Charity Commission Chief Executive David Holdsworth delivers keynote speech at Charity Times' Annual Conference 2025.
Thank you Srabani and good morning everyone / bore da pawb.
It's a privilege to be speaking to at this conference for the first time as the Commission's CEO, after rejoining the organisation last summer.
I probably don't need to explain to this audience why I returned to work with the charity sector.
Current operating environment and challenges
The Charity Commission stands at a unique vantage point, where the perspectives of charities, government, the public and donors meet.
From this position, we see three trends.
First, an incredibly challenging economic environment for the sector.
Like other sectors, charities face inflationary pressures and rising operational costs.
But charities are also dealing with increased demands for their services.
The cumulative impact of these trends on charities is, in some cases, extremely challenging.
Second, charities, like other organisations, are contending with rapid technological and social change.
Some tech innovations, notably in the space of AI, offer tools that can help charities do more with less and increase their impact.
But looking ahead, these technologies potentially challenge the very role of organisations and institutions in the traditional sense.
Notably when coupled with changing attitudes, especially among younger people, whose allegiances are increasingly to causes, not 'bricks and mortar' or brands and institutions and where technology platforms offer alternatives of direct giving to those in need.
Thirdly - global conflicts, geo political shifts and instability. The shocking invasion of Ukraine and conflicts in the middle east have seen demands on and need of charity increase significantly. Whilst at the same time the once seemingly immovable, solid post war geo political system is shifting, creating uncertainty and instability. This makes responding to increased global need more difficult and challenging to navigate.
Impact and Potential
Despite those challenges the sector has never been more important - and let's be clear what charities achieve for society is astonishing, both in terms of scale and impact.
Based on Annual Returns submitted to the Commission for 2023's accounts, the sector had an annual income of over £96 billion - up around 7% on the previous year.
We registered just over 5,000 new charities last year, having assessed a record 9,840 applications - a 9% increase on the previous year.
And there are around 700,000 trustees who collectively steward the sector though good times and bad, and whose work often goes unrecognised and uncelebrated - though we at the Commission are all too aware of their service and contribution.
But numbers alone don't tell of the human impact of charity. Of the positive difference charities make in transforming or enriching communities, our environment, our wildlife, heritage, culture as well as saving and improving countless individual lives.
It is that impact that charities, their amazing trustees, volunteers and employees have - that we must not lose sight of - nor let the challenges shroud.
There are so many examples to tell.
Like the Felix Project which had a landmark year, providing 38 million meals through its network of 1,264 community organisations and schools by growing its network of collaborations. Building on that success it has launched its Multibank, which has seen 1.46 million non-food essential items distributed to try and ensure no Londoner in need goes without.
Welsh Women's Aid and its partners helped 739 survivors access refuge-based support. That is life-saving intervention happening every day, across the country - offering not just physical shelter but a sense of home and safety when people need it most.
That the osprey - that magnificent bird of prey - which was once driven to near extinction in the UK - is now thriving, with over 250 nesting pairs living in Britain today, is thanks to charities.
And it is thanks to charity that, on average, two lives are saved at sea every single day by RNLI volunteers.
Also I know from my last CEO role at the Animal and Plant Health Agency, thanks to animal welfare charities' campaigning work over decades, the UK now has one of the most advanced legal frameworks protecting animal health and welfare.
These a just a few examples of what has been made possible by the charity sector.
Potential and Opportunity
So whilst I don't underestimate for one moment the challenges charities face - and which I have seen first hand on my many visits - I would urge you not to let those challenges dim nor shroud the huge impact you are having, everyday.
I also firmly believe that as Albert Einstein once said:
in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.
Arguably, the bigger the challenge, the greater the opportunity. Ideas previously rejected as too radical; innovation that once felt too big; conversations which felt too challenging can suddenly feel possible - and necessary.
Take for example, the city I call home, Liverpool. Which is incidentally also the Commission's main home, where most of our staff are based.
I grew up in Liverpool in the 1980s. It was a time when the city felt like it had lost its way, with ever increasing challenges and ever dwindling opportunity and resources.
Today my home city is transformed. And that transformation happened through collaboration - a combination of philanthropic investments, national and local government investment, alongside renewed community action notably in the arts, culture and tourism which acted as catalysts for wider renewal.
Each individual project mattered, but what made for game-changing transformation was the cumulative impact of collaborative and complementary efforts from a number of actors. And that is true across the sector today.
Take for example, Fareshare. Working collaboratively, supporting other charities in their network, they've helped distribute 92% more food over the last year, and made their budgets go 78% further.
This resulted in them distributing a whopping 135 million meals, reaching nearly 1 million people.
If you'll allow me to return once more to my hometown.
In late 2024, Zoe's Place, a hospice in Liverpool which provides care to children, faced an uncertain future. The community of Liverpool, supported by business leaders and politicians, as well as a fellow charity the Institute of our Lady of Mercy, fellow hospice Claire's Place and regional media collectively rallied to save Zoe's Place, with the Commission playing a key facilitating role.
Now, ownership has been transferred to the newly registered Liverpool Zoe's Place. The charity's trustees have also finalised plans to build the charity's new home, securing the continuation of the former charity's legacy.
The hospice had been helping families through the unimaginable since 1995 - to see that vital service disappear would have been gutting for the community, and a huge blow to the families who rely on the organisation's support.
Instead, by reawakening their community's passion and pride in the service, the charity will now continue to provide that support for years to come.
In addition to this kind of public appeal, forging new corporate partnerships is another option being explored by many charities. Indeed, the Charities Aid Foundation estimates that UK businesses contribute around £4 billion to the sector.
Take one example - a mere stone's throw from here: national homelessness charity, Shelter.
The organisation has partnered with clothing brand, Lucy and Yak. Last year they held a successful pop-up shop in Kings Cross, and now, they've launched donation boxes in several Lucy and Yak shops across the country encouraging customers to donate clothing.
Shelter has responded to competition facing charity shops with the rise of preloved selling platforms in an agile and innovative way. Through this partnership, they've added a funding stream to their 'bow' and potentially reached new supporters.
But I appreciate that public appeals and new corporate partnerships won't work for everyone.
As a result of the Covid pandemic, many charities needed to re-evaluate their financial resilience and ability to weather further storms - many had dipped into their reserves, while others had little to fall back on.
With the same desire to ensure services do not come to an end, some charities with similar goals turned to mergers - combining resources to create something more sustainable.
For example, Community Integrated Care, one of the largest social care providers in the UK, merged with Inspire, a social care provider based in Scotland, in 2023. The charities saw how funding shortfalls, economic pressures and workforce shortages were impacting social care more broadly and chose to secure their future together rather than struggle through apart. And it paid off.
Community Integrated Care's income increased by £22 million in the year after the merger, and the charities reported publicly that the merger was a good strategic fit. These charities found strength in unity while continuing to provide that sense of belonging their beneficiaries depend on.
Mergers are not the answer for all - and I don't underestimate the work that can be involved in navigating a successful transition. But where you decide a merger is the best way forward, the Commission is on hand.
Conclusion: strength in collaboration
I've touched upon a few examples today to evidence my underlying confidence in this sector's collective power. Just as no home is built by a single pair of hands, no lasting social change comes from isolated efforts.
Our dear late Queen, Elizabeth II, once said:
On our own, we cannot end wars or wipe out injustice, but the cumulative impact of thousands of small acts of goodness can be bigger than we imagine.
In the year of the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe and Victory in Japan we should remember those words and that out of darkness can come something brighter and better than before.
From the darkness of tyranny, fascism and unfathomable loss came a renewed determination for peace, democracy and equality. That which charities had long fought for then came forward in the form of the NHS, welfare state, expansion of access to higher education, and workers' rights.
While the challenges facing society may be less existential, I believe this sector can again play a transformational role across communities, across government, local and national, with businesses and philanthropists to once again tackle our biggest issues with joint purpose.
There is no greater charity sector in the world than here and my message is clear.
Keep shining a light, charities.
Shine a light on your charitable purpose.
Shine a light of hope, and of refuge to those in need.
Shine a light on your innovation and impact.
And always remember that you not only stand on the shoulders of giants, but you too are now building that better brighter future for the next generation.
Thank you. I look forward to hearing your thoughts, and taking your questions.
