THE MESSAGE TRUST

Registered charity 1081467 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as Community Grocery, The Message, The Message Community Centre · also registered in Scotland as SC045838 (OSCR)

Latest income
£10.3m
Latest spending
£10.4m
Registered
2000
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity achieved a net surplus of £1.3m for the year, driven by a £1.4m gain from property revaluations, resulting in total net assets of £8.6m. Per the trustees' report, unrestricted reserves stood at £8m, with £850k freely available, which exceeds the new policy target of £663k. The charity reports no material uncertainties regarding its ability to continue as a going concern.

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £80,001 - £90,000 — below the median for charities its size (£125k)
Employee earning £80,001 - £90,000 — page 70
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves policy: at least one month’s staff costs plus fixed operating expenditure (held: £850k)
At the end of August 2025, under this new policy, the reserves target was set at £663k (2024: £401k, previous policy). This is our minimum base level for reserves — page 46
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Menzies LLP.

Year-over-year changes

Comparing this charity’s FY2024 and FY2025 accounts as analysed by this site.

Corporate structure

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/08/2025)

Total income
£10.3m
Total spending
£10.4m
Cost of raising funds
£281k
Reserves (reported)
£875k
Employees
168

Reported reserves equal ~1.0 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Register events

Trustees

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

Operates in: Scotland · Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/08/2025£10.3m£10.4m
31/08/2024£9.9m£10.2m
31/08/2023£10.7m£10.5m
31/08/2022£8.6m£10.6m
31/08/2021£7.6m£7.1m

Common questions

Is THE MESSAGE TRUST financially healthy?

The accounts state that the charity achieved a net surplus of £1.3m for the year, driven by a £1.4m gain from property revaluations, resulting in total net assets of £8.6m. Per the trustees' report, unrestricted reserves stood at £8m, with £850k freely available, which exceeds the new policy target of £663k. The charity reports no material uncertainties regarding its ability to continue as a going concern. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Menzies LLP.

What does the highest-paid employee of THE MESSAGE TRUST earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £80,001 - £90,000 band.

Who funds THE MESSAGE TRUST?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE MESSAGE TRUST as a grant recipient include THE GRANT FOUNDATION, THE SWALLOW TRUST, THE GOSHEN TRUST, THE JERUSALEM TRUST, THE MESSAGE TRUST.

Shared trustees with funders

Register facts shown side by side: a person serves as trustee of both this charity and a funder whose accounts record grants to it. Shared trusteeship is lawful and common; well-run charities manage it through declared-interest procedures.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmount
THE GRANT FOUNDATIONFY2022£25k
THE SWALLOW TRUSTFY2023£25k
THE SWALLOW TRUSTFY2022£25k
THE GOSHEN TRUSTFY2025£20k
THE JERUSALEM TRUSTFY2023£20k
THE MESSAGE TRUSTFY2023£19k
THE GOSHEN TRUSTFY2024£18k
MAGNIFY FOUNDATIONFY2023£16k
MAGNIFY FOUNDATIONFY2024£16k
Boodles Charitable TrustFY2023£15k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST JOHN, LINDOWFY2023£12k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST JOHN, LINDOWFY2024£11k
THE MILK AND HONEY TRUSTFY2025£10k
RE:VISION NORTH LIMITEDFY2023£8k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARY, CHEADLEFY2022£6k
RIDGEWAY COMMUNITY CHURCHFY2024£5k
THE DEO GLORIA TRUSTFY2023£5k
LORD BARNBY'S FOUNDATIONFY2025£5k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARY, CHEADLEFY2022£5k
FREE METHODIST CHURCH, FULWOODFY2025£4k
RIDGEWAY COMMUNITY CHURCHFY2023£4k
RE:VISION NORTH LIMITEDFY2024£3k
SHEFFIELD TOWN TRUSTFY2025£3k
SIR JOHN PRIESTMAN CHARITY TRUSTFY2021£3k
THE RATCLIFF FOUNDATIONFY2022£3k
PERSONAL ASSURANCE CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£2k
THE BISHOP RADFORD TRUSTFY2025£2k
THE BISHOP RADFORD TRUSTFY2022£2k
THE S M B TRUSTFY2025£2k
YORKSHIRE BUILDING SOCIETY CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2024£2k
PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST.MARK'S HAYDOCKFY2022£2k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARGARET, BURNAGEFY2024£2k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF HOLY TRINITY HURDSFIELDFY2024£2k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF HOLY TRINITY HURDSFIELDFY2023£2k
PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST.MARK'S HAYDOCKFY2025£2k
THE MANCHESTER GUARDIAN SOCIETY CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2025£2k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARGARET, BURNAGEFY2023£1k
ENFIELD BAPTIST CHURCHFY2024£1k
REDEEMER CHURCH CHESTER LE STREETFY2024£1k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF CHEADLE ALL HALLOWSFY2023£1k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST. MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS BRAMHALLFY2023£1k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST GEORGE WITH ST MARTIN, POYNTON, CHESTERFY2025£1k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST GEORGE WITH ST MARTIN, POYNTON, CHESTERFY2024£1k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARY CHOLSEYFY2023£1k
THE EARL FITZWILLIAM CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2025£1k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST CHADS CHURCH ROMILEYFY2023£1k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST. MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS BRAMHALLFY2024£1k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARGARET, BURNAGEFY2025£1k
THE PICKWELL FOUNDATIONFY2024£1k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF LINTHORPE, MIDDLESBROUGHFY2023£800

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 The Movements Trust Limited.