THE PRAYER BOOK SOCIETY

Registered charity 1099295 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Promotes use and understanding of the Book of Common Prayer centrally to worship and doctrine of the Church of England (and other Anglican tradition Churches) and its use for regular worship including main Sunday services and occasional services e.g. Baptism, Confirmation, weddings, funerals. Works to ensure that all ordinands are familiar with it and to introduce it to children and young people.

Causes: Education/training · Religious Activities · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£835k
Latest spending
£554k
Registered
2003
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a net incoming resource of £281,433 for the year, driven by a significant increase in donations and legacies alongside investment gains. Unrestricted reserves stood at £1,876,975 at year-end, providing a substantial buffer against unpredictable income sources as outlined in the reserves policy. The auditor confirmed that the use of the going concern basis of accounting was appropriate with no material uncertainties identified.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: fixed overheads met out of ordinary income; extraordinary income used to accumulate reserves (held: £1.9m)
“it is the policy of the Society that, generally and in most years, fixed overheads are intended to be met out of ordinary income. Extraordinary income is to be used to accumulate reserves” — page 7
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Payments made to St Olav Christian Bookshop, which employs the Chairman and Trustee Bradley Smith as a manager.
“Payments of £15,547 (2024 - £21,677) were made to St Olav Christian Bookshop for trading purchases. St Olav's employs as a manager Bradley Smith, the Chairman and a Trustee of The Prayer Book Society.” — page 26
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

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

Corporate structure

Company officers (Companies House)

Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.

Official officers record.

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2025)

Total income
£835k
Total spending
£554k
Cost of raising funds
£65k
Reserves (reported)
£2.3m
Employees
4

Reported reserves equal ~49.0 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 7.8% of total income — above the median for charities its size (4.9%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/12/2025£835k£554k
31/12/2024£394k£408k
31/12/2023£332k£408k
31/12/2022£235k£363k
31/12/2021£1.0m£268k

Common questions

Is THE PRAYER BOOK SOCIETY financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a net incoming resource of £281,433 for the year, driven by a significant increase in donations and legacies alongside investment gains. Unrestricted reserves stood at £1,876,975 at year-end, providing a substantial buffer against unpredictable income sources as outlined in the reserves policy. The auditor confirmed that the use of the going concern basis of accounting was appropriate with no material uncertainties identified. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Richardsons.

Who funds THE PRAYER BOOK SOCIETY?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE PRAYER BOOK SOCIETY as a grant recipient include THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST PETER AND ST LEONARD, HORBURY WITH ST JOHN, HORBURY BRIDGE, THE DYERS' COMPANY CHARITABLE TRUST, THE SAMUEL STOREY FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST.

Known funders

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

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.

FunderSimilar charities fundedAmount to them
THE EARL OF NORTHAMPTON'S CHARITY1£100k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF RUSCOMBE AND TWYFORD.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
THE PRAYER BOOK SOCIETY£835k—0unclear—no doubt
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF RUSCOMBE AND TWYFORD FY2025£188k—0unclear—no doubt
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF PORTISHEAD FY2025£314k—0above—no doubt
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF GREEN STREET GREEN AND PRATTS BOTTOM (ST. MARY'S WITH ALL SOULS) FY2024£207k—0above—no doubt
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF OADBY FY2024£190k—0above—no doubt
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARY'S ELY FY2025£462k—0unclear—no doubt

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