uk-charities-mcp 0.1.0

MCP server for querying UK Charity Commission data via CharityBase

UK Charities MCP Server

Query UK charity data directly from Claude using the official Charity Commission API.

Why I built this: MCP integration with UK public sector data APIs. See also: food-hygiene-mcp for FSA food hygiene ratings.

Features

Query registered charities with 4 specialized tools:

Tool	Description
get_charity_details	Full charity info: contact, trustees, causes, finances
get_charity_financials	5 years of detailed income & spending breakdowns
get_charity_trustees	List of current trustees
get_governing_document	Charitable objects, governing doc, area of benefit

Quick Start

1. Get your free API key from api-portal.charitycommission.gov.uk
2. Add to Claude Desktop config (see below)
3. Restart Claude Desktop
4. Ask: "Get details for Oxfam (charity 202918)"

Claude Desktop Configuration

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

Option 1: Via PyPI (recommended)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "uk-charities": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["uk-charities-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "CCEW_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Option 2: From source

git clone https://github.com/w4sspr/uk-charities-mcp.git
cd uk-charities-mcp
uv sync

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "uk-charities": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "--directory", "/path/to/uk-charities-mcp", "uk-charities-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "CCEW_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: If you get spawn uvx ENOENT or spawn uv ENOENT, use the full path. Run which uvx or which uv to find it, then use that path in the command field.

Prerequisites

• uv package manager
• CCEW API key (free at api-portal.charitycommission.gov.uk)

Finding Charity Registration Numbers

This MCP requires charity registration numbers. Find them at: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/

Example Charities

Charity	Registration #
Oxfam	202918
British Heart Foundation	225971
Cancer Research UK	1089464
RSPCA	219099
Barnardo's	216250
Save the Children	213890
British Red Cross	220949

Example Prompts

Once connected, try asking Claude:

• "Get details for charity 202918" (Oxfam)
• "Show me the financial history for the British Heart Foundation (225971)"
• "Who are the trustees of Cancer Research UK?"
• "What are the charitable objects of the RSPCA?"

Development

Running Tests

export CCEW_API_KEY=your-api-key
uv run pytest tests/ -v

Testing with MCP Inspector

CCEW_API_KEY=your-api-key uv run mcp dev src/uk_charities_mcp/server.py

API Details

This server uses the official Charity Commission API, which provides live data from the Register of Charities.

Tool Specifications

get_charity_details

get_charity_details(registration_number: int) -> CharityDetails

Returns: name, registration number, charity type, status, registration date, contact info, trustees, causes, beneficiaries, operations, latest income/spending.

get_charity_financials

get_charity_financials(registration_number: int) -> CharityFinancials

Returns up to 5 years of detailed financial records with breakdowns:

• Income: donations & legacies, charitable activities, trading, investments, government grants
• Spending: charitable activities, fundraising, governance, grants to institutions

get_charity_trustees

get_charity_trustees(registration_number: int) -> CharityTrustees

Returns the charity name and list of current trustees.

get_governing_document

get_governing_document(registration_number: int) -> GoverningDocument

Returns the charity's charitable objects (mission statement), governing document description, and area of benefit.

Limitations

What This MCP Cannot Do

Limitation	Reason
Search by name	CCEW API has no search endpoint. You must provide the registration number.
Scotland charities	Only covers England & Wales. Scottish charities are regulated by OSCR.
Northern Ireland charities	Only covers England & Wales. NI charities are regulated by CCNI.
Sector-wide statistics	Cannot aggregate across all charities without downloading the full register.
Historical trustees	API only provides current trustees, not historical records.

Prompts That Won't Work

These types of requests require search functionality or aggregation that the API doesn't support:

• "Find mental health charities in London" (no search by cause/location)
• "List the largest charities by income" (no ranking/sorting)
• "How many charities are there in the UK?" (no aggregate stats)
• "Compare Oxfam and Save the Children" (works, but you need both reg numbers)

Workaround

To find a charity's registration number:

1. Go to register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk
2. Search for the charity by name
3. Copy the registration number from the results
4. Use that number with this MCP

Roadmap

• Scotland charities via OSCR API
• Northern Ireland charities via CCNI API
• Caching layer to reduce API calls
• Bulk lookup for comparing multiple charities

License

MIT