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BISHOPS STORTFORD MENCAP

Registered charity 1122298 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as GROVE COTTAGE

Spec Needs Nursery for under 5 s.Speech and language therapy.Weekend and school holiday clubs for children and young people.Adult social and support sessions.Sports, gardening, performing arts, and Music Man Project groups for adults.Resulting short respite for carers.

Causes: Disability · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£1.2m
Latest spending
£648k
Registered
2008
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that total income increased to £1,228,504 with unrestricted reserves rising significantly to £2,308,665, including £397,833 in free reserves. The trustees report that despite economic pressures, the charity has sufficient resources to be financially viable for the next 12 months and has no material uncertainties regarding going concern. The organization is currently managing a major property redevelopment project funded by grants and designated reserves.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: 6 months of projected expenditure (held: £398k)
“The board intends to maintain 6 months of projected expenditure as a contingency fund to facilitate sensible cash flow management and conservatively set aside monies in the remote chance that the Charity would need to be wound down. This equates to £270,000.” — page 10
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Wilton Lyndon Limited. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Corporate structure

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Grove Cottage (matched by registered charity number).

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.

Property (HM Land Registry)

2 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (2 freehold). All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

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

Total income
£1.2m
Total spending
£648k
Cost of raising funds
£6k
Reserves (reported)
£244k
Employees
37

Reported reserves equal ~4.5 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (74% 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: 0.5% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Essex · Hertfordshire

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/08/2025£1.2m£648k
31/08/2024£949k£711k
31/08/2023£543k£523k
31/08/2022£538k£556k
31/08/2021£1.9m£422k

Common questions

Is BISHOPS STORTFORD MENCAP financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that total income increased to £1,228,504 with unrestricted reserves rising significantly to £2,308,665, including £397,833 in free reserves. The trustees report that despite economic pressures, the charity has sufficient resources to be financially viable for the next 12 months and has no material uncertainties regarding going concern. The organization is currently managing a major property redevelopment project funded by grants and designated reserves. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Wilton Lyndon Limited.

Who funds BISHOPS STORTFORD MENCAP?

Funders whose own accounts filings name BISHOPS STORTFORD MENCAP as a grant recipient include UBS UK Donor-Advised Foundation, THE BEATRICE LAING TRUST, THE VALIANT CHARITABLE TRUST, THE DAVID FAMILY FOUNDATION, THE SIMON GIBSON CHARITABLE TRUST.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
UBS UK Donor-Advised FoundationFY2021£200k
THE BEATRICE LAING TRUSTFY2025£25kNew Building to Provide Facilities/Activities for those with Learning Disabilities & Special Needs
THE VALIANT CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£10kproviding social and educational activities for people of all ages with a learning disability
THE DAVID FAMILY FOUNDATIONFY2023£5k
THE SIMON GIBSON CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£5k
THE SIMON GIBSON CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£5k
CHARLES S FRENCH CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£4k
THE DAVID FAMILY FOUNDATIONFY2024£3k
THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF GARDENERS OF LONDON CHARITYFY2024£3k
THE FORBES CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2023£3k
SKIPTON BUILDING SOCIETY CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2023£2k
DAVID LISTER CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2024£2k
DAVID LISTER CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2025£2k
THE SIR BERNARD & LADY SCHREIER FOUNDATIONFY2024£2k
THE SIR BERNARD & LADY SCHREIER FOUNDATIONFY2025£1k
THE SIR BERNARD & LADY SCHREIER FOUNDATIONFY2023£1k
THE ARCHER TRUSTFY2022£1k
MAKERS OF PLAYING CARDS CHARITYFY2025—

Government & lottery funding

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

FunderDateAmountPurpose
Postcode Lottery31/07/2023£20kUnrestricted Funding
The National Lottery Community Fund19/12/2018£110kGrove Cottage's Special Needs Nursery
Foundation Scotland09/09/2013£2kGrant to Bishops Stortford Mencap

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 BAILY THOMAS CHARITABLE FUND3£70k
THE STEVEN BLOCH IMAGE OF DISABILITY CHARITABLE TRUST1£91k
JOHN LYON'S CHARITY1£26k
THE HARGREAVES FOUNDATION1£25k
THE TAYLOR FAMILY FOUNDATION1£18k
ATKIN CHARITABLE FOUNDATION1£10k
MERTON VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL1£7k
THE ALLEN OVERY SHEARMAN STERLING FOUNDATION1£5k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with HERTSMERE MENCAP.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
BISHOPS STORTFORD MENCAP£1.2m—0unclear—no doubt
HERTSMERE MENCAP FY2025£183k—0above—no doubt
HASTINGS AND BEXHILL MENCAP SOCIETY FY2025£1.7m——unclear—no doubt
MERTON MENCAP FY2025£827k—0unclear—no doubt
BARNET MENCAP FY2025£1.6m—0above—no doubt
MELTON MENCAP FY2025£655k—0below—no doubt

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