Charity in a Box

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

The Almshouse Association: 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 (The Almshouse Association) and your public channels.

Figures you publish: “Today, 36,000 people are living full and independent lives in almshouses, finding friendships, wellbeing, safety and security inside their walls and within their communities.”

Your channels: 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. Almshouses, from outside

743 charities are in the field by name or membership. 8,435 other charities say in their own latest report that they serve the same people.

Almshouses743 charities
Education/training3,912
General charitable purposes3,429
Religious activities3,040
Poverty relief2,796
Disability2,216
Health2,146
Economic/community developme…1,745
Arts, culture, heritage, sci…1,507
Amateur sport1,129
Recreation1,077
Older people living alone269
Young people126
Local infrastructure107
Disability services89
Befriending82
Community transport81
Veterans66
Legal help64

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)11%–
Government-dependent (share)2%–
Reserves, months (median)16.9–
Income change over returns, % (median)26.8–
Report names the people (share)31%–

Areas with little or no presence of your network, those with the most residents on low incomes first: Hackney, Barking and Dagenham, Manchester, Blackpool, Brent, Oldham, Kingston upon Hull, Hartlepool, Haringey, Rochdale.

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.

8,435 other charities serve almshouses's people

Bluesky / X: 8,435 charities outside almshouses say in their own reports that they serve the same people, against 743 in the field. Who they are, by what they do: https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/the-almshouse-association.html

LinkedIn: 8,435 charities outside almshouses say in their own reports that they serve the same people, against 743 in the field. Who they are, by what they do: https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/the-almshouse-association.html

Built from public information; no charity is named.

Download the picture (1200 by 630)

11% of members are running thin

Bluesky / X: 11% of the network's members show under three months' reserves or three years of deficits, against - of the rest of the field. https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/the-almshouse-association.html

LinkedIn: 11% of the network's members show under three months' reserves or three years of deficits, against - of the rest of the field. https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/the-almshouse-association.html

Built from public information; no charity is named.

Download the picture (1200 by 630)

31 areas where the network is thin

Bluesky / X: 31 of England's 152 county and unitary areas have little or no presence of the network for the people counted there; Hackney, Barking and Dagenham, Manchester first. https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/the-almshouse-association.html

LinkedIn: 31 of England's 152 county and unitary areas have little or no presence of the network for the people counted there; Hackney, Barking and Dagenham, Manchester first. https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/the-almshouse-association.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.