Education & Young People Poverty & Inclusion
2025 Free
Variety, the Children's Charity

Impact Report 2025

Variety, the Children's Charity provides practical, life-changing support to disabled and disadvantaged children and young people across the UK. In 2025 it awarded 855 grants worth over £4.1 million, delivered 62 Sunshine Coaches to SEND schools, supported 13,144 children through accessible transport, awarded 732 specialist equipment grants through a new Family Fund partnership, and expanded its Access Interns work experience programme to 14 placements.

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Sunshine Coaches (adapted minibuses for SEND schools); wheelchair grants (manual, sports, powered and all-terrain); specialist equipment grants (sensory, adaptive and educational); Great Days Out experiences (14 events, 4,544 families); Access Interns supported work experience (14 placements); Voices for Change sports participation grants Custom geography from upload: UK

Key Metrics

Key Metric 1 855 grants awarded with a total value of over £4.1 million, directly supporting 20,350+ disabled and disadvantaged children and young people
Key Metric 2 62 Sunshine Coaches delivered (exceeding 60-coach target) at a value of £3.41 million+, supporting 13,144 children across SEND schools and non-profit organisations
Key Metric 3 732 specialist equipment grants awarded through the Individual Grants programme and the new Variety and Family Fund Together Fund, totalling £515,830

Key Outcomes

  • 89.1% of beneficiaries reported positive impact on health and wellbeing across all programmes; Sunshine Coach recipients scored 4.38/5 for overall impact
  • Together Fund achieved UK-wide reach across all four nations — England (73%), Wales (10%), Scotland (10%), Northern Ireland (7%) — representing a meaningful expansion of Variety's geographic footprint
  • Access Interns programme grew from 3 pilot placements to 14 in 2025, with plans to expand to 30 in 2026 through new educational institution partnerships

Geography

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