EMERGENCY EXIT ARTS

Registered charity 1004137 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Emergency Exit Arts, based in Greenwich, is one of the UKs leading outdoor arts companies. We have nearly 40 years experience of bringing communities together through spectacular celebrations, day and night time carnivals, touring outdoor performances, public art and pyrotechnics.

Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£672k
Latest spending
£670k
Registered
1991
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity achieved a small surplus on general funds of £2,009, with free reserves increasing slightly to £169,560. However, total income dropped significantly to £672,363 from £1,184,902 in the prior year, and the trustees note that reserves are currently below their stated policy target of £200,000. The organization remains dependent on securing future funding, having received Arts Council England support until 2027 and other grants, while acknowledging the challenging economic environment.

Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: £200,000 (held: £170k)
The Directors remain of the view that a minimum level of free reserves of £200,000, roughly equivalent to four months of core operating costs, should be maintained
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts independently examined (not a full audit). Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)

Total income
£672k
Total spending
£670k
Cost of raising funds
£57k
Reserves (reported)
£170k
Employees
7

Reported reserves equal ~3.0 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Throughout England

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/03/2025£672k£670k
31/03/2024£1.2m£1.2m
31/03/2023£1.5m£1.5m
31/03/2022£971k£935k
31/03/2021£601k£538k

Common questions

Is EMERGENCY EXIT ARTS financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity achieved a small surplus on general funds of £2,009, with free reserves increasing slightly to £169,560. However, total income dropped significantly to £672,363 from £1,184,902 in the prior year, and the trustees note that reserves are currently below their stated policy target of £200,000. The organization remains dependent on securing future funding, having received Arts Council England support until 2027 and other grants, while acknowledging the challenging economic environment. Its FY2025 accounts were independently examined.

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

FunderDateAmountPurpose
The National Lottery Heritage Fund04/12/2024£129k"Stitching Light: amplifying the lives and histories of Bangladeshi women in England"
The National Lottery Community Fund25/10/2019£10kThamesmead Producers
The National Lottery Heritage Fund01/08/2018£10k"What's the story of Rothbury Hall?"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund06/06/2018£89k"Paper Peace: exploring and preserving the heritage of peace building"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund05/11/2014£50k"TOWIE: Radical Citizenship"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund07/03/2013£50k"The Only Way Is Ethics"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund06/04/2011£25k"We Are The Future"

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with GREENWICH + DOCKLANDS FESTIVALS.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
EMERGENCY EXIT ARTS£672k0unclearno doubt
GREENWICH + DOCKLANDS FESTIVALS FY2025£1.8m£70,001 - £80,0001aboveno doubt
THE LINE ART WALK FY2024£1.4m£60,001 - £70,0001aboveno doubt
EXETER PHOENIX LTD FY2024£2.7m0belowno doubt
THE ARTS DEPOT TRUST LIMITED FY2025£2.5m£60,001 - £70,0001unclearno doubt
GRAND UNION ARTS CIO FY2025£1.3m0unclearno doubt

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.