Disability · Reg 1117888
Orwell Mencap
Charity rating & review
70/100 Clarity Score · 3 stars · Charity Commission filings · How we score
Clarity score
Needs improvement
Quick answer
Is Orwell Mencap a good charity?
Orwell Mencap scores 70/100 (3 stars, Needs improvement) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, calculated from its UK regulator filings. Its latest accounts year is 2025 (£2.1m total income, 98% 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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What does Orwell Mencap do?
Orwell Mencap is a registered charity (no. 1117888) working in disability in Ipswich · IP3 9JG. Its latest Charity Commission filing directs 98% of spending to charitable activities, holding roughly 2 months of reserves, though its recent accounts were filed late. Reported income has been growing (≈10% 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 — Orwell Mencap hasn't added its own description yet. Work here? Add it free →
In short: ORWELL MENCAP scores 70 out of 100 (3 stars). 98% average program spend (3-year average). Review the pillar breakdown below.
What is Orwell Mencap?
Orwell Mencap has a Clarity Score of 70 out of 100 on CharityCompare (3 stars, Needs improvement). Charity Commission registration number 1117888. Status: Registered. Primary cause area: Disability. Latest accounts year 2025: total income £2.1m, with 98% of expenditure on charitable activities. Accounts filing: late. Reserves: approximately 2 months 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
70/100
3★ · Needs improvement
Cause spend
98%
3-yr avg · charitable activities
Accountability
68/100
Finance beacon
Income
£2.1m
Latest year 2025
Reserves
2 mo
Months of running costs
Accounts filing
Late
Check register
£50.8 raised per £1 fundraising (3-yr avg) · 5% overhead · Website on register · Confidence: medium
How does ORWELL MENCAP compare?
Clarity Score percentile against similar UK charities — the share of peers ORWELL MENCAP scores higher than.
Scores higher than 26% of 2,776 charities in its income band · 70/100 vs 78 peer average (marker).
Scores higher than 24% of 711 charities in this cause · 70/100 vs 79 peer average (marker).
How reliable is Orwell Mencap's data?
- Source
- Charity Commission (England & Wales)
- Accounts year
- 2025
- Filing date
- Profile reviewed
Medium confidence — some data missing or late
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, Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator and Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. Open Government Licence v3.0 .
What is Orwell Mencap'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.
68/100
| 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. | 33% | 5/15 pts |
| Trustee oversight Three or more trustees on the register = 15 pts, scaled down for fewer (governance red flag below three). | 100% | 8 trustees · 15/15 pts |
| Declared policies Safeguarding (4) · conflict of interest (3) · volunteer management (3) — from Charity Commission annual return. | 70% | 7/10 pts |
Financial Health
Stability and solvency — reserves, revenue trend, and debt from Charity Commission accounts.
77/100
| Metric | Score | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Reserves (months of cash) 3–24 months = full marks, tapering on both sides · 0 months or 4+ years (hoarding) = 0 pts. | 67% | 2 months · 10/15 pts |
| Income stability / growth +20% or more over the window = 10 pts · flat = 5 pts · −20% or worse = 0 pts, scaled between. | 100% | 10/10 pts · 3-year average |
| Liabilities to assets 0% liabilities-to-assets = 5 pts, scaling down to 0 pts at 60%+ debt. | 60% | 20% · 3/5 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% | 98% · 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% | 2p 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% | 8 volunteers / 83 staff · 0/10 pts |
What is Orwell Mencap's Clarity Score?
70/100 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.
68/100
Financial Health
Stability and solvency — reserves, revenue trend, and debt from Charity Commission accounts.
77/100
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
How much does Orwell Mencap raise and spend?
Latest filed year 2025 · Source: Charity Commission filings
| Category | Amount | % of spend |
|---|---|---|
| Total income | £2.1m | — |
| Total expenditure | £2.1m | — |
| Charitable activities | £2.0m | 98% |
| Fundraising | £25k | 1% |
| Governance & admin | £90k | 4% |
Where does the money go?
Latest accounts (2025) · £2.1m spent
- Charitable activities98% · £2.0m
- Fundraising1% · £25k
- Governance4% · £90k
What trust indicators does Orwell Mencap have?
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)
8 trustees on the Charity Commission register
-
Workforce on register
83 employees · 8 volunteers (0:1 volunteer-to-staff)
Fundraising Regulator
Not listed as member
Separate from our financial scores — shows whether the charity follows the Code of Fundraising Practice.
Check Fundraising Regulator →Official register
Reg 1117888
Full trustee list, accounts, and regulatory history on the Charity Commission.
View on Charity Commission →Trustees & officers
- JOHN STEVENS
- Jill Knell Chair · since 2014
- James Dickson since 2021
- Emma Sophie Franks since 2021
- Mark David Scrogie since 2022
- Susan Margaret Sybil Chesworth since 2024
- Simon Girling since 2024
- maxine Smith since 2024
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.
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 Orwell Mencap'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 Orwell Mencap?
- Overall score
- 70/100 (3★)
- Income
- £2.1m
- Cause spend
- 98% of expenditure
- Reg number
- 1117888
- Scope
- Local (ipswich)
- Reserves
- 2 months
- Trustees
- 8
- Accounts year
- 2025
- Filing
- late
How does ORWELL MENCAP compare, and where else can you look?
Where ORWELL MENCAP sits
The causes this charity is classified under, and other charities working nearby.
Similar disability charities
Top-rated peers by CharityCompare score
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- CAMBRIDGE RAPE CRISIS CENTRE 100/100 · £916k
- Kent Neuro Therapy Centre Limited 100/100 · £858k
How can you share Orwell Mencap's rating?
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How do you add Orwell Mencap's rating to your site?
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What red flags does Orwell Mencap have?
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Orwell Mencap's rating, finances, and Charity Commission status.
Is Orwell Mencap a good charity? +
Orwell Mencap scores 70 out of 100 (3 stars — Needs improvement) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, our independent read of its UK regulator filings. Around 98% 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 Orwell Mencap a legitimate charity? +
Yes — Orwell Mencap is a legitimate registered charity (charity number 1117888). Verify it on the official register: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/1117888. Registration proves status; Clarity Score then summarises filing transparency on paper, not programme impact.
What is Orwell Mencap's charity number? +
Orwell Mencap's charity number is 1117888. 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 Orwell Mencap's charity rating? +
Orwell Mencap scores 70 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 Orwell Mencap have reviews and complaints? +
CharityCompare does not host public user reviews for Orwell Mencap. 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 Orwell Mencap? +
According to its 2025 regulator filing, 98% of Orwell Mencap'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 Orwell Mencap's overheads? +
According to its 2025 regulator filing, fundraising costs were about 2% of total expenditure and combined overheads (fundraising plus governance) were about 5% of total expenditure at Orwell Mencap. The filings CharityCompare uses do not publish CEO or senior-staff pay, so we cannot say what Orwell Mencap'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 Orwell Mencap receive? +
Orwell Mencap reported £2.1m total income in its 2025 accounts, based on UK regulator filings. Five-year trend: growing.
Are Orwell Mencap'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 Orwell Mencap based? +
Orwell Mencap is listed at Ipswich · IP3 9JG, focused on disability.
How does CharityCompare score Orwell Mencap? +
We calculate a Clarity Score of 0–100 from four pillars in Orwell Mencap'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 Orwell Mencap'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.