Harrison's Fund

What Harrison's Fund does

Harrison's Fund is a UK-registered charity (Charity No. 1146662) and not-for-profit company limited by guarantee (Company No. 07782637) founded in 2011 by Alex Smith following his eldest son Harrison's diagnosis with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a progressive and terminal genetic condition. Based in Esher, Surrey, the organization spent its first 11 years funding DMD medical research, including a £236,000 investment in the Neuromuscular Research Programme at Great Ormond Street Hospital. In 2022, Harrison's Fund pivoted its mission entirely to become self-described as "The First Duchenne Mental Health Charity" in the UK, redirecting all activity toward funding therapy and psychological support for families affected by DMD. The charity operates with a small team (1-10 employees) led by founder Alex Smith (CEO) and Maxine Foster (Chrysalis Grants & Fundraising Manager).

The organization delivers its mission through four core programmes: (1) Project Chrysalis, which provides Chrysalis Grants of up to £1,000 per family to access private therapy sessions while awaiting NHS services; (2) Life Raft Membership, a subscription service priced at £4.99/month or £54.89/year offering mental wellness content, expert interviews, guest speaker events, and direct access to leadership; (3) the "You Are Strong" Collection of branded merchandise (t-shirts £18-£26, hoodies £32-£49, prints £18-£25, stickers £3) sold via a print-on-demand e-commerce store; and (4) flagship fundraising events including Royal Parks Half Marathon, Surrey Half Marathon, Spring Onion Cycle, and RideLondon. The charity has no proprietary technology, API, SDK, or AI/ML capabilities and operates primarily through digital channels including a Wix-hosted website, social media presence across YouTube, X, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, a monthly newsletter, and the Enthuse-powered giving platform at giving.harrisonsfund.com.

The revenue model is a hybrid of donations (primary), recurring subscriptions, merchandise sales, and event-based fundraising. Distribution is achieved through direct community engagement with newly diagnosed families, NHS and neuromuscular clinic referrals, school partnerships (nine named UK schools), community club partnerships (rugby, football, fitness, scouts), and corporate CSR partnerships (Dib-dab Art Club, Fawkes & Reece, Stagecoach Cobham, Networks Centre, Stonefern Design). The addressable beneficiary population is structurally limited to approximately 2,500 children currently living with DMD in the UK.

Name

Harrison's Fund

Legal name

Harrison's Fund

Website

https://harrisonsfund.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Harrison's Fund is a UK charity that funds mental health therapy and psychological support for families affected by Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. It provides grants for private therapy, a subscription membership, fundraising events, and branded merchandise through a small team based in Esher, Surrey.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Mental Health Support Services

NAICS

Voluntary Health Organizations (813212), Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Child and Youth Services (62411)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Disability Services & Independent Living Support (BPAGACAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Palliative Care, Hospice & Serious Illness Support (BPAGACAK), Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA), Behavioral Health & Substance Use Program Funding (Public Health) (HLAJALAI)

Keywords

• Duchenne muscular dystrophy support
• Mental health therapy grants
• Duchenne family counseling
• Charitable mental wellness services
• Duchenne community fundraising

Headquarters

HQ city

Esher

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: Primary revenue stream from individual donations, corporate donations, and fundraising events. Donations fund the Chrysalis Grant programme for mental health therapy.
2. Life Raft Membership Subscription: Monthly (£4.99) or annual (£54.89) subscription providing access to mental wellness content, expert interviews, guest speaker events, and direct access to CEO and Head of Community Engagement.
3. Merchandise Sales: Sale of branded clothing and products (t-shirts, hoodies, prints, stickers) through the online store. Products feature Harrison Smith's 'You Are Strong' affirmations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Harrison's Fund is the first UK charity dedicated solely to funding mental health therapy and psychological support for families affected by Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Its flagship offering, Project Chrysalis, provides Chrysalis Grants of up to £1,000 per family to access private counselling, family therapy, specialist practitioners, and resilience programmes while families wait for NHS services. It is complemented by the Life Raft Membership subscription service offering ongoing wellness content and community support.

Product overview

Harrison's Fund operates as a mental health charity offering a portfolio of support services for families affected by Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The core offering is Project Chrysalis, which provides Chrysalis Grants (up to £1,000) for private therapy sessions. This is complemented by the Life Raft Membership subscription service (£4.99/month or £54.89/year) offering wellness content and community access. The charity also sells merchandise through the 'You Are Strong' Collection and organises flagship fundraising events including running and cycling challenges. For 11 years the charity funded research, but has since pivoted entirely to mental health support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Project Chrysalis: Harrison's Fund's mental health programme providing Chrysalis Grants of up to £1000 to help families access private therapy sessions for Duchenne-related mental health support.

Products and services

• Project Chrysalis (Chrysalis Grants) The charity's flagship mental health programme providing Chrysalis Grants of up to £1,000 per family to access private therapy sessions (counselling, family therapy, specialist practitioners, and resilience programmes) while families wait for NHS services. Provided free of charge to UK families affected by Duchenne.
• Life Raft Membership

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• RunForCharitycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOfficial charity event partner providing access to hundreds of running, cycling and challenge events across the UK. Harrison's Fund has charity places available at events including Royal Parks Half Marathon, Surrey Half Marathon, and various 10Ks and marathons.
• Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHarrison's Fund invested £236k in the Neuromuscular Research Programme at GOSH alongside GOSH Charity and Duchenne UK. Led by Professor Francesco Muntoni, the programme expanded to 8 personnel and more than doubled patient involvement to 139 patients.
• EnthusecoreTechnology or IntegrationDonation and fundraising platform processing online payments for the charity. Powers the giving.harrisonsfund.com platform for donations and event registrations.
• Schools (Parkside, Royal Kent, Downsend, St John's Leatherhead, Danes Hill, Reeds, Bedford, Oundle, Rokeby)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational partnerships with UK schools for Duchenne awareness education and fundraising. Schools learn about Duchenne and fundraise to support mental health programmes.
• Clubs (Cobham RFC, Newwave Crossfit, London Broncos, Arsenal FC, Scouts, Oxshott Royals)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerCommunity club partnerships for fundraising events and awareness building. Includes fitness clubs, rugby teams, football clubs, and youth organizations.
• Corporate Partners (Dib-dab Art Club, Fawkes & Reece, Stagecoach Cobham, Networks Centre, Stonefern Design)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerUK businesses supporting the charity through various CSR initiatives including payroll giving, matched funding, and employee fundraising programmes.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Muscular Dystrophy UK: The largest UK charity covering all muscular dystrophies including Duchenne. Comparable as a broader incumbent in the same disease category, with overlapping donor base and significantly greater scale, brand recognition and corporate-partner access.
• Together for Short Lives: UK charity for children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions. Comparable because it serves the same population of families facing terminal childhood diagnoses and funds psychological and palliative support, though across many conditions rather than Duchenne specifically.
• YoungMinds: UK charity focused on children and young people's mental health. Comparable mission alignment on youth mental wellbeing and family support, but at significantly broader scope and scale than the Duchenne-specific programme.
• Young Lives vs Cancer (formerly CLIC Sargent): UK charity supporting children and young people with cancer and their families. Comparable as a serious-illness family-support charity serving a similar emotional-support and access-gap value proposition, but in oncology rather than Duchenne.
• Carers Trust: UK charity supporting unpaid family carers, including parents and siblings of children with serious conditions. Comparable because Harrison's Fund's primary beneficiaries are family carers of Duchenne patients requiring emotional and respite support.
• Mind: The UK's largest mental health charity. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the same mental-health funding and support space, but operating at national scale across all conditions rather than focused on the Duchenne niche.
• Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity: Co-funder of the Neuromond Street Neuromuscular Research Programme alongside Harrison's Fund. Comparable as a UK children's-hospital charity funding serious-illness research and family-support services, though at materially larger scale.

Direct peers

• Duchenne UK: UK charity exclusively dedicated to funding Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research and support. Directly comparable because it co-invested with Harrison's Fund in the GOSH Neuromuscular Research Programme and operates in the same UK Duchenne donor market.
• Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD): US-based nonprofit focused on Duchenne, serving families affected by the condition through research funding, advocacy and support programmes. Directly comparable mission and constituency, though operating primarily in the US rather than the UK.

Emerging players

• Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity: UK charity providing specialist nursing and emotional support to seriously ill children. Comparable as a niche children's serious-illness support charity with overlapping family-support and clinical-access-gap value propositions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/harrisonsfund
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@harrisonsfund
• Facebookfacebook.com/HarrisonsFund
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/harrison's-fund
• Instagraminstagram.com/harrisonsfund

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 Harrison's Fund