THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF ANCIENT BUILDINGS

Registered charity 1113753 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also registered in Scotland as SC039244 (OSCR)

The SPAB was founded in 1877. Today it is the largest, and most technically expert national pressure group fighting to save old buildings from decay, demolition and damage.We run training courses; comment on threats to historic buildings; operate a free technical helpline; conduct research; issue advisory publications and campaign on issues like the need for building maintenance.

Objects

THE PRESERVATION AND PROTECTION OF ANCIENT BUILDINGS FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC GUIDED BY THE PRINCIPLES DECLARED IN THE MANIFESTO OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF ANCIENT BUILDINGS WRITTEN BY THE FOUNDERS IN 1877.

Area of benefit: NATIONAL

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Environment/conservation/heritage · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Tower Hamlets, London, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity recorded an operating deficit of £1.10m for the year, resulting in a net decrease in total funds. Per the trustees' report, unrestricted reserves stood at £3.99m, with free reserves of approximately £1.93m, which the trustees believe is appropriate given their income sources. The charity relies on investment income and the sale of properties to cover operating deficits and rebuild its investment portfolio.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Crowe U.K. LLP. Discloses 3 of 6 completeness components.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

• Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
• Campaigns and political activity policy and procedures
• Complaints handling
• Complaints policy and procedures
• Conflicting interests
• Engaging external speakers at charity events policy and procedures
• Financial reserves policy and procedures
• Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
• Internal risk management policy and procedures
• Investing charity funds policy and procedures
• Investment
• Paying staff
• Risk management
• Safeguarding policy and procedures
• Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
• Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
• Social media policy and procedures
• Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
• Trustee expenses policy and procedures
• Volunteer management

From the charity’s annual return (Part A, self-declared)

Answers and figures the charity gave in Part A of its annual return to the Charity Commission. They are self-declared: not verified by the Commission or by this site. Only positive answers and figures are listed; items not listed are simply not shown.

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Leadership, per the charity’s website

• Matthew Slocombe — Chief Executive (source)
• Douglas Kent — Director of Advice (source)
• Elaine Byrne — Director of Engagement (source)
• Richard Mullis — Director of Income & Operations (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.

Property (HM Land Registry)

11 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (11 freehold); recorded price paid £60k. 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 31/12/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~22.0 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (62% 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: 28.0% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 5.3%) (benchmarks).

Register events

• Received assets from another charity (12/11/2020) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

• Andrew Paul Dalton Walker
• Carole Leith
• Charles Wagner
• Clare Isobel Birks · trustee of 1 other charity
• Duncan McCallum
• Georgina Ruth Nayler MBE
• Lewis Thomas Hobbs · trustee of 2 other charities
• Louise Bainbridge
• Lucy Emma Newport
• Tyler Lott-Johnson

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

Operates in: Northern Ireland · Scotland · Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

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

Grants marked “Unverified read” were flagged by automated checks as possibly misread from the funder’s filed accounts. They are listed, but left out of the totals, counts and funder relationships this site computes.

Government & lottery funding

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