Brian Mercer Trust

Registered charity 1076925 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as THE BRIAN MERCER CHARITABLE TRUST

The Brian Mercer Trust awards grants to charities and organisations whose aims are: a) Prevention of, or relief from, disadvantage and suffering resulting from poverty, ill-health, or other causes globally.b) Promotion of visual arts, and artistic talent especially in the North West of England.c) Support for charitable community initiatives local to Blackburn, Lancashire

Causes: The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives · The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Overseas Aid/famine Relief · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Economic/community Development/employment · Other Charitable Purposes · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£753k

Latest spending

£1.3m

Registered

1999

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity holds unrestricted funds of £38,045,218, with cash reserves of £1,090,065 against grant commitments and anticipated governance costs of £1,100,000. The trustees aim to maintain cash reserves at a level equating to approximately twelve months of charitable expenditure, noting that any shortfall can be met by selling investments. The charity does not actively fundraise and relies entirely on investment income and returns from its endowment.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves position: below the charity's own stated reserves policy (held: £1.1m; policy: approximately twelve months of charitable expenditure, including grant commitments)

“The balance held in cash reserves at 5 April 2025 was £1,090,065 (2024: £597,950), against grant commitments and anticipated governance costs of £1,100,000.” — page 7

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by MHA. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 05/04/2025)

Total income

£753k

Total spending

£1.3m

Cost of raising funds

£149k

Reserves (reported)

£38.0m

Employees

Per its annual return, largest income source: Investments (100% 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: 19.7% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.9%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

KENNETH JOHN MERRILL
Luke John Merrill
Sarah Wakefield

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

Operates in: Blackburn With Darwen · Burkina Faso · Congo (Democratic Republic) · India · Malawi · Togo · Uganda · Zambia

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
05/04/2025	£753k	£1.3m
05/04/2024	£1.4m	£430k
05/04/2023	£1.3m	£1.3m
05/04/2022	£1.3m	£1.1m
05/04/2021	£1.3m	£1.1m

Common questions

Is Brian Mercer Trust financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity holds unrestricted funds of £38,045,218, with cash reserves of £1,090,065 against grant commitments and anticipated governance costs of £1,100,000. The trustees aim to maintain cash reserves at a level equating to approximately twelve months of charitable expenditure, noting that any shortfall can be met by selling investments. The charity does not actively fundraise and relies entirely on investment income and returns from its endowment. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by MHA.

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
JUVENILE DIABETES RESEARCH FOUNDATION LIMITED	1	£245k

Charities like this

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

MERCIAN COMMUNITY TRUST income £168k
MERSEY CARE NHS FOUNDATION TRUST CHARITY income £123k
THE STEVE MORGAN FOUNDATION income £7.3m
BAKER FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST income £304k
BLANCHMINSTER TRUST income £574k
BLACKBURN U.K. TRUST income £4.5m

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
Brian Mercer Trust	£753k	—	0	below	—	no doubt
MERCIAN COMMUNITY TRUST FY2024	£168k	Under £60,000	0	unclear	—	noted
MERSEY CARE NHS FOUNDATION TRUST CHARITY FY2025	£123k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
THE STEVE MORGAN FOUNDATION FY2025	£7.3m	£80,001 - £90,000	1	above	—	no doubt
BAKER FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST FY2025	£304k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
BLANCHMINSTER TRUST FY2025	£574k	—	0	within	—	no doubt

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