Turn2us Annual Report 2024-2025
365 days of tackling financial insecurity told by those who lived them. Welcome to our 2024 - 2025 Annual Report.
About us
Turn2us is an organisation with a long history, that’s focused firmly on the future.
The Turn2us story began in 1897, when Elizabeth Finn set out to help people struggling to make ends meet. Fast forward to 2025, we’re still here, helping people to be more financially secure, but in a vastly different world.
This Annual Report covers a critically important period in our 2023-2028 strategy - and overall history. It’s a period when we’ve listened to the people we’re here to help and advocate for - and moved away from an exclusive focus on grants and one-to-one support.
Instead, to meet people’s needs more effectively, we’re developing our digital tools, building on partnerships and learning from people’s lived experience to drive societal change.
Our vision is simple. And achievable. Whether you collaborate with Turn2us or you contribute funding, guidance, influence or lived experience – you have a vital role to play.
365 days of progress towards our vision – with people at the centre of it all
This has been an exciting year for Turn2us. We’ve grown our reach and increased our impact. We’ve improved what our digital tools can do, expanded our partnerships and worked with communities across the UK to help many more people live well.
These positive changes to so many people’s lives were made possible thanks to donations, partnerships and more. Imagine what we could achieve this year, and beyond, with your support.
- 1 million grant searches: People used our online Grants Search 971,365 times, so they could find extra money to give them vital breathing space. These grants don't impact benefits and don't need to be paid back.
- People completed over 2.4 million calculations using the free Turn2us Benefits Calculator.
- We made £3 million in grants, supporting 2,164 people across the UK – and their families.
- 1.5 million people found new benefits they're entitled to, worth an average of £5,396 each. This amounts to £12.9 billion in annual income people could be claiming.
- 4.8 million people used our website looking for information to help them claim the support they're entitled to.
- We launched our PIP Helper. It was co-created with people who have navigated the Personal Independence Payment system themselves. Since its launch in May 2024, the tool has attracted over 470,000 visitors, with its features used more than 140,000 times.
I've never come across an organisation that can have this much impact simply by helping people access the social security system.
Financial activities of the charity
Incoming resources 2024-25
- Rental income from Elizabeth Finn Homes: £3,905,000 (47%)
- Donations and grants: £1,673,000 (20%)
- Investment income: £881,000 (11%)
- Net profit donation from Elizabeth Finn Homes: £666,000 (8%)
- Legacies: £547,000 (7%)
- Trading activities: £472,000 (6%)
- Acquisition of Casa Stella: £93,000 (1%)
- Total: £8.2 million received. Contributions from Elizabeth Finn Homes were made possible by the generosity of previous supporters who financed or donated the care homes to the charity.
Outgoing resources 2024-25
- Helpline, online and face-to-face support: £4,152,000 (32%)
- Grant casework: £3,527,000 (27%)
- Grants given: £2,980,000 (23%)
- Income generation: £1,383,000 (11%)
- Property maintenance of Elizabeth Finn Homes: £796,000 (6%)
- Investment management: £223,000 (2%)
- Total: £13.1 million spent. Charitable activity accounts for 81% of the total financial activity of the charity or 81p for every £1 spent.
Our strategic priorities
Strategic priority 1: Offering high quality information and support
We will be led by people experiencing financial insecurity, the communities we work with and our partners, and our improvement-focused evaluation, to develop integrated services people need.
Strategic priority 2: Strengthening communities through place-based programmes
We will develop existing programmes and start new ones, designed by and rooted in communities across the UK.
Led by local organisations and people with experience of financial hardship, we will address financial insecurity and economic injustice together.
Strategic priority 3: Helping to build a fair and just economy through systems change
Building on our data, insight and learning, we will campaign to build an economy that includes everyone and that we can all contribute to. We will work in partnership to create new systems that build financial security for all.
To go through life constantly thinking about money is a horrible way to feel and no one wants to feel like they just have to get by - you just want to get your bills paid and enjoy life.
Programmes and Partnerships
As we continue to expand our reach and work with people, partners and communities, we're helping people create lasting change.
Turn2us is truly evolving. The last year has seen significant progress in how we deliver our services and the number of people we can reach.
A key indication of how we're evolving to use our funding as effectively as possible is how we began to move away from the live Helpline, toward a more strategic and digital-first model.
The 2024 - 2025 period also marked the final year before a number of teams merged into the unified Programmes Team (incorporating Local Programmes and National Grants) to focus on more streamlined and integrated programmes.
As co-production and place-based work has become more important in steering what we do, we've in turn become an organisation that can meet people's needs in innovative new ways.
In the last 365 days we, our co-production partners and partner organisations did a vast range of work.
In 2024 –2025 we supported hundreds of thousands of people navigating benefits and grants systems.
The next 365 days and beyond…
In the next financial year we plan to expand the Turn2us Assistant’s referral capacity to cover more regions and needs. We’ll continue improving the PIP Helper based on user feedback and data insights. And we’ll constantly assess and improve our e-learning support too.
Local focus with far-reaching impact
In 2024 - 2025 the Local Programmes team focused on deep, place-based partnerships to address financial insecurity through community-led collaboration.
For example, following co-produced workshops with local partners in Middlesbrough and Barking and Dagenham we embedded the lived experience of local people into our programme strategy, shaping long-term solutions for financial resilience.
The next 365 days and beyond...
We'll foster new and strengthen existing partnerships with local organisations, so that we can continue supporting individuals in those communities through grant-making and access to relevant services.
Remaining at the core of these programmes, is our work alongside people with lived experience to co-produce and amplify local solutions to financial insecurity.
Policy and Influencing
We've seen how much more effective we are as an organisation when we work closely with others…
Collaboration has long been a vital aspect of the work we do at Turn2us, but during the second year of our strategy we've taken great leaps forward in increasing our reach, influence and relevancy.
Creating a society where everyone has the financial security they need to thrive can't be done by one organisation. It requires changes to how we see ourselves as a society and a drastic reimagining of what the social security system means to us all.
That's why we commissioned the University of Bristol to research the prevalence, roots and impact of stigma within our social security system. We worked with co-production partners to determine our policy recommendations and develop our influencing strategy.
Our team has focused on three key areas in the last 365 days:
- Collaborating with the sector to improve the narrative around social security.
- Building our profile and relationships with the new government.
- Working with lived experience partners to challenge stigma in the social security system.
The results so far show convincingly that we're on the right strategic path.
The next 365 days and beyond…
In 2025/26, narrative change is one of our organisational priorities. We’re delighted to be working with Royal London to expand our reach and explore innovative opportunities to realise this. This will include a project looking at how financial institutions can change their practices and communications to reduce stigma and normalise accessing financial support.
We're developing relationships with ministers and a number of MPs. We're excited to be strengthening those in 2025-2026.
For me, co-production has always been about turning a negative experience into a positive one. By working together, we can make the system better for everyone.