Armed forces · Reg 1149496
Firstlight Trust
Charity rating & review
45/100 Clarity Score · 2 stars · Charity Commission filings · How we score
Clarity score
Poor
Quick answer
Is Firstlight Trust a good charity?
Firstlight Trust scores 45/100 (2 stars, Poor) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, calculated from its Charity Commission filings. Its latest accounts year is 2023 (£671k total income, 95% 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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Mission
Firstlight Trust is a registered charity (no. 1149496) working in armed forces across the United Kingdom. Its latest Charity Commission filing directs 95% of spending to charitable activities, 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.
In short: FIRSTLIGHT TRUST scores 45 out of 100 (2 stars). 95% average program spend (3-year average). Review the pillar breakdown below.
Overview
Firstlight Trust has a Clarity Score of 45 out of 100 on CharityCompare (2 stars, Poor). Charity Commission registration number 1149496. Status: Registered. Primary cause area: Armed forces. Latest accounts year 2023: total income £671k, with 95% of expenditure on charitable activities. Accounts filing: late. 4 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
45/100
2★ · Poor
Cause spend
95%
3-yr avg · charitable activities
Accountability
50/100
Finance beacon
Income
£671k
Latest year 2023
Reserves
—
Months of running costs
Accounts filing
Late
Check register
£20.0 raised per £1 fundraising (3-yr avg) · 6% overhead · Website on register · Confidence: medium
How FIRSTLIGHT TRUST compares
Clarity Score percentile against similar UK charities — the share of peers FIRSTLIGHT TRUST scores higher than.
Scores higher than 2% of 2,187 charities in its income band · 45/100 vs 79 peer average (marker).
Scores higher than 5% of 84 charities in this cause · 45/100 vs 74 peer average (marker).
Data & confidence
- Source
- Charity Commission (E&W)
- Accounts year
- 2023
- Filing date
- Profile reviewed
Medium confidence — some data missing or late
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.
50/100
| 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. | 0% | 0/15 pts |
| Trustee oversight Three or more trustees on the register = 15 pts, scaled down for fewer (governance red flag below three). | 67% | 2 trustees · 10/15 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.
17/100
| Metric | Score | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Reserves (months of cash) 3–24 months = full marks, tapering on both sides · 0 months or 4+ years (hoarding) = 0 pts. | 0% | Not stated · 0/15 pts |
| Income stability / growth +20% or more over the window = 10 pts · flat = 5 pts · −20% or worse = 0 pts, scaled between. | 50% | 5/10 pts · 3-year average |
| Liabilities to assets 0% liabilities-to-assets = 5 pts, scaling down to 0 pts at 60%+ debt. | 0% | 1972% · 0/5 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% | 95% · 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% | 5p per £1 income · 10/10 pts (3-year average) |
Community Support
Grassroots backing from Charity Commission workforce data — volunteers vs paid staff.
0/100
| Metric | Score | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Volunteer-to-staff ratio Volunteers at 2x staff or more = full marks · no volunteers = 0 pts, scaled between. | 0% | Not reported · 0/10 pts |
Clarity Score
45/100 total · Poor · 2 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.
50/100
Financial Health
Stability and solvency — reserves, revenue trend, and debt from Charity Commission accounts.
17/100
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.
0/100
Revenue & expenses
Latest filed year 2023 · Source: Charity Commission annual accounts
| Category | Amount | % of spend |
|---|---|---|
| Total income | £671k | — |
| Total expenditure | £1.0m | — |
| Charitable activities | £975k | 96% |
| Fundraising | £40k | 4% |
Where the money goes
Latest accounts (2023) · £1.0m spent
- Charitable activities96% · £975k
- Fundraising4% · £40k
Trust indicators
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)
2 trustees on the Charity Commission register
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 1149496
Full trustee list, accounts, and regulatory history on the Charity Commission.
View on Charity Commission →Trustees & officers
- Dorinda Wolfe Murray since 2012
- Ida Beerhalter since 2013
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
- 45/100 (2★)
- Income
- £671k
- Cause spend
- 95% of expenditure
- Reg number
- 1149496
- Scope
- UK-wide
- Reserves
- —
- Trustees
- 2
- Accounts year
- 2023
- Filing
- late
Compare & explore
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Top-rated peers by CharityCompare score
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- ARMY FLYING MUSEUM LIMITED 96/100 · £1.3m
- CARE OF POLICE SURVIVORS 93/100 · £661k
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Red flags
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Firstlight Trust's rating, finances, and Charity Commission status.
Is Firstlight Trust a good charity? +
Firstlight Trust scores 45 out of 100 (2 stars — Poor) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, our independent read of its Charity Commission filings. Around 95% 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 Firstlight Trust a legitimate charity? +
Yes — Firstlight Trust is registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales under registration number 1149496. You can verify the entry on the official register: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/1149496
What is Firstlight Trust's charity rating? +
Firstlight Trust scores 45 out of 100 on CharityCompare (2 stars — Poor). 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 Firstlight Trust? +
According to its 2023 Charity Commission filing, 95% of Firstlight Trust'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 Firstlight Trust's overheads? +
According to its 2023 Charity Commission filing, fundraising costs were about 5% of total expenditure and combined overheads (fundraising plus governance) were about 6% of total expenditure at Firstlight Trust. The filings CharityCompare uses do not publish CEO or senior-staff pay, so we cannot say what Firstlight Trust'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 Firstlight Trust receive? +
Firstlight Trust reported £671k total income in its 2023 accounts, based on Charity Commission filings. Five-year trend: stable.
Are Firstlight Trust'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 Firstlight Trust based? +
Firstlight Trust is listed at London · UK-wide · SW1W 0DH and operates UK-wide, focused on armed forces.
How does CharityCompare score Firstlight Trust? +
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 Firstlight Trust's most recent accounts cover 2023. Scores and figures refresh whenever we re-ingest the register, so the page reflects our latest data pull rather than a one-off review.