DUCHY OF LANCASTER BENEVOLENT FUND

Registered charity 1026752 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

To support charitable causes in the County Palatine of Lancaster, in the administrative counties of Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, and elsewhere in the country where the Duchy of Lancaster has historical links.

Causes: General Charitable Purposes · Education/training · The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives · Disability · The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Accommodation/housing · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · Get email alerts

Latest income

£643k

Latest spending

£592k

Registered

1993

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity holds £67,031 in free unrestricted reserves, which is a small fraction of its total net assets of £18.7 million, the majority of which are held in the Expendable Endowment Fund. The trustees report that the investment portfolio generated a loss in the year, but the charity remains solvent with adequate cash resources to meet its liabilities. The trustees consider there to be no material uncertainties regarding the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: maintain a reserve in the Unrestricted General Fund, whilst maintaining the real terms capital value of the investments in the Expendable Endowment Fund (held: £67k)

“The Trustees’ policy is to distribute investment income received and to maintain a reserve in the Unrestricted General Fund, whilst maintaining the real terms capital value of the investments in the Expendable Endowment Fund.” — page 5

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Saffery LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

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

Total income

£643k

Total spending

£592k

Cost of raising funds

£78k

Reserves (reported)

£67k

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~1.4 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 12.2% of total income — above the median for charities its size (4.9%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

Amanda Parker
Diane Hawkins DLJP
James William Pender Chalmers · trustee of 1 other charity
Peter Oliver OBE DL
Sir Michael John Stevens GCVO
Sir Thomas Alexander Crispin Leech
Sonia Tolaney

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

Operates in: Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/03/2025	£643k	£592k
31/03/2024	£1.4m	£1.6m
31/03/2023	£938k	£1.1m
31/03/2022	£511k	£620k
31/03/2021	£362k	£1.1m

Common questions

Is DUCHY OF LANCASTER BENEVOLENT FUND financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity holds £67,031 in free unrestricted reserves, which is a small fraction of its total net assets of £18.7 million, the majority of which are held in the Expendable Endowment Fund. The trustees report that the investment portfolio generated a loss in the year, but the charity remains solvent with adequate cash resources to meet its liabilities. The trustees consider there to be no material uncertainties regarding the charity's ability to continue as a going concern. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Saffery LLP.

Who funds DUCHY OF LANCASTER BENEVOLENT FUND?

Funders whose own accounts filings name DUCHY OF LANCASTER BENEVOLENT FUND as a grant recipient include THE BOLTON GUILD OF HELP.

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
THE BOLTON GUILD OF HELP	FY2023	£4k	Fuel top ups for individuals in fuel poverty

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.

Funder	Similar charities funded	Amount to them
THE WESTMINSTER FOUNDATION	1	£94k
RAMBLERS HOLIDAYS CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£2k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with Duke of Lancaster's Foundation.

Duke of Lancaster's Foundation income £2.3m
THE DUKE OF LANCASTER HOUSING TRUST income £831k
EARL OF CHESTER'S FUND income £330k
THE REGIMENTAL CHARITY OF THE DUKE OF LANCASTER'S REGIMENT (KING'S, LANCASHIRE AND BORDER) income £255k
LANCASTER DISTRICT COMMUNITY & VOLUNTARY SOLUTIONS income £766k
LANCASTER, RIPLEY CHURCH OF ENGLAND EDUCATIONAL TRUST income £134k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
DUCHY OF LANCASTER BENEVOLENT FUND	£643k	—	unclear	—	no doubt
Duke of Lancaster's Foundation FY2025	£2.3m	—	above	—	no doubt
THE DUKE OF LANCASTER HOUSING TRUST FY2025	£831k	—	within	—	no doubt
EARL OF CHESTER'S FUND FY2025	£330k	—	unclear	—	no doubt
THE REGIMENTAL CHARITY OF THE DUKE OF LANCASTER'S REGIMENT (KING'S, LANCASHIRE AND BORDER) FY2025	£255k	—	above	—	no doubt
LANCASTER DISTRICT COMMUNITY & VOLUNTARY SOLUTIONS FY2025	£766k	—	unclear	—	no doubt

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