SOMERSET HOUSE TRUST
Registered charity 1063640 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as SOMERSET HOUSE LIMITED
Somerset House Trust was established in 1997 to enhance the education of the public by the provision of a centre for the arts and to maintain the buildings for the benefit of the local and international community as an example of English national heritage. At its heart lies a creative community of innovative businesses and social enterprises which contribute to the vibrancy and energy of the site.
Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Environment/conservation/heritage · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that the charity ended the financial year with a surplus before depreciation of £0.6m, supported by strong interest returns on cash balances which offset income pressures. Free unrestricted reserves stood at £2.0m, which the trustees confirmed was within their stated target range of £1m to £2m. The charity maintains a strong cash position of £14.3m, enabling it to endure planned deficits in the coming year while continuing its charitable activities.
Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Accounts audited by BDO LLP. Discloses 3 of 6 completeness components.
In the news
Recent coverage mentioning this charity by name (automated match; headlines belong to their publishers).
Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Somerset House Trust (matched by registered charity number).
Property (HM Land Registry)
2 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (0 freehold). All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.
Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)
Cost of raising funds
£238k
Reported reserves equal ~0.9 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (72% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.
Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 0.9% of total income — below the median for charities its size (3.8%) (benchmarks).
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Throughout London
Income and spending
Common questions
Is SOMERSET HOUSE TRUST financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity ended the financial year with a surplus before depreciation of £0.6m, supported by strong interest returns on cash balances which offset income pressures. Free unrestricted reserves stood at £2.0m, which the trustees confirmed was within their stated target range of £1m to £2m. The charity maintains a strong cash position of £14.3m, enabling it to endure planned deficits in the coming year while continuing its charitable activities. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by BDO LLP.
Who funds SOMERSET HOUSE TRUST?
Funders whose own accounts filings name SOMERSET HOUSE TRUST as a grant recipient include THE JULIA RAUSING TRUST, THE ROTHSCHILD FOUNDATION, THE ERANDA ROTHSCHILD FOUNDATION, AKO FOUNDATION, THE FIDELITY UK FOUNDATION.
Known funders
Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.
Government & lottery funding
Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).
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 SHERBORNE HOUSE TRUST 2018.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.