Mencap’s total income has risen to more than £200m, an increase of £7.1m in the last year.

The 3.6 per cent increase to £200.6m means Mencap has now resumed its upward income trend of 2007 to 2010, which saw increases of 3.2 per cent, 3 per cent and 2.7 per cent. 

This is in contrast to last year, when the figure of £193.5m actually represented a £700,000 drop in income from 2010’s £194.2m.  

‘An exceptional year’

Mencap refers in its annual report to 2011/12 as “an exceptional year”. Its income-to-cost ratio was 2.9, up from 2.5 last year, and the charity plans to increase this to over 3.0 by 2016/17. Its costs went down from £196.2m last year to £190m this.

Mencap increased its volunteer numbers in 2011/12 by 1,500 to reach 12,000 in total. The charity’s fundraising objective for the year was to generate a fundraised contribution of £11.1m, and it exceeded this by reaching £12.8m – 15 per cent above the target and 59 per cent more than last year. It attributes £4.9m to its charity of the year partnership with the Co-operative Group.

Corporate fundraising has also increased, almost doubling since 2010 to just over £450,000. The year was also one of Mencap’s most successful to date for trust fundraising, with £1.23m secured from this income stream. Grants accounted for over £2.5m.