GuideStar UK was set up in 2003 to provide, for the first time, a single, easily accessible source of detailed information about every charity and voluntary organisation in England and Wales.
Our ambition is for www.guidestar.org.uk
to become the first place that anyone wanting information on a charity will look. The site provides a high profile free web presence, not just for established charities, but also for the many smaller specialist and local organisations that currently do not have websites. It promotes greater public understanding of the work of charities and how they are managed. And it is an invaluable source of statistical and financial information for grant makers, researchers and public policy makers.
No one pays to be included in our database and use of the website also
remains absolutely free of charge.
Currently, our site contains details of the 169,000 registered main
charities in England and Wales. In the future we plan to include charities in
Scotland and Northern Ireland. The base information about each charity is provided from the records of
the Charity Commission - and subsequently maintained and updated by the
charities themselves using online editing tools that we provide.
We have been supported by HM Treasury, the Home Office, the Charity Commission and
grant making trusts in the UK and US and by private donations.