Prepared for Community Action Isle of Wight by Adrian Taylor, 2026-10-05. If you work there and would rather this page came down, say so and it comes down.
Community Action Isle of Wight: what the records show, and what we could do together
Adrian Taylor runs Charity in a Box, after twenty years working in charities and public services. About Adrian.
1. What you say, and where we read it
We read your website (Home - Community Action | at the Riverside | Isle of Wight) and your public channels.
“We provide practical support to voluntary and community organisations, and social enterprises on the Isle of Wight through our networks, projects, training and services.” (communityactionisleofwight.org.uk)
“Our aim is to help you achieve your goals and better support your communities.” (communityactionisleofwight.org.uk)
Figures you publish: “Community Action IW employs a small staff team, most of whom work part time and as many as 80 volunteers at any one time.”
Your channels: youtube (read); x (closed to readers, not read); facebook (closed to readers, not read); instagram (closed to readers, not read).
2. Isle of Wight’s charities, from outside
167 charities are based in Isle of Wight, 11.9 for every 10,000 residents, where 23% of residents are on low incomes. 19% show under three months’ reserves or three years of deficits on their latest return; 7% take half or more of their income from government. The five largest hold 52% of the area’s charity income.
Rural communities in Isle of Wight
In Isle of Wight, the national network for your field (rural communities) sits in the best-reached fifth of England's areas for the number of people counted there (gold in the chart below where a field has none recorded here or is in the thinnest fifth). Across England, 1,586 charities outside the field say in their own reports that they serve the same people, against 52 in it.
The 24 fields, against England
For each field of charity work we have mapped, where Isle of Wight stands among England’s 152 areas for the presence of the national network per person in need. Gold bars are the fields where no presence is recorded here: 9 of 24.
Befriending
Disability services
Drug and alcohol services
Families with young children
Homelessness
Community foundations
Mental health
Youth centres
Unpaid carers
Local infrastructure
Hospice care
Riding for the disabled
Veterans
Almshouses
Community transport
Rural communities
Young people
Legal help
Kidney patients
Learning disability
Dyslexia
Food aid
Cadets
Older people living alone
Isle of Wight: the bar is where the area stands among England's 152 areasnone recorded here, or in the thinnest fifthEngland's median area
Point at a bar for its figures.
Who does the work here, by register purpose
Isle of Wight167 charities
Education/training80
General charitable purposes47
Disability37
Health34
Religious activities31
Amateur sport29
Arts, culture, heritage, sci…27
Poverty relief26
Environment23
Economic/community developme…23
Recreation21
Other purposes11
A charity records up to three purposes, so the circles overlap. Point at one for its count.
Researchers who studied how charities support people with dementia across the United Kingdom concluded:
“National and local data sources could help charities and commissioners begin to identify inequalities of provision.”
Mayrhofer, Goodman, Lafortune, Smeeton, Littlechild, Shora and Bunn, Voluntary Sector Review, first published 2021. Read the paper.
This page is that view for Isle of Wight.
3. Sample campaign
Three posts in your voice from the figures above, each with its picture, ready to use. Every figure is from public information and no charity is named.
Bluesky / X: Rural communities in Isle of Wight: the national network's presence, for the people counted here, sits in the best-reached fifth of England's areas. Who else does the work: https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/community-action-isle-of-wight.html
LinkedIn: Rural communities in Isle of Wight: the national network's presence, for the people counted here, sits in the best-reached fifth of England's areas. Who else does the work: https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/community-action-isle-of-wight.html
Built from public information; no charity is named.
Bluesky / X: 167 charities are based in Isle of Wight: 11.9 for every 10,000 residents. We've read what they say they do. https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/community-action-isle-of-wight.html
LinkedIn: 167 charities are based in Isle of Wight: 11.9 for every 10,000 residents. We've read what they say they do. https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/community-action-isle-of-wight.html
Built from public information; no charity is named.
Bluesky / X: 19% of Isle of Wight's charities show under three months' reserves or three years of deficits on their latest return. Which fields, and who else is at work: https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/community-action-isle-of-wight.html
LinkedIn: 19% of Isle of Wight's charities show under three months' reserves or three years of deficits on their latest return. Which fields, and who else is at work: https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/community-action-isle-of-wight.html
Built from public information; no charity is named.
Your area's charities from outside, with your own field first: how thin the known network is here for the people you work with, who else does the work, how exposed the area's charities are, what the money looks like. A page like this one, in full, refreshed each quarter.
£600 once, or £1,200 a year with four refreshes
A campaign from the findings
Three to five posts a month in your voice, each with its picture, from your area's own figures.
£250 a month
The first month: a twenty-minute call, your page in full within a week, and the first campaign posts the week after. Prices are set by income band from the public register and are the same for everyone in the band.
5. How to say yes
Reply to the email with a day that suits, call or text Adrian on the number in the email (it is on the Contact page too), or write to adrian@charityinabox.uk.
What this can and cannot say. These are counts over groups of charities and places from their own returns and reports and from national statistics. They do not rank any charity, name any, or say why. A thin field is one where the known network is thin for the people counted here, not one where nobody is helped.
Built from public information: the Charity Commission for England and Wales register and the annual reports charities file with it (OGL v3.0); Census 2021 (ONS); the English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); the Claimant Count (ONS). Privacy.