Common questions about John Lyon's Charity's rating, finances, and Charity Commission status.
Is John Lyon's Charity a good charity? +
John Lyon's Charity scores 55 out of 100 (2 stars — Poor) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, our independent read of its UK regulator filings. Around 83% 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 John Lyon's Charity a legitimate charity? +
The register data used for this profile lists John Lyon's Charity as a registered charity (charity number 237725). Verify it on the official register: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regId=237725&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 John Lyon's Charity's charity number? +
John Lyon's Charity's charity number is 237725. 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 John Lyon's Charity's charity rating? +
John Lyon's Charity scores 55 out of 100 on CharityCompare (2 stars — Poor). 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 John Lyon's Charity have reviews and complaints? +
CharityCompare does not host public user reviews for John Lyon's Charity. Instead you get a filing-based Clarity Score, cause spend, reserves and red flags such as late accounts (one red flag on this profile: insufficient trustee oversight). For formal complaints about a charity, contact the Charity Commission, OSCR, CCNI or the Fundraising Regulator as appropriate.
How much of my donation reaches John Lyon's Charity? +
Across the recent disclosed accounts used for this score, 83% of John Lyon's Charity'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 John Lyon's Charity's overheads? +
Across the recent disclosed accounts used for this score, fundraising costs were about 17% of total expenditure and fundraising plus separately reported governance figures amount to about 24% of expenditure (2023–2025, disclosed years); these categories can overlap, so this is not a distinct total of all administration costs at John Lyon's Charity. John Lyon's Charity's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2025 reports 5 employees paid more than £60,000, including 2 employees paid more than £100,000. The highest reported pay band is £150,001–£200,000 (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 John Lyon's Charity receive? +
John Lyon's Charity reported £12m total income in its 2025 accounts, based on UK regulator filings. Five-year trend: growing.
Are John Lyon's Charity's accounts up to date? +
Filing status: up to date (last filing 2025-12-11). CharityCompare flags late or missing accounts separately from the financial score.
Where is John Lyon's Charity based? +
John Lyon's Charity's registered contact address is in London (WC2R 0AA). It tells the regulator it operates in Barnet, Brent, Camden, City of London, City of Westminster, Ealing, with a focus on poverty relief.
How much is John Lyon's Charity's chief executive paid? +
The Charity Commission register does not name individual salaries. John Lyon's Charity's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2025 reports 5 employees paid more than £60,000, including 2 employees paid more than £100,000. The highest reported pay band is £150,001–£200,000 (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 John Lyon's Charity's money come from? +
John Lyon's Charity reported £12m total income for the year ending 31 March 2025. The largest sources were investments £12m (100%).
Can I claim Gift Aid on a donation to John Lyon's Charity? +
The register does not record John Lyon's Charity as registered with HMRC for Gift Aid. Ask the charity before assuming a donation can be Gift Aided.
Are John Lyon's Charity's trustees paid? +
John Lyon's Charity's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2025 reports that no trustee received remuneration or other benefits from the charity.
What was John Lyon's Charity previously called? +
The register lists this previous name for John Lyon's Charity: John Lyon Road Trust.
When was John Lyon's Charity registered as a charity? +
John Lyon's Charity was entered on the register on 16 October 1964.
How does CharityCompare score John Lyon's Charity? +
We calculate a Clarity Score of 0–100 from four pillars in John Lyon's Charity'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 John Lyon's Charity'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.