A £296m charity could “teach others a thing or two about purpose”, according to its outgoing chairman, as its annual accounts showed income up by £32.5m to a new record high.
Sir Ken Olisa made the comment in the foreword to The Shaw Trust’s accounts, which show that it made £295.9m in the year ending 31 August 2022.
Olisa has handed over after nine years to Olly Benzecry, who was most recently chair and managing director of Accenture UKI.
The Shaw Trust, which employs 4,800 people and provides services to get disadvantaged people into education, made a £1m surplus in the year as it recovered from Covid-19. Its expenditure was £294.8m (up from £241.2 in 2020/21).
Group chief executive Chris Luck said the charity had supported more than 330,000 people in 2021/22.
“In the next year, we will continue to take bold steps to ensure the needs of the people we support are met, making our vital contribution to a future where rewarding employment is accessible for all.”
The Shaw Trust was founded in 1983 and provides services to people who are disabled or otherwise disadvantaged, principally to help them find employment or to develop work and independence skills.
It runs a number of academy schools and publishes the annual Shaw Trust Disability Power 100, which celebrates the most influential disabled people in the UK.
A charity spokesperson said: “In summary we show income levels at record level of £296m with significant growth in many of our divisions, reflecting an ever-increasing need for our services, including employability, children’s services, community health and wellbeing and justice, along with expansion of our multi-academy trust in the North West of England.”
The charity’s annual report says: “The pandemic had a significant impact on the operations of the trust. Finances remained resilient throughout this period thanks to growth of several of our core contracts, a change in delivery methodology and careful management of liquidity.
“The current year has seen a focus on a return to more normal operational conditions.”
The report added that the trust had been through a period of consolidation, “identifying efficiencies, focusing on core activities and disposing of no-core assets”.
It said the impact of the cost-of-living crisis was “significant”, but the underlying business remained “robust”.