- Accounts year
- 2024
- Filing date
- Profile reviewed
High confidence — complete filing data
Scores reflect the latest annual accounts on the register. Impact, leadership, and culture beacons require information beyond public filings.
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 .
Beacon report
Detailed accountability and finance metrics from Charity Commission 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% | 15 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.
27/100
| 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. | 30% | 3/10 pts · 3-year average |
| Liabilities to assets 0% liabilities-to-assets = 5 pts, scaling down to 0 pts at 60%+ debt. | 0% | 57% · 0/5 pts |
Financial Efficiency
How efficiently funds reach the cause — program spend and fundraising cost ratios.
50/100
| Metric | Score | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Program expense ratio 90%+ on charitable activities = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 50% or below. | 60% | 74% · 6/10 pts (3-year average) |
| Fundraising efficiency ≤10p to raise £1 = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 40p or above (fundraising cost ÷ income). | 40% | 29p per £1 income · 4/10 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% | 2,421 volunteers / 429 staff · 10/10 pts |
Clarity Score
68/100 total · Needs improvement · 3 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.
100/100
Financial Health
Stability and solvency — reserves, revenue trend, and debt from Charity Commission accounts.
27/100
Financial Efficiency
How efficiently funds reach the cause — program spend and fundraising cost ratios.
50/100
Community Support
Grassroots backing from Charity Commission workforce data — volunteers vs paid staff.
100/100
Revenue & expenses
Latest filed year 2024 · Source: Charity Commission annual accounts
| Category | Amount | % of spend |
|---|---|---|
| Total income | £38m | — |
| Total expenditure | £44m | — |
| Charitable activities | £31m | 71% |
| Fundraising | £13m | 29% |
| Governance & admin | £106k | 0% |
Where the money goes
Latest accounts (2024) · £44m spent
- Charitable activities71% · £31m
- Fundraising29% · £13m
- Governance0% · £106k
Trust indicators
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)
15 trustees on the Charity Commission register
-
Workforce on register
429 employees · 2,421 volunteers (6:1 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 →Official register
Reg 215199
Full trustee list, accounts, and regulatory history on the Charity Commission.
View on Charity Commission →Trustees & officers
- Melanie Stephenson Gray since 2021
- Professor Linda Caroline Bauld OBE since 2021
- Alexandra Morton Lewis since 2021
- Dr Asiya Yunus since 2021
- Michael Gibbs since 2021
- Dr Carol Homden CBE since 2022
- Dr Sarah Neshat Ali since 2022
- Matthew Higham since 2023
- Emma Jane Wilson Foulds since 2023
- Martin John Dewhurst since 2023
- Sian Elizabeth Jarvis since 2023
- Krishnaswamy Murali since 2024
How we score charities +
The Clarity Score is a 100-point rating from UK Charity Commission data. 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 map the 0–100 score onto a familiar 5★ scale (≈20 points per star): 90–100 → 5★, 70–89 → 4★, 50–69 → 3★, 30–49 → 2★, 1–29 → 1★.
Five-year trends
- Income
- Spending
- Cause spend
Values in £ thousands · Cause spend plotted only when the filing discloses a split · Source: Charity Commission accounts
Key facts
- Overall score
- 68/100 (3★)
- Income
- £38m
- Cause spend
- 74% of expenditure
- Reg number
- 215199
- Scope
- UK-wide
- Reserves
- 1 month
- Trustees
- 15
- Accounts year
- 2024
- Filing
- up to date
Compare & explore
Similar health charities
Top-rated peers by CharityCompare score
- THE MOST VENERABLE ORDER OF THE HOSPITAL OF ST JOHN OF JERUSALEM (THE ORDER OF ST JOHN) 100/100 · £2.4m
- THE FARMING COMMUNITY NETWORK 100/100 · £1.8m
- KIDS MATTER 100/100 · £795k
- WOMANKIND 100/100 · £731k
Share & export
Opens a printer-friendly view of this profile for The British Diabetic Association.
For this charity
Add your 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.
Red flags
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about The British Diabetic Association's rating, finances, and Charity Commission status.
Is The British Diabetic Association a good charity? +
The British Diabetic Association scores 68 out of 100 (3 stars — Needs improvement) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, our independent read of its Charity Commission filings. Around 74% 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 The British Diabetic Association a legitimate charity? +
Yes — The British Diabetic Association is registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales under registration number 215199. You can verify the entry on the official register: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/215199
What is The British Diabetic Association's charity rating? +
The British Diabetic Association scores 68 out of 100 on CharityCompare (3 stars — Needs improvement). The Clarity Score V1 sums four pillars from Charity Commission filings: Accountability & Transparency (40 pts), Financial Health (30), Financial Efficiency (20), and Community Support (10).
How much of my donation reaches The British Diabetic Association? +
According to its 2024 Charity Commission filing, 74% of The British Diabetic Association'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 The British Diabetic Association's overheads? +
According to its 2024 Charity Commission filing, fundraising costs were about 26% of total expenditure and combined overheads (fundraising plus governance) were about 27% of total expenditure at The British Diabetic Association. The filings CharityCompare uses do not publish CEO or senior-staff pay, so we cannot say what The British Diabetic Association'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 The British Diabetic Association receive? +
The British Diabetic Association reported £38m total income in its 2024 accounts, based on Charity Commission filings. Five-year trend: stable.
Are The British Diabetic Association'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 The British Diabetic Association based? +
The British Diabetic Association is listed at London · UK-wide · E1 1FH and operates UK-wide, focused on health.
How does CharityCompare score The British Diabetic Association? +
We analyse Charity Commission annual accounts using three-year averages for program expense, fundraising efficiency, and overhead (disclosed years only); working capital from reserves vs average expenditure; liabilities-to-assets from the latest balance sheet when available. Impact, leadership, and culture beacons are not yet assessed from public data alone. See our methodology for weights and thresholds. 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 Charity Commission data available to CharityCompare, and The British Diabetic Association'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.