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BRISTOL CHARITIES

Registered charity 1109141 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Almshouse provision, day services provision and development and grant giving.The Trustees have agreed that the prime objective can be summed up as "Enhancing Quality of Life for Older People in our Communities"

Causes: General Charitable Purposes · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£2.9m
Latest spending
£2.9m
Registered
2005
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a deficit of £148,255 for the year ended 31 March 2025, primarily due to investment valuation losses and the absence of a prior-year grant release. However, the charity holds unrestricted free reserves of £3,006,642, which significantly exceeds its stated reserves policy target of £631,000. The trustees have determined that the charity has adequate resources to continue operating on a going concern basis.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: £631,000 (held: £3.0m)
“Taking the above into account, Trustees have determined that an appropriate level of free reserves is shown as follows; £ Six months of projected Head Office costs (i) 342,000 One month of projected housing costs (ii) 90,000 One month of projected Vassall Centre costs (ii) 27,000 One year of housing sinking fund contributions (iii) 172,000 631,000” — page 16
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Received grant income from Feeding Bristol, a charity of which the CEO and Chair of Trustees are trustees.
“During the year the charity received £3,875 (2024: £34,500) in grant income from Feeding Bristol (registered charity number 1177585), a charity of which J Mines, CEO of Bristol Charities, and Andrew Street, Chair of trustees at Bristol Charities, are trustees.” — page 60
“During the year the charity made purchases of £1,479 (2024: £2,000) from, and sales of £11,000 (2024: £nil) to, FareShare South West (a trading name of Community Initiatives South West Ltd) a charity of which Andrew Street, Chair of trustees at Bristol Charities, is a trustee.” — page 60
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Made purchases from and sales to FareShare South West, a charity of which the Chair of Trustees is a trustee.
“During the year the charity received £3,875 (2024: £34,500) in grant income from Feeding Bristol (registered charity number 1177585), a charity of which J Mines, CEO of Bristol Charities, and Andrew Street, Chair of trustees at Bristol Charities, are trustees.” — page 60
“During the year the charity made purchases of £1,479 (2024: £2,000) from, and sales of £11,000 (2024: £nil) to, FareShare South West (a trading name of Community Initiatives South West Ltd) a charity of which Andrew Street, Chair of trustees at Bristol Charities, is a trustee.” — page 60
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Pension scheme deficit: £18.1m
“Full actuarial valuations for the schemes were carried out with an effective date of 30 September 2023. These valuations showed assets of £86.2m (SVSPS) and £514.9m (GP3), liabilities of £88.2m (SVSPS) and £531.0m (GP3) giving deficits of £2.0m (SVSPS) and £16.1m (GP3).” — page 55
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: Orchard Homes Design and Build Ltd
“Orchard Homes Design and Build Ltd (OHDB) was incorporated on 9 November 2015 to provide design and construction services to Orchard Homes. Bristol Charities owns 100% of the share capital of Orchard Homes Design and Build Ltd.” — page 59
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Bishop Fleming Audit Limited. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Property (HM Land Registry)

6 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (5 freehold); recorded price paid £2.5m. 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
£2.9m
Total spending
£2.9m
Cost of raising funds
£417k
Reserves (reported)
£3.0m
Employees
25

Reported reserves equal ~12.3 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (55% 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: 14.4% of total income — above the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Bath And North East Somerset · Bristol City · North Somerset · South Gloucestershire

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/03/2025£2.9m£2.9m
31/03/2024£3.5m£2.5m
31/03/2023£2.3m£2.4m
31/03/2022£2.1m£2.3m
31/03/2021£1.9m£2.0m

Common questions

Is BRISTOL CHARITIES financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a deficit of £148,255 for the year ended 31 March 2025, primarily due to investment valuation losses and the absence of a prior-year grant release. However, the charity holds unrestricted free reserves of £3,006,642, which significantly exceeds its stated reserves policy target of £631,000. The trustees have determined that the charity has adequate resources to continue operating on a going concern basis. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Bishop Fleming Audit Limited.

Who funds BRISTOL CHARITIES?

Funders whose own accounts filings name BRISTOL CHARITIES as a grant recipient include FEEDING BRISTOL.

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.

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
FEEDING BRISTOLFY2024£35kHousehold Support Fund
FEEDING BRISTOLFY2025£21kHousehold Support Fund

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 JERUSALEM TRUST1£120k
CHURCH REVITALISATION TRUST1£33k
THE MEDLOCK CHARITABLE TRUST1£15k
YORKSHIRE BUILDING SOCIETY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION1£2k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with BRISTOL AND ANCHOR ALMSHOUSE CHARITY.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
BRISTOL CHARITIES£2.9m——unclear—no doubt
BRISTOL AND ANCHOR ALMSHOUSE CHARITY FY2025£336k—0within—no doubt
THE BRISTOL BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION FY2024£511k—0unclear—no doubt
ST CHRISTOPHER'S HOMES FY2024£3.3m—0unclear—no doubt
BRISTOL CCRC TRUST FY2025£653k—0unclear—no doubt
HELP BRISTOL'S HOMELESS CHARITY FY2025£551k—0unclear—no doubt

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