TOP MARKS FOR FRIENDLY VOLUNTEERS

Turning 70 this year, this charity supports older people with practical services such as Meals on Wheels, community transport, and hospital support. It does this with the help of an army of volunteers - both men and women - which numbered 55,000 members in 2007-08. In 2007 it also raised over £250,000 to help people affected by the summer floods, and opened its first community centre and cafe. For the third year in a row, the transparent and interesting annual report is one of our favourites, but would be improved further by the inclusion of longer-term future plans.

Read the charity's reply

QUALITY OF REPORTING What is this?	81 %
How much info does the charity want to share? This score, taken from our search for 43 key points in the annual report, gives the answer. Top mark is 100%. Anything over 70% is a good effort.
SIZE OF CHARITY... What is this?	Extra large
We only profile the largest charities in England & Wales, and our sizes are relative to the largest and smallest among them. So where we describe a charity as 'Small', it is still much larger than the national average.
HIGHEST SALARY What is this?	Over £150k
Taken from the vague bandings given in annual reports; note that 'Under £60k' could be £9k or £59k. Nonetheless the number of bars should roughly correlate with the 'Size of charity' bars.
ETHICAL INVESTMENT POLICY What is this?	Unknown
We asked the charity if it has an ethical investment policy. If yes, it gets an angel. Those with no policy but which don't invest in tobacco/arms get a halo. Those without investments, or who didn't respond, appear neutral. Those with stakes in arms/tobacco get a fallen angel.

But don't just take our word for it...

• WRVS's website
• The Big Give project information
• Charity Commission entry and link to WRVS's annual report

WRVS is an age positive charity. Our goal is to ensure every older person in the UK has the opportunity to stay independent and live the life they want. But we need more support to reach more older people. You can help by donating or becoming a WRVS volunteer. And there are many ways organisations can partner with us to lend a hand to older people in their community. Our supporters make a big difference, thank you.