Save the Children won fewer new long-term grants in 2017 and so expects to see a fall in income in 2018, it has revealed in its latest annual accounts.
The charity’s recently published accounts for the year ending December 2017 say that while its overall level of income in 2017 was in line with the previous year, it “faced particular challenges in certain areas”, including financial support for its UK programmes and uncertainties over future EU funding.
It wrote: “We won fewer new long-term grants from institutional donors than in previous years, so expect to see a fall in our total income in 2018.”
It also said that its temporary withdrawal from bidding for new DfID contracts, which the charity announced it was doing in April 2018 following safeguarding concerns raised at the charity, will further reduce its expected income.
Income up
The charities income for the year ending December 2017 was £406.6m, up from £404.5m the previous year. Its expenditure was down by £2m to £408m.
Save the Children saw a fall of over £10m in donations, which came in part from a fall in donations from institutional donors from £24,3m to £8.5m. However its donations from legacies were up by just over £1m.
Termination costs
Save the Children spent almost £374,000 on termination costs in the year 2017, and saw a fall in its number of full-time equivalent staff of 44 to 1,137.
The charity’s accounts said that the termination costs were “primarily as a result of the elimination of positions that are no longer required following a structural review”
It added that “certain costs have been re-categorised between other staff costs and pension costs, with no impact on the overall staff costs.”
The highest earning employee was Kevin Watkins, the charity’s chief executive, whose actual gross salary was £145,145. A total of 75 employees earned over £60,000, up by 20 on the previous year.
Save the Children’s accounts reflected on the safeguarding issues and statutory inquiry that was launched into the charity this year following media reports, and the charity’s own independent review.
Watkins, said in the accounts: “Since starting as CEO I have made it clear that I have zero tolerance for any form of harassment, bullying or disrespect in the workplace. We need to ensure that our work culture and behaviour reflects our values. The #MeToo movement has highlighted concerns over sexual harassment globally – and we should be part of efforts to address these concerns.
“That is why, following high-profile media reports, Save the Children UK commissioned an independent review in February 2018 to identify areas where we can do more to build a culture in which all staff feel safe, protected and valued.”
Also in 2017, the charity’s accounts show, Save the Children reached 13.3 million children through its work; supported 10 million children in emergencies through 121 humanitarian responses in 60 countries; and had 117,000 campaign actions taken to push for change for children.
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