2025 Enhanced

Annual Review April 2024 to March 2025

Royal Mencap Society is one of the UK's leading charities supporting people with learning disabilities and their families in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In 2024-25, the organisation rebuilt financial resilience ahead of National Insurance cost increases, and launched an ambitious Omaze prize draw partnership with Jodie Whittaker that raised £3.9m in six weeks. The Voices Council, led by people with learning disabilities, challenged key decisions and shaped Mencap's new strategy to 2030. New CEO Jon Sparkes OBE joined in June 2024. A new commercial counselling subsidiary was established.

Report snapshot
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About

Direct social care support (England, Wales, Northern Ireland); information and advice service; learning disability support groups and community inclusion; Voices Council (governance and advocacy); Employment Programme (supported internships); learning disability awareness campaigns; Mencap charity shops; legal and policy advocacy; partnership and network services Custom geography from upload: England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Key Metrics

Key Metric 1 Social care services provided to thousands of people with learning disabilities; information and advice service caseloads growing in complexity; financial resilience rebuilt ahead of NI cost pressures
Key Metric 2 Omaze Yorkshire House Draw partnership raised £3.9m in 6 weeks with Jodie Whittaker as ambassador; awareness of people with learning disability significantly boosted through campaign
Key Metric 3 Voices Council (led by people with learning disabilities) challenged decisions on service handbacks, agency staffing and benefits access; new strategy to 2030 under development; new CEO Jon Sparkes OBE joined June 2024

Key Outcomes

  • Rebuilt financial resilience ahead of NI cost increases — 'more fortunate than many in the sector'; 80th anniversary approaching; new CEO appointed to lead strategy development
  • Voices Council challenged service handbacks and pushed for people with learning disabilities to be at the heart of decision-making; government challenged on benefits, SEND and housing access
  • Omaze fundraising significantly boosted profile; funding to be invested in health inequality programmes across England, Wales and Northern Ireland; new commercial counselling arm announced; strategy to 2030 co-designed with people with learning disabilities and staff

Geography

UK-Wide

Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
Total income £18,180,000 and total expenditure £18,560,000 (year ended 31 December 2024, charity no. 1084958 England/Wales and SC039654 Scotland); in 2024 spent £3.8m on...
Key Metric 2
700+ members supported through in-person visits and support calls in 2025; 697 support grants allocated in 2025 for essential items including specialist clothing, cooling...
Key Metric 3
Largest global investment in EB research to date: multi-million-pound drug repurposing trial provisionally agreed with LifeArc partner at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation...
£34,000 raised in 2025 winter appeal supporting families like Darcie's with specialist items, emotional support and research; 697 support grants delivered in 2025; first Members Connect event in Northern Ireland; EB Priorities Setting Partnership study completed providing global research roadmap
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
22,507 households helped through RBL casework and specialist support services across 66 countries
Key Metric 2
22,600 grants given to those in need, totalling £11.8 million
Key Metric 3
733 beneficiaries represented at tribunals, resulting in £24.5 million in War Pensions awards
1,548 new families living with dementia supported by RBL Admiral Nurses service
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
3,600 blind veterans received support across the UK; 447 new blind veterans started receiving support in 2024/25
Key Metric 2
1,598 referrals to rehabilitation services completed; 313 veterans received assistive technology training
Key Metric 3
997 volunteers donated 26,824 hours of support; befriending service awarded Quality in Befriending Excellence — one of only 11 organisations in the UK to...
1,831 National Creative Wellbeing Project packs issued to help veterans reconnect with creativity and independence
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
349,000+ people completed the Know Your Risk tool to assess their risk of type 2 diabetes in 2024
Key Metric 2
£4 million invested in 17 new research projects; total active grants portfolio worth over £45 million
Key Metric 3
32% of people completing NHS England's Path to Remission programme — which Diabetes UK campaigned for — put their type 2 diabetes into remission
Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge invested over £23 million in 19 projects across 161 experts from 47 institutions in 8 countries since 2022