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Freedom From Torture

70 /100

Clarity score

Needs improvement

Charity accounts, evidence & financial rating

70/100 Clarity Score · 3 stars · Charity Commission filings · How we score

Register checked 4 October 2026 · latest accounts 2025

Official regulator data
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Quick answer

Is Freedom From Torture a good charity?

Freedom From Torture scores 70/100 (3 stars, Needs improvement) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, calculated from its UK regulator filings. Its latest accounts year is 2025 (£15m total income, 69% 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

£15m

Accounts 2025-03-31

Spending

£14m

Accounts 2025-03-31

Charitable activities

69%

3-yr avg · share of spending

Accounts filing

On time

Charity Commission

On this pageJump to a section
London · N7 7JW Reg 1000340 Registered charity Official website Charity Commission register

What does Freedom From Torture do?

Freedom from Torture is a human rights organisation which exists to enable survivors of torture to engage in a healing process. We provide direct care, treatment and protection services in five UK centres. We engage in activism in order to bring the plight of torture survivors to light and carry out research that underpins our policy and advocacy work.

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

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How much does Freedom From Torture raise and spend?

Accounts period 2024-01-01 to 2025-03-31 · Source: Charity Commission filings

Freedom From Torture revenue and expenses for 2025
Category Amount % of spend
Total income £15m —
Total expenditure £14m —
Charitable activities £11m 77%
Fundraising £3.4m 23%
Reported governance £42k 0%

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.

77%On charitable activities

Where does the money go?

Latest accounts (2025) · £14m spent

  • Charitable activities77%
  • Fundraising23%

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 Freedom From Torture pay its staff, and where does its money come from?

Answers Freedom From Torture gave in its annual return to the Charity Commission for the year ending 31 March 2025, plus its register entry. These are the charity's own disclosures, not part of the Clarity Score.

How much are Freedom From Torture's highest-paid staff paid?

Freedom From Torture's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2025 reports 5 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).

Freedom From Torture employees paid over £60,000, by salary band
Salary bandEmployees
£100,001–£110,000 1
£80,001–£90,000 3
£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 Freedom From Torture's money come from?

Freedom From Torture reported £15m total income for the year ending 31 March 2025. The largest sources were donations and legacies £14m (94%), charitable activities £543k (4%), trading and fundraising events £280k (2%). Legacies (gifts in wills) contributed £5.4m.

  • Donations and legacies £14m · 94%
  • Charitable activities (fees and contracts) £543k · 4%
  • Trading and fundraising events £280k · 2%
  • Investments £141k · 1%

Cash at year end: £1.8m · unrestricted funds: £9.1m · restricted funds: £1m. 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 Freedom From Torture 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

Freedom From Torture's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2025 reports that no trustee received remuneration or other benefits from the charity.

Registration details

Registered as a charity
Company number
02398586 (Companies House)
Also known as
Medical Foundation; Medical Foundation Caring for Victims of Torture
Previous names on the register
Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture
Where it says it operates
Throughout London · Manchester City · Scotland

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 Freedom From Torture's finances changed over five years?

Income rose 18% from £13m in 2020 to £15m in 2025; spending was £14m in 2025.

£0 £5.0m £10m £15m £20m 2020 2021 2022 2023 2025 Income 2020: £13m Spending 2020: £10m Cause spend 2020: £7.1m Income 2021: £10m Spending 2021: £10m Cause spend 2021: £7.0m Income 2022: £12m Spending 2022: £12m Cause spend 2022: £7.6m Income 2023: £9.9m Spending 2023: £12m Cause spend 2023: £8.0m Income 2025: £15m Spending 2025: £14m Cause spend 2025: £11m
  • Income
  • Spending
  • Cause spend
Freedom From Torture income and spending by accounts year
Year Income Spending Charitable activities
2025 £15m £14m £11m
2023 £9.9m £12m £8.0m
2022 £12m £12m £7.6m
2021 £10m £10m £7.0m
2020 £13m £10m £7.1m

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

How does Freedom From Torture compare?

The share of each group scoring at or below Freedom From Torture, 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 (£10m+) 25thpercentile

Scores at or above 25% of 930 charities in its income band · 70/100 vs 77 peer average.

Human rights charities 34thpercentile

Scores at or above 34% of 144 charities in this cause · 70/100 vs 74 peer average.

Where Freedom From Torture sits

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

Similar human rights charities

Top-rated peers by CharityCompare score

Evidence and interpretation

What the evidence says about Freedom From Torture

In 2025, reported income was £15,113,123 and expenditure was £14,354,962. Income exceeded expenditure by £758,161. This annual balance is not the charity’s available cash or unrestricted reserves.

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: Other Defined Groups.

How it works: Provides Services; Provides Advocacy/advice/information; Sponsors Or Undertakes Research; Other Charitable Activities.

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 (2025-03-31). 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 Freedom From Torture'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 Freedom From Torture
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% 13 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.

63/100

Financial Health metrics for Freedom From Torture
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.

100% 9 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.

0% Comparability review needed · 0/10 pts
Liabilities to assets

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

80% 8% · 4/5 pts

Financial Efficiency

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

35/100

Financial Efficiency metrics for Freedom From Torture
Metric Score Value
Program expense ratio

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

50% 69% · 5/10 pts (3-year average)
Fundraising efficiency

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

20% 33p per £1 income · 2/10 pts (3-year average, disclosed years)

Community Support

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

40/100

Community Support metrics for Freedom From Torture
Metric Score Value
Volunteer-to-staff ratio

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

40% 120 volunteers / 148 staff · 4/10 pts

How we calculate beacon scores →

What trust indicators does Freedom From Torture 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)

    13 trustees on the Charity Commission register

  • Workforce on register

    148 employees · 120 volunteers (1:1 volunteer-to-staff)

Fundraising Regulator

Not listed as member

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 1000340

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

View on Charity Commission →

Trustees & officers

  • Rasha Obaid since 2021
  • Mahesh Wickramasinghe since 2021
  • Brian Gareth Dunlop since 2023
  • Philomene Uwamaliya since 2023
  • Angela CLUFF since 2024
  • Orla FEE since 2024
  • Timothy Stuart GUY since 2024
  • Catherine Lois SAYER Chair · since 2024
  • Shehara Natalie SAMARASINGHE since 2024
  • Professor Sir Francis Atherton since 2025
  • Dr Declan Neil WOODS since 2026
  • Michelle Leanne WEEKS since 2026

How reliable is Freedom From Torture's data?

Source
Charity Commission (England & Wales)
Accounts year
2025
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: 1000340. 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 Freedom From Torture?

  1. 1. Match the name and charity number

    Check 1000340 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 2025. 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 Freedom From Torture →
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 Freedom From Torture have?

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about Freedom From Torture's rating, finances, and Charity Commission status.

Is Freedom From Torture a good charity? +

Freedom From Torture scores 70 out of 100 (3 stars — Needs improvement) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, our independent read of its UK regulator filings. Around 69% 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 Freedom From Torture a legitimate charity? +

The register data used for this profile lists Freedom From Torture as a registered charity (charity number 1000340). Verify it on the official register: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regId=1000340&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 Freedom From Torture's charity number? +

Freedom From Torture's charity number is 1000340. 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 Freedom From Torture's charity rating? +

Freedom From Torture scores 70 out of 100 on CharityCompare (3 stars — Needs improvement). 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 Freedom From Torture have reviews and complaints? +

CharityCompare does not host public user reviews for Freedom From Torture. Instead you get a filing-based Clarity Score, cause spend, reserves and red flags such as late accounts (one red flag on this profile: high fundraising costs). For formal complaints about a charity, contact the Charity Commission, OSCR, CCNI or the Fundraising Regulator as appropriate.

How much of my donation reaches Freedom From Torture? +

Across the recent disclosed accounts used for this score, 69% of Freedom From Torture'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 Freedom From Torture's overheads? +

Across the recent disclosed accounts used for this score, fundraising costs were about 31% of total expenditure and fundraising plus separately reported governance figures amount to about 31% of expenditure (2022–2025, disclosed years); these categories can overlap, so this is not a distinct total of all administration costs at Freedom From Torture. Freedom From Torture's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2025 reports 5 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 Freedom From Torture receive? +

Freedom From Torture reported £15m total income in its 2025 accounts, based on UK regulator filings. Five-year trend: stable.

Are Freedom From Torture's accounts up to date? +

Filing status: up to date (last filing 2026-01-29). CharityCompare flags late or missing accounts separately from the financial score.

Where is Freedom From Torture based? +

Freedom From Torture's registered contact address is in London (N7 7JW). It tells the regulator it operates in London, Manchester City, Scotland, with a focus on human rights.

How much is Freedom From Torture's chief executive paid? +

The Charity Commission register does not name individual salaries. Freedom From Torture's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2025 reports 5 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 Freedom From Torture's money come from? +

Freedom From Torture reported £15m total income for the year ending 31 March 2025. The largest sources were donations and legacies £14m (94%), charitable activities £543k (4%), trading and fundraising events £280k (2%). Legacies (gifts in wills) contributed £5.4m.

Can I claim Gift Aid on a donation to Freedom From Torture? +

The register records Freedom From Torture 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 Freedom From Torture's trustees paid? +

Freedom From Torture's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2025 reports that no trustee received remuneration or other benefits from the charity.

What was Freedom From Torture previously called? +

The register lists this previous name for Freedom From Torture: Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture.

When was Freedom From Torture registered as a charity? +

Freedom From Torture was entered on the register on 13 September 1990. It is also a company registered at Companies House (company number 02398586).

How does CharityCompare score Freedom From Torture? +

We calculate a Clarity Score of 0–100 from four pillars in Freedom From Torture'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 Freedom From Torture'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.