Prepared for Volunteer Centre Greenwich by Adrian Taylor, 2026-10-05. If you work there and would rather this page came down, say so and it comes down.
Volunteer Centre Greenwich: 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 (Volunteer Centre Greenwich) and your public channels.
“We are here to help you find a role that fits and to support you throughout your time volunteering.” (vcgreenwich.org.uk)
“We can help you list and promote your roles, find the right volunteers and navigate every stage so you can focus on the work that matters in our borough.” (vcgreenwich.org.uk)
Figures you publish: “Recruited and managed by VCG in partnership with Visit Greenwich, the team of 21 volunteers brought local knowledge and a warm welcome to every tourist.”; “We also celebrated 96 volunteers through our Recognition 100 and 250 Awards.”
Your channels: x (closed to readers, not read); facebook (closed to readers, not read).
2. Greenwich’s charities, from outside
296 charities are based in Greenwich, 10.2 for every 10,000 residents, where 28% of residents are on low incomes. 19% show under three months’ reserves or three years of deficits on their latest return; 8% take half or more of their income from government. The five largest hold 53% of the area’s charity income.
Befriending in Greenwich
In Greenwich, the national network for your field (befriending) 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, 5,929 charities outside the field say in their own reports that they serve the same people, against 139 in it.
The 24 fields, against England
For each field of charity work we have mapped, where Greenwich 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 (6 of 24) and those in the thinnest fifth of areas (1).
Community transport
Disability services
Kidney patients
Local infrastructure
Community foundations
Older people living alone
Youth centres
Food aid
Cadets
Hospice care
Young people with SEND
Almshouses
Mental health
Families with young children
Young people
Veterans
Learning disability
Homelessness
Riding for the disabled
Drug and alcohol services
Dyslexia
Legal help
Unpaid carers
Befriending
Greenwich: 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
Greenwich296 charities
Education/training153
Religious activities139
General charitable purposes102
Poverty relief92
Arts, culture, heritage, sci…51
Health48
Disability42
Economic/community developme…39
Amateur sport37
Other purposes29
Overseas aid28
Environment24
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 Greenwich.
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: Befriending in Greenwich: 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/volunteer-centre-greenwich.html
LinkedIn: Befriending in Greenwich: 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/volunteer-centre-greenwich.html
Built from public information; no charity is named.
Bluesky / X: 296 charities are based in Greenwich: 10.2 for every 10,000 residents. We've read what they say they do. https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/volunteer-centre-greenwich.html
LinkedIn: 296 charities are based in Greenwich: 10.2 for every 10,000 residents. We've read what they say they do. https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/volunteer-centre-greenwich.html
Built from public information; no charity is named.
Bluesky / X: 19% of Greenwich'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/volunteer-centre-greenwich.html
LinkedIn: 19% of Greenwich'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/volunteer-centre-greenwich.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.