Barnardo’s, the largest children’s charity in Britain, has recently revised its website and promotional material after a Guardian investigation revealed that its spending claims were inflated. The charity, which had an income of £299.5m in the last financial year, has long claimed that 92p of every £1 it spends goes towards “working with the children and young people,” but data suggests that only 73.7% of expenditure was spent on charitable activities. The charity’s latest company accounts reveal that it spent £274,570,000 in the financial year ending in 2022, of which £202,437,000 was spent on charitable activities. This revelation has prompted the charity to rewrite its website and review all relevant materials to ensure that they accurately reflect how the charity spends its funds. The revision was welcomed by the Charity Commission, which noted that transparency is critical for maintaining public trust. Despite increasing scrutiny of charitable spending and declining levels of public trust, charities like Barnardo’s continue to compete for donations even as household budgets shrink.
