THE COMMONWEAL TRUST

Registered charity 1053157 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as COMMONWEAL, COMMONWEAL TRUST, THE COMMONWEAL COLLECTION

The Commonweal Trust maintains the Commonweal Collection, an independent specialist library devoted to issues around nonviolent social change working to promote peace and justice. The library provides literature, resources and other support for those who share its vision of the good society.

Objects

ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING A LIBRARY FOR PROVIDING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR AND PROMOTING THE STUDY AND GENERAL KNOWLEDGE OF PHILOSOPHY RELIGION POLITICAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SCIENCE,HISTORY,JURISPRUDENCE AND ALL MATTERS RELATING TO THE PROGRESS AND DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITIES AND OF MANKIND GENERALLY AND ESPECIALLY RELATING TO THE SOLVING OF CONFLICT AND THE PROGRESS OF MANKIND TOWARDS NON-VIOLENCE.

Area of benefit: NOT DEFINED

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

Causes: Education/training · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Bradford, Yorkshire and The Humber, England (from the postcode on the register)

Latest income

£43k

Latest spending

£29k

Registered

1996

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that total receipts for the year were £42,795, primarily from restricted funding, while total payments were £29,173.26, resulting in a net increase in funds. The trustees report that the charity is not in deficit and is actively building unrestricted reserves with a target of holding two months of running costs.

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

What the accounts disclose

Largest income source: JRCT (100% of income)

“Total receipts for the year were £42,795 the majority of which was funding for Growing the Movements from JRCT (£42,612)” — page 4

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Reserves position: below the charity's own stated reserves policy

“The charity is building its unrestricted funds with an aim towards holding 2 months running costs as reserves. We are not yet at this stage.” — page 4

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

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

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

Complaints handling
Paying staff
Risk management
Volunteer management

From the charity’s annual return (Part A, self-declared)

Answers and figures the charity gave in Part A of its annual return to the Charity Commission. They are self-declared: not verified by the Commission or by this site. Only positive answers and figures are listed; items not listed are simply not shown.

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 05/04/2025

Volunteers: 10

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 05/04/2024

Volunteers: 3

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Annual return filing dates (Charity Commission record)

Of its last 5 annual returns with a recorded received date, 4 were received after the due date: year ending 05/04/2025 (received 09/08/2026, 185 days after the 05/02/2026 due date); year ending 05/04/2024 (received 07/02/2025, 2 days after the 05/02/2025 due date); year ending 05/04/2023 (received 11/03/2024, 35 days after the 05/02/2024 due date); year ending 05/04/2022 (received 14/03/2023, 37 days after the 05/02/2023 due date).

Due and received dates as recorded in the Commission’s annual-return data; the data does not say whether an extension was agreed. Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Commonweal Trust (matched by registered charity number).

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

Trustees · trustee networks

Blessing Onwudiwe
Dr Ute Kelly
HEATHER BLAKEY
MS ELLIE CLEMENT
MS JEN FOX
Matthew Kieran Dunne · trustee of 1 other charity
Rachel Julian · trustee of 2 other charities

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

Operates in: Bradford City

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
05/04/2025	£43k	£29k
05/04/2024	£11k	£5k
05/04/2023	£5k	£1k
05/04/2022	£5k	£238
05/04/2021	£136	£238

Common questions

Is THE COMMONWEAL TRUST financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that total receipts for the year were £42,795, primarily from restricted funding, while total payments were £29,173.26, resulting in a net increase in funds. The trustees report that the charity is not in deficit and is actively building unrestricted reserves with a target of holding two months of running costs. Its FY2025 accounts were independently examined.

Who funds THE COMMONWEAL TRUST?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE COMMONWEAL TRUST as a grant recipient include THE JOSEPH ROWNTREE CHARITABLE TRUST.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
THE JOSEPH ROWNTREE CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£85k	Growing the movements: inspire, support and organising for nonviolence
THE JOSEPH ROWNTREE CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£54k	Growing the Movements 2
THE JOSEPH ROWNTREE CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2021	£10k	Funding for final updating of Civil Resistance web bibliography up to 2022 and its maintenance up to end of 2026

Government & lottery funding

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

Funder	Date	Amount	Purpose
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	27/04/2004	£5k	"This Charity Is The Trustee Of The Commonweal Collection Which Is A Large Public Peace Library With Books And Other Information Resources Fo"
The National Lottery Community Fund	22/04/2004	£5k	There is no project name available for this record

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
IGY FOUNDATION	1	£710k
THE JMCMRJ SORRELL FOUNDATION	1	£100k
CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS' LIVERY CHARITY	1	£11k
THE TAYLOR FAMILY FOUNDATION	1	£10k
GRAFF FOUNDATION	1	£1k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with COLLECTIONS TRUST.

COLLECTIONS TRUST income £535k
COMMONWEAL HOUSING LIMITED income £951k
THE BRISTOL COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY income £65k
The Queen Elizabeth II Commonwealth Trust income £243k
CATTERICK, RICHMOND AND COLBURN COMMUNITY LIBRARIES income £75k
PRESTON COMMUNITY LIBRARY income £28k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
THE COMMONWEAL TRUST	£43k	—	0	below	—	no doubt
COLLECTIONS TRUST FY2025	£535k	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
COMMONWEAL HOUSING LIMITED FY2025	£951k	£100,000 - £110,000	2	above	—	no doubt
THE BRISTOL COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY FY2025	£65k	—	0	above	—	no doubt
The Queen Elizabeth II Commonwealth Trust FY2025	£243k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
CATTERICK, RICHMOND AND COLBURN COMMUNITY LIBRARIES FY2025	£75k	Under £60,000	0	unclear	—	no doubt

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