Inquest Charitable Trust
Inquest Charitable Trust is a UK charity founded in 1981 that provides specialist casework, legal guidance, and advocacy for families bereaved by deaths in state custody — prisons, police custody, immigration detention, and mental health settings — across England and Wales, funded entirely by grants and donations.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1981
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Inquest Charitable Trust does
Inquest Charitable Trust is a UK-registered charity (Charity No. 1046650; Company No. 03054853), founded in 1981 by bereaved families and friends, that provides specialist casework, legal guidance, and advocacy for families bereaved by deaths in state custody — prisons, police custody, immigration detention, and mental health settings — in England and Wales. The organization operates a small team (11-50 staff) from a single London headquarters in Fonthill Road, delivering one-to-one casework support, an advice line open Tuesdays and Thursdays, the INQUEST Handbook, Family Listening Days, Connection Cafés, and a Family Forum. It also convenes the INQUEST Lawyers Group, a national network of specialist inquest lawyers, and runs a Family Reference Group of bereaved relatives.
The organization's "products" are services and knowledge outputs rather than technology: longitudinal data on state-related deaths tracked since 1981 (predating official government monitoring), reports and briefings, a multi-award-nominated podcast series ("Unlawful Killing"), a documentary ("The UK is Not Innocent"), photography exhibitions, and a 40-year digital archive. There is no software platform, SaaS offering, or proprietary technology stack; service delivery is entirely human-staff-mediated.
INQUEST is entirely independent of government and does not accept statutory funding. Its revenue model is donation- and grant-based: grants from a diversified portfolio of UK charitable trusts and foundations (including A B Charitable Trust, Bromley Trust, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, Three Guineas Trust, Evan Cornish Foundation, Legal Education Fund, and John Ellerman Foundation), individual donations processed via Stripe and JustGiving, and commissioned Family Listening Days paid for by public bodies, policymakers, and researchers. All services to bereaved families are provided free of charge.
Inquest Charitable Trust firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Inquest Charitable Trust
- Legal name
- Inquest Charitable Trust
- Website
- https://inquest.org.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1981
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Inquest Charitable Trust is a UK charity founded in 1981 that provides specialist casework, legal guidance, and advocacy for families bereaved by deaths in state custody — prisons, police custody, immigration detention, and mental health settings — across England and Wales, funded entirely by grants and donations.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Inquest Charitable Trust industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Bereavement Support and Legal Advocacy Services
- NAICS
- Individual and Family Services (6241), Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Voluntary Health Organizations (813212)
- SIC
- Services-Legal Services (8111)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Victim Services & Witness Assistance (Justice System) (BPAIAFAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Bereavement & Grief Support Services (Hospice-Affiliated/Independent) (HLADAHAL), Bereavement & Grief Support Services (Family Aftercare) (HSABAFAI)
Keywords
Where Inquest Charitable Trust is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Inquest Charitable Trust business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Donations and Grants: INQUEST is entirely reliant on grants and donations to continue their work. They receive funding from foundations and trusts including A B Charitable Trust, Bromley Trust, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, Three Guineas Trust, Evan Cornish Foundation, Legal Education Fund, and John Ellerman Foundation. Individual donations are accepted via their website with payment processing through Stripe.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Monthly | Free support services for bereaved families |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels9 records
Inquest Charitable Trust product offering
Product offeringCore offering
INQUEST is a UK charity founded in 1981 that provides specialist casework support, legal guidance and advocacy for families bereaved by deaths involving the state, including deaths in police custody, prisons, immigration detention and mental health settings. The charity also delivers community-building programmes such as Family Listening Days and Connection Cafés, policy research, public campaigning, and knowledge products including the INQUEST Handbook, the multi-award-nominated 'Unlawful Killing' podcast, and 'The UK Is Not Innocent' documentary.
Product overview
INQUEST is a charitable organization (not a technology company) that provides support services to bereaved families following deaths involving the state. The organization offers casework support, guidance resources, community building programs, and campaigning activities. Its core services include the INQUEST Handbook, Family Listening Days facilitation, a podcast series (Unlawful Killing), a digital archive, connection cafes, workshops, and a network of specialist lawyers. INQUEST does not offer a technology product, software platform, or SaaS offering.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Casework Support Service
Quantifiable outcome
- Supported 796 families in 2025
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Inquest Charitable Trust
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Inquest Charitable Trust technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Inquest Charitable Trust partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- INQUEST Lawyers GroupcoreA national network of lawyers with specialist expertise in inquests into deaths involving the state. ILG members predominantly represent bereaved families and share INQUEST's values. The ILG enables referrals from INQUEST's national casework service to qualified legal representatives.
- StripeminorPayment processing provider for secure donation handling on the INQUEST website.
- JustGivingminorOnline fundraising platform used for charity donations and fundraising events.
- Corporate partnersminorINQUEST welcomes corporate charity partnerships. Contact: [email protected]
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Inquest Charitable Trust competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Amnesty International UK: Major UK human rights organization with broader geographic and thematic remit, but overlapping work on deaths in custody, policing accountability, and detention conditions across the UK.
- Mind: Large UK mental health charity whose remit includes deaths in mental health detention, a subset of INQUEST's work. Broader scope and significantly larger scale, but partial overlap on mental health custody deaths.
Direct peers
- Howard League for Penal Reform: UK charity advocating on prison conditions and penal policy, with overlapping work on deaths in custody and family-facing support. Directly comparable mission focus on the prison and detention estate.
- Prison Reform Trust: Independent UK charity working to reduce imprisonment and improve prison conditions; tracks and reports on deaths in custody, making it a close functional peer on the prison-related subset of INQUEST's work.
- JUSTICE: UK law reform and human rights charity working on access to justice, inquests, and accountability mechanisms. Highly comparable in its legal-policy reform orientation and engagement with the inquest system.
- Liberty: UK civil liberties and human rights organization that litigates and campaigns on policing, detention, and state accountability. Overlapping remit on challenging state misconduct and supporting affected individuals through legal processes.
- Centre for Corporate Accountability: UK charity focused on accountability for deaths and injuries caused by corporations and the state, founded and chaired (1999-2009) by current INQUEST Chair Steve Tombs. Direct overlap on state-caused deaths, inquests, and family advocacy.
Emerging players
- Article 39: UK charity protecting children's rights in detention and institutional settings, including work on deaths and restrictive practices. Comparable in mission on state-related deaths but narrower in beneficiary scope (children only).
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Inquest Charitable Trust social profiles
Digital presenceInquest Charitable Trust financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Inquest Charitable Trust leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles25 records
Inquest Charitable Trust funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Inquest Charitable Trust M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Inquest Charitable Trust
What does Inquest Charitable Trust do?
INQUEST is a UK charity founded in 1981 that provides specialist casework support, legal guidance and advocacy for families bereaved by deaths involving the state, including deaths in police custody, prisons, immigration detention and mental health settings. The charity also delivers community-building programmes such as Family Listening Days and Connection Cafés, policy research, public campaigning, and knowledge products including the INQUEST Handbook, the multi-award-nominated 'Unlawful Killing' podcast, and 'The UK Is Not Innocent' documentary.
Is Inquest Charitable Trust a public or private company?
Inquest Charitable Trust is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Inquest Charitable Trust founded?
Inquest Charitable Trust was founded in 1981. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Inquest Charitable Trust based?
Inquest Charitable Trust is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Inquest Charitable Trust make money?
One revenue line is on record: donations and Grants.
Who are Inquest Charitable Trust's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Amnesty International UK and Mind. Direct peers are Howard League for Penal Reform, Prison Reform Trust, JUSTICE, Liberty and Centre for Corporate Accountability. Article 39 is listed as an emerging player.
Does Inquest Charitable Trust have an API?
No public API is recorded for Inquest Charitable Trust.
What industry is Inquest Charitable Trust in?
Inquest Charitable Trust's product category is Bereavement Support and Legal Advocacy Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAIAFAJ, Victim Services & Witness Assistance (Justice System), with a secondary code of HLADAHAL, Bereavement & Grief Support Services (Hospice-Affiliated/Independent). Its NAICS code is 6241 and its SIC code is 8111.