Veterans charity sees its income fall by a fifth

One of the UK’s best supported charities has seen a sharp dip in income, according to its annual report.

Help for Heroes, which supports British servicemen and women who have been wounded or injured in the line of duty, has seen meteoric growth since it was launched by Brn and Emma Parry in 2007.

While it raised a record £40.6m in 2012, its annual accounts show the charity suffered a heavy drop in income for the financial year 2012-13 of more than a fifth, down to £33.9m.

Trends across the charitable sector show that voluntary income has been decreasing year on year - Jonathan Ballin

The biggest drop was in total funds from individual giving, which fell 33% from £24.5m in 2012 to £16.4m in 2013.

Legacies were up slightly, from £3m in 2012 to £3.4m in 2013.

After the murder of fusilier drummer Lee Rigby, who was attacked and killed in Woolwich while wearing a Help for Heroes t-shirt in May last year, supporters donated more than £600,000.

Jonathan Ballin, chief financial officer at Help for Heroes, said the drop was in line with other charities’ income.

"When the charity launched six years ago we experienced unprecedented growth – predominantly through voluntary donations,” he said.

“Trends across the charitable sector show that voluntary income has been decreasing year on year.

"Coupled with the fact that the immediacy of war is less apparent to the public in the media as we withdraw from Afghanistan, we expect to see a move away from traditional income to growing areas of income, which will develop long-term income growth in line with our forecasts."