About Reach

Aims
Reach supports the UK voluntary sector by recruiting volunteers with business, management, technical and professional career experience and placing these skilled people in voluntary organisations that need their help. We work closely with organisations and volunteers to find the best possible fit between skills, interests, expectations and needs.

History
Reach was founded in 1979 by Nick Crace, a businessman who wanted to create more opportunities for retired professionals to use their skills and experience to help worthwhile causes.

Reach has grown considerably since then, expanding its service to include volunteers of all ages, skills and backgrounds. Today we are active throughout the UK and have connections with an increasingly diverse range of organisations.

The demand for our services is constantly rising. Modern technology now gives us the ability to keep track of thousands of volunteers, organisations and volunteer roles using our extensive database.

Facts and figures

• Reach handles around 4,500 requests from organisations every year.
• 60% of organisations that use our service come back to us again.
• There are around 2,500 skilled people on our books currently looking for volunteering opportunities
• Our volunteers contribute over 28 million pounds worth of expertise to the voluntary sector every year.
  

Funders
Reach’s service is free to both volunteers and organisations and demand is constantly on the rise. We therefore depend on our funders to maintain and develop our programme. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank them for their generous support.

2007 Contributors

Contributions £50,000 and over Big Lottery Fund GlaxoSmithKline ChangeUp - Capacity Builders Contributions £10,000 up to £50,000 Barclays City Bridge Trust Charities Aid Foundation Deutsche Bank Dulverton Trust Northern Rock Foundation Sobell Foundation Contributions £5,000 up to £10,000 Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health Economist Charitable Trust Garfield Weston Foundation Governance Hub Institute of Fundraising Peacock Trust Contributions £1,000 up to £5,000 Carpenters Company Charitable Trust Chapman Charitable Trust George A Moore Foundation The Grocers Charity Inman Charity Trustees Limited John Lewis Partnership John Menzies Lovells Royal & Sun Alliance Scottish & Newcastle Shell Sir James Knott Trust Sir James Reckitt Charitable Trust

Other valued contributors M Alsop A & G FergusonTrust Associated Newspapers Clifford Chance Coutts Duchy of Lancaster Benevolent Fund Eli Lilly Enkalon Foundation P Gallacher GKN Harris & Sheldon Group HBOS Foundation R Hope IMI Kingfisher Marsh Christian Trust Masterfoods Midland News Association N M Rothschild & Sons Smiths Group Tomkins Wolseley Charitable Trust

Want to help Reach? Make a donation today! Alternatively call us to discuss funding opportunities with Reach.

Our Organisation

Reach has a small core of full-time staff members and a much larger number of volunteers working in our main London office. There is also an extensive network of Reach volunteers at work across all the English regions Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. For more information on local Reach services, see Reach in Your Area.