The older people’s charity HelpAge International’s income decreased by almost £7m last year due to a reduction in funding for its humanitarian responses, the charity said.
The charity, which is the secretariat to a global network of civil society organisations working with and for older people, had an income of £34.3m in its accounts for the year to the end of March 2024, down from £41.2m in the previous year.
HelpAge International said the decrease was due to a reduction in funding from its Ukraine appeal.
In 2022/23 the charity received £30m in grants for international programmes and spent £30m on humanitarian assistance.
“The figures for the previous financial year (2022/23) were also boosted by a significant investment in our work in Ukraine received in February and March 2023, and carried over and spent in the last financial year,” a spokesperson for the charity said.
“This is clearly highlighted in our annual accounts under our 2023/24 expenditure.”
The charity’s income for international grants programmes decreased to £26m in 2023/24 but its expenditure for humanitarian work increased to £31.2m.
The spokesperson said HelpAge international was also preparing an expected gradual reduction in its income as part of a localisation process which started in 2021.
In 2022/23, the charity announced three of its country offices in Jordan, Moldova and Tanzania were expected to transition to independent locally-led organisations in 2023/24.
“This process will see us transform our business model and strategic approach from working through a network of 11 country offices worldwide, to working as a globally distributed team operating through an ever-growing global network of 199 organisations in 98 countries,” the spokesperson said.
“In our strategy, we describe our role as a supporter, convenor and thought leader and this shift sees an increased emphasis on our role as a convenor and thought leader, as we move away from the direct delivery of services.”
The spokesperson said HelpAge International’s system would change so its country offices would receive grants directly from funders that would previously have shown in the HelpAge accounts.
“HelpAge will be looking for new business development opportunities to fund our support, convenor and thought leadership role,” the spokesperson said.