DORSET COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

Registered charity 1122113 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR BOURNEMOUTH DORSET AND POOLE

THE FOUNDATION WORKS WITH INDIVIDUALS, COMPANIES AND OTHER ORGANISATIONS TO ASSIST IN DELIVERING THEIR CHARITABLE AIMS, AND DEVELOP LONGER-TERM STRATEGIC PHILANTHROPY PROGRAMMES. THIS WORK ENABLES THE FOUNDATION TO DISTRIBUTE GRANT FUNDING TO DORSET BASED COMMUNITY GROUPS AND CHARITIES THAT PROVIDE SERVICES AND SUPPORT TO PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES WITHIN BOURNEMOUTH, POOLE AND ACROSS DORSET.

Objects

3. THE OBJECTS FOR WHICH THE CHARITY ARE ESTABLISHED ARE:3.1 THE PROMOTION OF ANY CHARITABLE PURPOSES FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE COMMUNITY IN THE BOROUGH OF BOURNEMOUTH COUNTY OF DORSET AND BOROUGH OF POOLE AND ITS IMMEDIATE NEIGHBOURHOOD AND IN PARTICULAR THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION THE PROTECTION OF GOOD HEALTH BOTH MENTAL AND PHYSICAL AND THE RELIEF OF POVERTY AND SICKNESS;3.2 OTHER EXCLUSIVELY CHARITABLE PURPOSES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND ELSEWHERE WHICH ARE IN THE OPINION OF THE TRUSTEES BENEFICIAL TO THE COMMUNITY INCLUDING THOSE IN THE AREA OF BENEFIT..

Area of benefit: THE BOROUGH OF BOURNEMOUTH, COUNTY OF DORSET, AND BOROUGH OF POOLE AND ITS IMMEDIATE NEIGHBOURHOOD, AND IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND ELSEWHERE.

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

Causes: General Charitable Purposes · Education/training · The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives · Disability · The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, South West, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The charity reported a net movement in funds of £146,764 for unrestricted funds, bringing total unrestricted reserves to £165,836. Total funds increased to £6,994,919, driven by significant growth in endowment and restricted funds. The accounts do not disclose a specific reserves policy target or a material uncertainty regarding going concern.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by SMA. 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.

Corporate structure

• Registered company of the charity Companies House 05768612

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Dorset Community Foundation (matched by registered charity number).

Funders the charity credits

Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).

• UKCF — “Thank you to our supporters… UKCF” (source page)

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.

• PATERSON, Jennifer Rosalind — director, appointed 12/06/2026on trustee list
• BLAKE, Jonathan Rupert Bowden — director, appointed 12/06/2026on trustee list
• O'CONNOR, Colin Thomas — director, appointed 12/06/2026on trustee list
• HOWARD, Michelle — director, appointed 07/03/2025on trustee list
• LEWIS, Neil — director, appointed 07/03/2025on trustee list
• RICHARDSON, Jenifer Anne — director, appointed 24/03/2023on trustee list
• SEARLE, Martha — director, appointed 24/03/2023on trustee list
• HARDY, Lee Charles — director, appointed 09/12/2022on trustee list
• STALKER, Rebecca Jane — director, appointed 09/12/2022on trustee list
• STANDING, Terry — director, appointed 14/12/2020on trustee list
• FLOOD, Thomas Nicholas — director, appointed 12/12/2020on trustee list
• COULTON, Louise Hazel — director, appointed 18/11/2020on trustee list
• APPLEBY, Deborah — director, appointed 18/10/2020on trustee list

Official officers record.

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~2.2 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 0.6% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.3%) (benchmarks).

Register events

• Received assets from another charity (12/04/2021) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
• Received assets from another charity (16/02/2017) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
• Received assets from another charity (05/05/2016) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
• Received assets from another charity (25/06/2015) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
• Received assets from another charity (07/11/2014) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
• Received assets from another charity (07/11/2014) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

• Colin Thomas O'Connor
• Deborah Appleby
• Jenifer Anne Richardson · trustee of 2 other charities
• Jennifer Rosalind Paterson
• Jonathan Rupert Bowden Blake · trustee of 1 other charity
• Lee Hardy
• Louise Hazel Coulton
• Margaret Gabrielle Evans
• Martha Searle
• Michelle Howard · trustee of 3 other charities
• Neil Lewis
• Rebecca Stalker
• Terry Standing
• Tom Nicholas Flood

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

Operates in: Bournemouth · Dorset · Poole

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

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

Government & lottery funding

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

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 DORSET COMMUNITY ACTION.

• DORSET COMMUNITY ACTION income £666k
• DORSET COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION income £47k
• DORSET MAMMAL GROUP income £62k
• SOMERSET COMMUNITY FOUNDATION income £5.6m
• NORFOLK COMMUNITY FOUNDATION income £7.3m
• DODNAZE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION income £37k

Side by side with its peers

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