DANCE EAST

Registered charity 1066825 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as SUFFOLK DANCE

To advance the education of the general public and in particular young people throughout the county of Suffolk, with a secondary role within the Eastern region, by the maintenance, development and encouragement of the arts and dance and mime.

Causes: Education/training · The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Amateur Sport · Economic/community Development/employment · Recreation · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£2.1m

Latest spending

£2.2m

Registered

1997

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a net deficit of £70,760 for the year, resulting in a decrease in total reserves from £4,299,819 to £4,229,059. The trustees consider the unrestricted fund deficit of £44,353 to be disappointing but tolerable given the financial climate, and they maintain that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence.

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

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £60,001 - £70,000 — below the median for charities its size (£70k)

“In the band £60,001 -£70,000 1”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Employees paid over £60,000: 1

“The number of employees whose employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) exceeded £60,000 was: Group 2025 No. In the band £60,001 -£70,000 1” — page 36

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Reserves policy: four months of core costs (held: £284k)

“The Board has an objective of retaining reserves equating to four months of core costs, which are estimated to be £364,316 for 2025/26” — page 8

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Payment to English National Ballet for Dance for Parkinson's programme; Trustee Fleur Derbyshire-Fox is Director of Engagement.

“Dance East paid £3,848 (2024- £3,000) to English National Ballet, where Fleur Derbyshire-Fox, a Trustee,is employed as Director of Engagement, as a contribution towards the Dance for Parkinson's programme.” — page 48

“Dance East paid £2,000 (2024- £NIL) to Russell Maliphant Company, where Fleur Derbyshire-Fox a Trustee, is also a Director, for artistic activity.” — page 48

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Payment to Russell Maliphant Company for artistic activity; Trustee Fleur Derbyshire-Fox is a Director.

“Dance East paid £3,848 (2024- £3,000) to English National Ballet, where Fleur Derbyshire-Fox, a Trustee,is employed as Director of Engagement, as a contribution towards the Dance for Parkinson's programme.” — page 48

“Dance East paid £2,000 (2024- £NIL) to Russell Maliphant Company, where Fleur Derbyshire-Fox a Trustee, is also a Director, for artistic activity.” — page 48

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Payment to LOCUS Management for business improvement levy; Head of Creative Programmes Lucy Baylis is a Director.

“Dance East paid £3,848 (2024- £3,000) to English National Ballet, where Fleur Derbyshire-Fox, a Trustee,is employed as Director of Engagement, as a contribution towards the Dance for Parkinson's programme.” — page 48

“Dance East paid £2,000 (2024- £NIL) to Russell Maliphant Company, where Fleur Derbyshire-Fox a Trustee, is also a Director, for artistic activity.” — page 48

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Receipt from Thomas Wolsey CIC for artistic activity; Head of Creative Programmes Lucy Baylis is a Trustee.

“Dance East paid £3,848 (2024- £3,000) to English National Ballet, where Fleur Derbyshire-Fox, a Trustee,is employed as Director of Engagement, as a contribution towards the Dance for Parkinson's programme.” — page 48

“Dance East paid £2,000 (2024- £NIL) to Russell Maliphant Company, where Fleur Derbyshire-Fox a Trustee, is also a Director, for artistic activity.” — page 48

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Receipt from Asset Education for artistic activity; Artistic Director & CEO Brendan Keaney is a Member.

“Dance East paid £3,848 (2024- £3,000) to English National Ballet, where Fleur Derbyshire-Fox, a Trustee,is employed as Director of Engagement, as a contribution towards the Dance for Parkinson's programme.” — page 48

“Dance East paid £2,000 (2024- £NIL) to Russell Maliphant Company, where Fleur Derbyshire-Fox a Trustee, is also a Director, for artistic activity.” — page 48

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Trading subsidiary: DanceEats Limited, DanceEast Enterprises Limited

“Dance East owns the whole of the ordinary share capital of DanceEats Limited, which operates a cafe and DanceEast Enterprises Limited, which operates fundraising events on behalf of Dance East.” — page 10

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Sumer Auditco Limited. Discloses 6 of 6 completeness components.

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Anthony Missen — Chief Executive & Creative Director (source)

Listed on the charity’s own website when we last crawled it; roles may have changed. Pay-band disclosures above are anonymous statutory disclosures and are not attributed to any named individual.

Funders the charity credits

Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).

Arts Council England — “We would like to thank Arts Council England, the Department for Education, and local authorities: Suffolk County Council, Ipswich Borough Co…” (source page)
Department for Education — “We would like to thank Arts Council England, the Department for Education, and local authorities: Suffolk County Council, Ipswich Borough Co…” (source page)
Suffolk County Council — “We would like to thank Arts Council England, the Department for Education, and local authorities: Suffolk County Council, Ipswich Borough Co…” (source page)
Ipswich Borough Council — “We would like to thank Arts Council England, the Department for Education, and local authorities: Suffolk County Council, Ipswich Borough Co…” (source page)
Babergh and Mid-Suffolk Council — “We would like to thank Arts Council England, the Department for Education, and local authorities: Suffolk County Council, Ipswich Borough Co…” (source page)
East Suffolk Council — “We would like to thank Arts Council England, the Department for Education, and local authorities: Suffolk County Council, Ipswich Borough Co…” (source page)

Property (HM Land Registry)

1 registered title in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (0 freehold); recorded price paid £395k. 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)

Total income

£2.1m

Total spending

£2.2m

Cost of raising funds

£104k

Reserves (reported)

£419k

Employees

27

Reported reserves equal ~2.3 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (67% 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: 4.9% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

Ben Paul Morton Wright
DADEN HENRY EDWARD HUNT
FLEUR DERBYSHIRE-FOX
Isis Natalya Cass Clunie
Magnus Andrew Spence
Margaret Diane Holder
Sarah Gamblin
Shreela Ghosh

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

Operates in: Suffolk

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/03/2025	£2.1m	£2.2m
31/03/2024	£1.8m	£1.8m
31/03/2023	£1.9m	£1.9m
31/03/2022	£1.9m	£1.8m
31/03/2021	£1.9m	£1.9m

Common questions

Is DANCE EAST financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a net deficit of £70,760 for the year, resulting in a decrease in total reserves from £4,299,819 to £4,229,059. The trustees consider the unrestricted fund deficit of £44,353 to be disappointing but tolerable given the financial climate, and they maintain that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Sumer Auditco Limited.

What does the highest-paid employee of DANCE EAST earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £60,001 - £70,000 band, and 1 employees earned over £60,000.

Who funds DANCE EAST?

Funders whose own accounts filings name DANCE EAST as a grant recipient include MARIA BJORNSON MEMORIAL FUND.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
MARIA BJORNSON MEMORIAL FUND	FY2024	£5k

Government & lottery funding

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

Funder	Date	Amount	Purpose
UK government	13/12/2021	£825k	National Portfolio Organisations
Sport England	15/07/2021	£3k	Springboard Adults Dance Classes
UK government	21/06/2017	£825k	National Portfolio Organisations

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 THEATRES TRUST CHARITABLE FUND	3	£15k
THE FENTON ARTS TRUST	2	£17k
THE PARGITER TRUST	1	£400k
THE PRUDENCE TRUST	1	£375k
THE FRANK JACKSON FOUNDATION	1	£100k
ST EDMUNDS TRUST	1	£38k
THE WITHEREN FOUNDATION	1	£20k
THE FRANCIS WINHAM FOUNDATION	1	£20k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with EAST LONDON DANCE.

EAST LONDON DANCE income £566k
SOUTH EAST DANCE LIMITED income £902k
SUFFOLK COMMUNITY FOUNDATION income £6.8m
LOST DOG DANCE LTD income £290k
EAST SUFFOLK TRUST income £3.7m
SWINDON DANCE income £1.0m

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
DANCE EAST	£2.1m	£60,001 - £70,000	1	unclear	—	no doubt
EAST LONDON DANCE FY2025	£566k	—	0	below	—	no doubt
SOUTH EAST DANCE LIMITED FY2025	£902k	—	0	within	—	no doubt
SUFFOLK COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FY2025	£6.8m	£90,000 - £99,999	1	within	—	no doubt
LOST DOG DANCE LTD FY2024	£290k	—	0	below	—	noted
EAST SUFFOLK TRUST FY2025	£3.7m	—	0	above	—	no doubt

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