The Back-up Trust

What The Back-up Trust does

The Back-up Trust is a UK-registered charity founded in 1985 that supports people living with spinal cord injury (SCI). Headquartered in London with 11-50 employees, the organization operates as a non-profit service provider delivering its programs free of charge to beneficiaries across the UK. Its core offerings span mentoring, structured courses (online and in-person), wheelchair skills training, family support, and peer support — collectively delivered through 43,000+ service accesses in 2024/25 and reaching 873 wheelchair skills participants in the same period.

The technology stack supporting delivery is conventional third-party SaaS rather than proprietary infrastructure: Mentorloop powers the formal mentoring program, Zoom hosts online courses, and a dedicated mobile app delivers the wheelchair skills curriculum in a self-serve format. The organization extends its reach through formal affiliations — including a partnership with Aspire and memberships such as Social Enterprise UK and the Fundraising Regulator — and through recognized employer credentials such as Disability Confident Employer. Services are coordinated across the full SCI lifecycle, from initial adjustment and family support through reintegration programs such as the Coach to Work course.

The financial model is non-profit and donation-driven, with no fee charged to beneficiaries. Income is sourced across donations, community fundraising events, lottery activity, gifts in wills, corporate partnerships, and grant funding, giving the charity a diversified but unsegmented revenue mix. Operating for 40 years and entering a 40th-anniversary refresh in 2025, The Back-up Trust functions as a stable, mission-locked incumbent in the UK SCI support segment, where roughly 4,700 new SCI cases occur annually.

Name

The Back-up Trust

Legal name

The Back-Up Trust

Website

https://backuptrust.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Back-up Trust is a UK charity founded in 1985 that delivers free mentoring, wheelchair skills training, family support, and reintegration courses to people living with spinal cord injury. It serves individual SCI beneficiaries and their families across the United Kingdom.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Disability Support Services

NAICS

Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (62412), Other Individual and Family Services (624190)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Disability Services & Independent Living Support (BPAGACAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Disability Services & Independent Living Support (BPAGAEAG)

Keywords

• Spinal cord injury support
• Disability support services
• Wheelchair skills training
• Peer mentoring programmes
• Charity support services

Headquarters

HQ city

London

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, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Donations: Individual donations from supporters, including one-time and regular giving options via the website, text giving, and payroll giving.
2. Fundraising Events: Revenue from challenge events (marathons, cycles, treks), special events (Back Up Ball, Front Row, City Dinner), and community fundraising activities.
3. Lottery: Weekly lottery scheme where players can win up to £25,000 every Friday, with at least 50% from every entry supporting people affected by spinal cord injury.
4. Gifts in Wills: Legacy giving programme where supporters leave gifts in their wills to support the charity's work.
5. Corporate Partnerships: Partnerships with companies who support the charity through corporate giving, employee fundraising, and cause-related marketing.
6. Trust and Foundation Grants: Philanthropy and trusts funding for specific programmes and services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Back-up Trust is a UK charity that delivers free mentoring, life-changing courses, wheelchair skills training, and family support services for people affected by spinal cord injury and their families. Services are delivered in person and online across the UK, supported by a volunteer network of peer mentors who have lived experience of spinal cord injury. The charity operates the Back Up Lounge online community, Back Up Connect peer support network, and a wheelchair skills mobile app. All services are provided free at point of use and funded through donations, fundraising events, lottery, legacies, and grants.

Product overview

The Back-up Trust is a UK-based charity providing support services for people with spinal cord injuries. Their offering is a portfolio of interconnected services rather than a single product, including mentoring programmes, life-changing courses (such as What Next?, Skills for Work, Skills for Independence, Multi Activity, City Skills, Coach to Work, Moving Forwards 18-25s, Next Steps, and Over 50s courses), wheelchair skills training (including an app), family support services, children and young people services, the Back Up Lounge community space, Back Up Connect peer support, the Back Up and Thriving Accessible Travel Toolkit, a Legal Panel, an Employment Toolkit, and an Education Inclusion Toolkit. These services are designed to work together to rebuild confidence and foster independence following spinal cord injury.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• placeholder placeholder

Quantifiable outcome

• 98% of wheelchair skills training participants learn more skills
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• AspirecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAspire is a spinal cord injury charity that Back Up partners with as part of their 'How we work' partnerships approach. Both organisations work to support people with spinal cord injuries in the UK, with complementary services.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Brain & Spine Foundation: UK charity providing information and support across neurological conditions including spinal cord injury. Comparable as a UK-based neuro-disability support charity sharing part of the SCI beneficiary population.
• Spinal Research: UK charity funding medical research into spinal cord injury treatment and repair. Comparable UK SCI cause-area charity, but focused on research grants rather than direct service delivery, so a partial-overlap peer rather than direct competitor.

Direct peers

• Spinal Injuries Association (SIA): UK-wide charity for people with spinal cord injury, providing peer support, advocacy, and information services. Directly comparable mission, beneficiary base, and peer-led service model to Back Up.
• Whizz-Kidz: UK charity providing wheelchairs and mobility equipment plus wheelchair skills and youth programmes to children and young people. Comparable in its children/young-people focus and wheelchair-skills training overlap.
• WheelPower: National wheelchair sport charity providing rehabilitation-through-sport and wheelchair skills programmes in the UK. Comparable mission to rebuild independence after SCI and overlaps with Back Up's Multi Activity and wheelchair skills courses.
• Aspire: UK spinal cord injury charity offering housing, advice, and welfare support to people affected by SCI. Listed by Back Up as a 'How we work' partner and operates highly comparable services to the same beneficiary population.

Emerging players

• Different Strokes: UK charity supporting younger stroke survivors with rehabilitation, exercise classes, and peer networks. Comparable operating model (peer-led, regional exercise/recovery programmes, younger-adult focus) for a different but adjacent neurological condition.

Broad incumbents

• Motability: Large UK disability charity operating the Motability car scheme and broader disability support programmes. Comparable as an established UK disability nonprofit serving overlapping beneficiaries, though its focus is mobility/transport rather than SCI-specific peer support.
• Scope: Major UK disability charity providing information, advice, and support across all disabilities. Comparable as a UK disability nonprofit competing for donor mindshare and offering peer/community support, though serving a much broader beneficiary base than Back Up's SCI niche.
• Disability Rights UK: Leading UK disability rights and support organisation providing advice, campaigning, and resources. Comparable as an established UK disability nonprofit serving overlapping populations, though operating at a broader policy/advocacy level rather than direct SCI peer support.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/backuptrust
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-back-up-trust

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 The Back-up Trust