The social care charity Turning Point raised more than £140m in 2021/22 as it grew for the third year in a row.
It turned over £142.3m last year, a record for the charity and an increase of nearly £11m on 2020/21.
Turning Point spent £140.1m, up sharply on £128.3m the year before, and recorded an annual surplus of £3m once investment income and Gift Aid was included.
The charity’s accounts for the year to the end of March 2022, published overnight with Companies House, also show that it has a plan to plug an estimated £35m pensions deficit over the next 10 years, starting with a £1.1m contribution to the pension fund last year.
Turning Point raises nearly all its money from turnover associated with residential and non-residential care services.
Its income from rents and charges fell slightly, from £2.6m to £2.1m, but the value of grants from local authorities and other agencies grew from £128.8m to £140m.
The average number of monthly staff at the charity also grew last year, from 3,585 to 3,702, while the wage bill has risen by about £10m.
The accounts say Turning Point helped nearly 165,000 people through its services last year, up 24 per cent since 2020/21.
In a year in which there have seen warnings that more than half of social care charities are struggling to fill staff vacancies, Turning Point’s report says: “The pandemic has also exacerbated the existing workforce challenges in the health and social care sector.
“Significant workforce shortages and high rates of turnover pose a real risk to the recovery of services and the quality of care, as well as to the health and wellbeing of colleagues.”
The accounts also identify soaring inflation and energy prices as a source of trouble for the sector, saying that “a crisis in the cost of living is unfolding in the UK economy and the impact on the most vulnerable within society will be significant”.