OSCR Scottish charity profile

Birthlink

ActiveCharity number SC013007
Registered26 May 1982
Main locationCity of Edinburgh
Legal formCompany (the charity is registered with Companies House)

01 Identity

Scottish charity record

Snapshot 25 August 2026
OSCR charity number
SC013007
Status
Active
Regulatory type
Standard
Designated religious body
No
Geographical spread
More than one local authority area in Scotland
Volunteers
1-50 volunteers
Staff
26
Postcode
EH2 3DN

02 Purpose and work

What the charity exists to do

Birthlink exists to support adults with experience of Adoption and Care. It owns and operates the the national Adoption Contact Register where adopted people and birth parents can register and when a match is made provides all support and mediation to the service users including facilitating reunion meetings. Birthlink supports adults with experience of care, helping individuals access and make sense of their care records and providing support throughout the process.

Charitable purposes

  • the advancement of health
  • the relief of those in need by reason of age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage

Beneficiaries

  • Other defined groups

Activities

  • It carries out activities or services itself

Constitutional objectives

(a) The company is established for charitable purposes only. and the expression charitable purposes shall mean charitable purposes under section 7 of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 which are also regarded as charitable purposes in relation to the applications of the Taxes Acts . (b) In particular, the company is established for the following purposes: (i) to provide to people affected by adoption in Scotland and to people who have been looked after by local authorities in Scotland services designed to eliminate or alleviate disadvantages (such as ill-health and absence of well-being, particularly of a psychological nature. feelings of guilt, loss and grief. identity problems. discrimination. impaired life chances. impaired or lack of access to information relating to genetic inheritance and relevant medical history. separation from birth relatives. lack of information relating to birth relatives. and difficulties arising in relation to making contact with birth relatives and building and maintaining relationships) suffered by such people as a consequence of having been affected by adoption or having been looked after by local authorities in Scotland. (ii) to enhance the well-being and promote the welfare of all people affected by adoption in Scotland. (iii) to enhance the well-being and promote the welfare of people who have been looked after by local authorities in Scotland. (iv) to provide support and assistance to people affected by adoption in Scotland to enable them to secure the performance by public authorities of statutory duties owed to them. (v) to provide support and assistance to people who have been looked after by local authorities in Scotland to enable them to secure the performance by public authorities of statutory duties owed to them.

03 Annual returns

Income and expenditure history

5 periods
Year endIncomeExpenditureStaffReturn received
31 March 2025£594,467£868,0372623 December 2025
31 March 2024£733,416£780,6102623 December 2024
31 March 2023£647,118£671,7962631 December 2023
31 March 2022£422,261£356,692268 December 2022
31 March 2021£312,749£403,709266 December 2021

Figures are those reported by the charity and supplied in the OSCR bulk download. Blank facts remain distinct from zero.

04 Contact record

Principal office or trustees address

Address supplied to OSCR
21 Castle Street, Edinburgh
Website supplied to OSCR
https://birthlink.org.uk/
Parent charity
Not supplied

No direct external links on this profile. The official OSCR record and source documentation are available through BritDB’s dedicated source page.

05 Provenance

Source for this profile

© Crown Copyright and database right 2026. Contains information from the Scottish Charity Register supplied by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator and licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. BritDB is an independent service and does not claim to be the Scottish Charity Register.