Charity in a Box

Prepared for OnSide by Adrian Taylor, 2026-10-05. If you work there and would rather this page came down, say so and it comes down.

OnSide: what the records show, and what we could do together

Adrian Taylor

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 (OnSide Youth Zones | National Youth Charity) and your public channels.

  • “Our mission is to empower young people to lead positive, fulfilling lives by providing access to incredible spaces and exceptional youth work, delivered by outstanding people, where they are needed the most.” (onsideyouthzones.org)

Figures you publish: “Learn about the OnSide Network Generation Isolation youth research 2024 Generation Isolation is based on responses from 5,213 young people in England aged 11-18, conducted in partnership with YouGov.”; “Visited by over 3,000 young people every week, the Club is open 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.”; “Visited by over 3,000 young people every week, the Club is open 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.”

Your channels: youtube (read); x (closed to readers, not read); linkedin (closed to readers, not read); facebook (closed to readers, not read); instagram (closed to readers, not read).

2. Youth centres, from outside

254 charities are in the field by name or membership. 6,333 other charities say in their own latest report that they serve the same people.

Youth centres254 charities
Religious activities3,303
Education/training2,880
General charitable purposes2,167
Poverty relief1,687
Economic/community developme…1,430
Disability1,104
Amateur sport1,055
Health999
Arts, culture, heritage, sci…996
Recreation938
Young people442
Local infrastructure53
Disability services40
Food aid38
Mental health29
Learning disability28
Veterans28
Families with young children17

the fieldother charities naming its people, by register purposeof those, in another field on this site

Your members against the rest of the field

MeasureMembersRest of the field
Fragile (share)61%17%
Government-dependent (share)17%14%
Reserves, months (median)5.34.1
Income change over returns, % (median)18.939.2
Report names the people (share)100%86%

Areas with little or no presence of your network, those with the most residents on low incomes first: Birmingham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Newham, Middlesbrough, Blackpool, Sandwell, Enfield, Brent, Luton.

The full page for your field is here.

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 your field.

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.

6,333 other charities serve youth centres's people

Bluesky / X: 6,333 charities outside youth centres say in their own reports that they serve the same people, against 254 in the field. Who they are, by what they do: https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/onside.html

LinkedIn: 6,333 charities outside youth centres say in their own reports that they serve the same people, against 254 in the field. Who they are, by what they do: https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/onside.html

Built from public information; no charity is named.

Download the picture (1200 by 630)

61% of members are running thin

Bluesky / X: 61% of the network's members show under three months' reserves or three years of deficits, against 17% of the rest of the field. https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/onside.html

LinkedIn: 61% of the network's members show under three months' reserves or three years of deficits, against 17% of the rest of the field. https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/onside.html

Built from public information; no charity is named.

Download the picture (1200 by 630)

134 areas where the network is thin

Bluesky / X: 134 of England's 152 county and unitary areas have little or no presence of the network for the people counted there; Birmingham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney first. https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/onside.html

LinkedIn: 134 of England's 152 county and unitary areas have little or no presence of the network for the people counted there; Birmingham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney first. https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/onside.html

Built from public information; no charity is named.

Download the picture (1200 by 630)

4. What working together looks like

What you getWhat it costs
The field reportWhat your field can't see from inside it: the page on our site, in full, refreshed each quarter.£1,500, £4,000 or £9,000 a year, by your income band, never negotiated
The members' licenceEach of your members gets its own view: where it stands beside the rest of the field, what is thin in its area, who else is at work there.included in the year
A campaign from the findingsPosts and pictures in your voice from your field's own figures, for your channels.£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.