What Respond does

Respond is a UK national charity founded in 1990 that provides specialist trauma-informed psychotherapy, advocacy, and training services for people with learning disabilities and autistic people who have experienced abuse, violence or trauma. The charity operates three core service lines: psychotherapy (Survivors Service, Young People's Services including school-based therapy, and Family Support), London-based advocacy (Independent Sexual Violence Advocacy and CouRAGEus for young women and girls), and a training and consultancy division covering trauma-informed practice, clinical supervision, and reflective practice. Services are delivered by a team of approximately 35 staff from a London headquarters (28-30 Charles Square, Shoreditch) with a former regional office in Birmingham, complemented by online delivery that supports national reach (88% of survivors service clients chose online access in 2022).

Respond's business model is hybrid and characteristic of the UK specialist charity sector: a combination of statutory commissioning (NHS Right to Choose, Individual Funding Requests to ICBs, pan-London sexual violence contracts), restricted grant funding from foundations such as The Three Guineas Trust, John Lyons Charity, Sir Halley Stewart Trust and Lloyds Bank Foundation, voluntary donations, and a self-pay therapy option for clients not eligible for funded places. The charity is positioned as the only UK organisation providing specialist trauma-informed services exclusively for this population, with reported outcome metrics of 86% client improvement and 94% recommendation rate in 2022.

In October 2024, Respond formally joined the Bild Group partnership of charities alongside Bild, the Restraint Reduction Network, and Bild ACT, retaining independent governance while accessing pooled HR, finance and communications capacity. The charity has also been admitted to the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) pan-London sexual violence alliance (2025-2030) and partnered with Bild on a Diploma in Practice Leadership in Trauma Informed Practice (2026). The organisation underwent a significant restructure in 2024 prompted by financial pressures from the changing commissioning landscape, closing the Circles of Support and Accountability service and pausing the Forensic psychotherapy service, and transitioned leadership with Dr Foziha Hamid appointed as new Director in late 2024.

Name

Respond

Legal name

Respond

Website

https://respond.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Respond is a UK national charity providing specialist trauma-informed psychotherapy, advocacy and training for people with learning disabilities and autistic people who have experienced abuse, violence or trauma, funded by grants, statutory commissioning and donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mental Health and Disability Support Services

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Voluntary Health Organizations (813212), Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (62412), Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Mental Health & Crisis Support Services (BPAGACAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Domestic Violence & Abuse Support Services (BPAGAEAD), Trauma-Informed Care & Crisis Response (School-Based) (EDAKAMAF)

Keywords

• Trauma-informed psychotherapy
• Learning disability services
• Specialist advocacy services
• Autism support services
• Sexual violence advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Charitable Donations: Respond relies on the generosity of private donors and grant-making trusts to sustain specialist services. The charity encourages regular donations to support planning for future services.
2. Commissioned Services: Pan-London services for survivors of sexual violence and domestic violence are commissioned, providing free therapy at point of access for up to 6 months including assessments.
3. Grant Funding: Funded by trusts and foundations including The Three Guineas Trust, John Lyons Charity, Sir Halley Stewart Trust, and statutory commissioners. Also received COVID-19 specific government funding.
4. Self-Funded Therapy: Individuals who do not qualify for funded services or when individual funded places are unavailable may choose to self-pay for therapy.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Respond is a UK national charity providing specialist trauma-informed psychotherapy, advocacy, and training services for people with learning disabilities and autistic people who have experienced abuse, violence, or trauma. Services include one-to-one psychotherapy, family support, sexual violence advocacy, and training/consultancy delivered to organisations across the statutory and voluntary sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Therapy Services Specialist trauma-informed psychotherapy for people with learning disabilities and autistic people across the UK who have experienced abuse and trauma. Includes one-to-one therapy adapted to individual communication styles.
• Advocacy Services Advocacy services supporting people with learning disabilities and autistic people who are survivors of sexual and domestic abuse to navigate the Criminal Justice System. Includes ISVA (Independent Sexual Violence Advocacy) and CouRAGEus services.
• CouRAGEus: Young Women's Specialist Advocate A specialist advocacy service for young women and girls with learning disabilities or autism who have experienced abuse or violence.
• Independent Sexual Violence Advocacy (ISVA) Service Independent Sexual Violence Advocacy service providing support to survivors of sexual violence with learning disabilities or autism in navigating the criminal justice process.
• Family Support Service Support service for families, carers and wider networks of people with learning disabilities and autistic people who have experienced trauma, helping them understand trauma responses and support their loved ones.
• Survivors Service Pan-London therapy service for survivors of sexual violence and domestic violence, providing free therapy at point of access for up to 6 months including assessments.
• Young People's Services Psychotherapy services for children and young people with learning disabilities or autism who have experienced trauma, including school-based therapy delivered within SEN schools.
• Training and Development Specialist trauma-informed training, clinical supervision, reflective practice and consultancy services for health, social care, education and voluntary sector professionals supporting people with learning disabilities and autistic people.
• Clinical Supervision and Reflective Practice Clinical supervision and reflective practice services for professionals working in trauma-informed practice with people with learning disabilities and autistic people.
• Qualification in Trauma Informed Practice A formal qualification pathway in Trauma Informed Practice, delivered in partnership with Bild, providing learners with specialist training in trauma-informed working with people with learning disabilities and autistic people.

Quantifiable outcome

• 86% of clients felt improvement in wellbeing, capacity to cope, and reduction in isolation
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Bild (for Trauma Informed Practice Diploma)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Respond is partnering with Bild on the newly launched Bild Diploma in Practice Leadership in Trauma Informed Practice. Learners specialising in Trauma Informed Practice will benefit from Respond's unique depth of expertise, and Respond gains access to deliver qualifications through Bild's established diploma pathways.
• Mayor's Pan-London Sexual Violence Support Service AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025Respond joined Galop, SurvivorsUK, Rape Crisis South London, Women and Girls Network, Solace, and nia in a new five-year alliance with MOPAC to deliver pan-London sexual violence support services across all 32 London boroughs and the City of London. The alliance combines 225 years of collective experience to offer consistent, accessible, needs-led services including therapy, advocacy, peer support and holistic interventions.
• Rape Crisis England and WalesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 September 2025In-person meeting between Respond's Advocacy and Therapy teams with Rape Crisis England & Wales CEO and COO to exchange ideas and reaffirm shared commitment to keeping survivors at the centre of all they do.
• Bild GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2024Respond joined the Bild partnership of charities in October 2024 as an independent charity with its own Board of Trustees and governance, benefiting from pooled business support services. The partnership unites shared commitment to improving support for people with learning disabilities and autistic people through trauma-informed working and championing human rights. Respond joins Bild, Restraint Reduction Network (RRN), and Bild Association of Certified Training (ACT).
• Restraint Reduction Network (RRN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAs part of the Bild Group, Respond is connected with the Restraint Reduction Network which develops standards for restraint reduction in care settings.
• Valuing People AllianceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRespond has collaborated with Bild Group through the Valuing People Alliance for years, including co-hosting trauma-informed conferences, webinars and workshops.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Bild: Bild is Respond's parent partnership organisation and the most directly comparable UK charity championing the rights of people with learning disabilities and autistic people. Bild delivers training, certification (via Bild ACT), and advocacy in adjacent areas, and now shares pooled back-office services with Respond, making operational and strategic comparison unavoidable.
• Hft (Home Farm Trust): Hft is a long-established UK charity providing personalised support for people with learning disabilities, including those with complex needs and trauma histories. Comparable in operating model and target population to Respond, Hft offers an instructive peer on scale, funding mix, and commissioner relationships in the learning disability sector.
• Galop: Galop is the UK's specialist LGBTQ+ anti-violence charity providing sexual violence and domestic abuse support. A formal pan-London alliance partner with Respond (October 2025), Galop is a directly comparable peer on sexual violence service delivery, advocacy models, and London commissioning structures.
• United Response: United Response is a UK charity providing support for people with learning disabilities, autism, and mental health needs, including trauma-informed service design. Comparable in mission, beneficiary base, and commissioned-service model, it represents the most direct operational peer to Respond.
• Rape Crisis South London: Rape Crisis South London is a specialist sexual violence support organisation and a fellow pan-London MOPAC alliance partner with Respond. It provides directly comparable therapy, advocacy, and helpline services, making it one of the closest operational peers within Respond's commissioned service portfolio.

Broad incumbents

• Sense: Sense is a UK charity supporting people with complex disabilities including learning disabilities and autism. Comparable in mission focus on complex-needs beneficiaries and commissioned-service delivery, Sense provides a peer benchmark on multi-disability service models and fundraising scale.
• MacIntyre: MacIntyre is a well-established UK charity providing learning disability and autism services across education, residential, and community-based settings. As a broader incumbent serving a wider scope than Respond, it offers relevant benchmarking for operational scale, geographic footprint, and funding diversification in the sector.
• Mencap: Mencap is the UK's largest learning disability charity, providing advocacy, services, and policy influence across a much wider scope than Respond. As a broad incumbent, it shapes the commissioning and policy environment within which Respond operates and represents the ceiling of organisational scale in the sector.
• Hestia: Hestia is a London-based charity providing domestic abuse support and recovery services, including specialist provision for marginalised groups. Comparable to Respond's pan-London advocacy and survivor-services work, particularly its ISVA and domestic abuse support functions.

Emerging players

• Ambitious about Autism: Ambitious about Autism is a UK charity focused specifically on autism education and transition services for young people. While narrower than Respond on trauma and abuse, it directly overlaps on the autism beneficiary segment and is a relevant peer on specialist service models for autistic young people.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/RESPOND_UK
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/Responduk
• Facebookfacebook.com/RespondUK
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/respond-non-profit-organisation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Respond