Registered charity · London
Freedom From Torture
Freedom From Torture is a registered charity (number 1000340) based in London, governed by 13 trustees and chaired by Catherine Lois Sayer since 2024. Latest income £15m (2025). Source: Charity Commission register, updated 25th October 2026.
Also known as Medical Foundation, Medical Foundation Caring for Victims of Torture (Charity Commission)
- 13 trustees
- Income £15m (2025)
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Official record Charity Commission · updated 25th October 2026 · Sources · Free, no card or password
Network
The large node is Freedom From Torture. Red nodes are organisations, white nodes are people. Dashed links are historical or inferred. Click any node to explore.
Who leads it
- Catherine Lois SayerChair · since 2024
- Angela CluffTrustee · since 2024
- Brian Gareth DunlopTrustee · since 2023
- Dr Declan Neil WoodsTrustee · since 2026
- Dr Sarah Louise HekeTrustee · since 2026
- Mahesh WickramasingheTrustee · since 2021
- Michelle Leanne WeeksTrustee · since 2026
- Orla FEETrustee · since 2024
- Philomene UwamaliyaTrustee · since 2023
- Professor Sir Francis AthertonTrustee · since 2025
- Rasha ObaidTrustee · since 2021
- Shehara Natalie SamarasingheTrustee · since 2024
- Timothy Stuart GUYTrustee · since 2024
Current trustees as listed by the Charity Commission, which does not publish previous trustees.
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Similar charities are matched by type of organisation or purpose and listed by latest income; shared trustees are formal board links. Neither is proof the organisations work together.
About
- What it does
- The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives, Human Rights/religious Or Racial Harmony/equality Or Diversity, Other Charitable Purposes
- Where
- Throughout London, Manchester City, Scotland
- Website
- www.freedomfromtorture.org (opens in a new tab)
- Linked company
- Freedom From Torture
- Registered
- 1990
Income and spending
- YearIncomeSpending
- 2025£15m£14m
- 2023£9.9m£12m
- 2022£12m£12m
Earlier years
- 2021£10m£10m
- 2020£13m£10m
Income trend, 2020 to 2025.
Income source mix, 2025: Government contracts 2% · Government grants under 1%. From the charity's annual return.
Charitable objects
3.1 THE OBJECTS OF THE CHARITY ARE FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT: -3.1.1 TO PROVIDE RELIEF AND REHABILITATION FOR PERSONS, AND MEMBERS OF THEIR FAMILIES, WHO HAVE BEEN TORTURED OR WHO HAVE BEEN TRAUMATISED BY OBSERVING TORTURE OR RELATED VIOLENCE ON OTHERS CLOSE TO THEM IN RELATIONSHIP OR PROXIMITY, PARTICULARLY AT A YOUNG AGE, IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD, AND WHO, AS SURVIVORS OF TORTURE, ARE IN CONDITIONS OF NEED;3.1.2 TO EDUCATE, TRAIN AND SUPERVISE LEGAL, MEDICAL AND OTHER PROFESSIONALS AND PERSONS WHO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE TO SURVIVORS OF TORTURE;3.1.3 TO PROMOTE HUMAN RIGHTS (AS SET OUT IN THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND SUBSEQUENT UNITED NATIONS CONVENTIONS AND DECLARATIONS) AND THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, THE REFUGEE CONVENTION AND THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE (THE “CONVENTIONS”) BY THE FOLLOWING MEANS: (I) PROMOTING THE PROTECTION OF AND REDRESS FOR SURVIVORS OF TORTURE BY PROVIDING LEGAL AND WELFARE ADVICE, MEDICO-LEGAL REPORTS, RELIEF AND FINANCIAL AND OTHER ASSISTANCE;(II) RAISING AWARENESS BOTH IN THE UK AND ABROAD OF INCIDENTS AND PATTERNS OF TORTURE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD; (III) RAISING AWARENESS BOTH IN THE UK AND ABROAD OF HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES RELATING TO THE OBLIGATIONS ON STATES UNDER THE CONVENTIONS TO PREVENT AND PROHIBIT TORTURE, PUNISH THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR ACTS OF TORTURE, PROVIDE REMEDIES TO SURVIVORS OF TORTURE AND NEVER TO EXPEL, RETURN OR EXTRADITE A PERSON TO ANOTHER STATE WHERE THERE ARE SUBSTANTIAL GROUNDS FOR BELIEVING THERE IS A DANGER THEY WILL BE SUBJECTED TO TORTURE;(IV) CONTRIBUTING TO THE SOUND ADMINISTRATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS LAW AND ENSURING THAT GOVERNMENTS FULFIL THEIR HUMAN RIGHTS OBLIGATIONS RELATING TO TORTURE AND TORTURE SURVIVORS.
Grants received
64 grants · £7,121,789 total360Giving data, published by funders. Coverage only includes funders who publish their grants to 360Giving, so these figures are a floor, not a complete picture.
Top funders
- The National Lottery Community Fund · £4,659,654 (17 grants)
- City Bridge Trust · £384,000 (3 grants)
- Paul Hamlyn Foundation · £380,000 (3 grants)
- Ministry of Justice · £365,862 (5 grants)
- Northern Rock Foundation · £319,272 (3 grants)
Most recent
- The National Lottery Community Fund
- The National Lottery Community Fund
Board analysis
Board DNA
How this board is put together, from Charity Commission trustee records and Companies House - deterministic, no AI.iBoard compositionCounted from the dated Charity Commission trustee register: the current board only, past trustees excluded.
13 trustees on the board
- Catherine Lois Sayer Chair since 2024
- Angela Cluff since 2024
- Brian Gareth Dunlop since 2023
- Dr Declan Neil Woods since 2026
- Dr Sarah Louise Heke since 2026
- Mahesh Wickramasinghe since 2021
- Michelle Leanne Weeks since 2026
- Orla FEE since 2024
- Philomene Uwamaliya since 2023
- Professor Sir Francis Atherton since 2025
- Rasha Obaid since 2021
- Shehara Natalie Samarasinghe since 2024
- Timothy Stuart GUY since 2024
First-time vs portfolio trustees
First-time (12)
- Catherine Lois Sayer Chair since 2024
- Angela Cluff since 2024
- Brian Gareth Dunlop since 2023
- Dr Declan Neil Woods since 2026
- Dr Sarah Louise Heke since 2026
- Mahesh Wickramasinghe since 2021
- Michelle Leanne Weeks since 2026
- Orla FEE since 2024
- Professor Sir Francis Atherton since 2025
- Rasha Obaid since 2021
- Shehara Natalie Samarasinghe since 2024
- Timothy Stuart GUY since 2024
Portfolio (1)
- Philomene Uwamaliya since 2023
Sector coverage iSector coverageThe charitable fields this board's trustees govern in elsewhere, by Charity Commission classification. Excludes this charity.
Commercial experience iCommercial experienceThe industries this board's members are company directors in, by Companies House SIC code. Excludes this organisation's own company.
Succession forecast iSuccession forecastThe number of board seats likely to open in the next twelve months - summed across the board from each dated trustee’s tenure - and the profile worth recruiting next. From the filed record, deterministic.
Health of the organisation facts side by side - the conclusion is yours
7.6 months of spending held in free reserves · median for charities its size: 3.7 months · was 3.0 in 2020
Sources
Official record from the Charity Commission register for England and Wales. Governance Register calculates the connections.
Record details
- Registered charity number
- 1000340
- Status
- Registered
- Governing document
- MEMORANDUM AND ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED 26TH JUNE 1989 AMENDED BY RESOLUTIONS DATED 5TH DECEMBER 1989, 25TH JUNE 1990, 8TH APRIL 1998 AND 2007 (OSCR AMENDMENT)AS AMENDED BY SPECIAL RESOLUTION REGISTERED AT COMPANIES HOUSE ON 18 DEC 2014 AS AMENDED ON 24 FEB 2020AS AMENDED BY SPECIAL RESOLUTION(S) DATED 07 MAY 2020AS REGISTERED AT COMPANIES HOUSE ON 18 MAY 2020
- Companies House
- Company number 02398586 · Active
- Contact on the register
- 02076977823 · rroberts@freedomfromtorture.org
- Edition
- Register edition compiled 25th October 2026
- Labels
- Official record from the register · Calculated derived by Governance Register. Anything added by an organisation or person is labelled as provided by them.
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