DARBAR ARTS CULTURE AND HERITAGE TRUST
Registered charity 1123009 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register
(A) TO ADVANCE THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC IN SOUTH ASIAN MUSIC AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SOUTH ASIAN ARTS, CULTURE AND HERITAGE THROUGH PUBLIC PERFORMANCES AND TRAINING;(B) TO RELIEVE SICKNESS AND TO PRESERVE AND PROTECT HEALTH AMONG PEOPLE BY PROMOTING MUSIC AND OTHER ART FORMS AS THERAPY.
Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Environment/conservation/heritage · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that total income increased to £1,298,133, resulting in a net income of £187,153 and unrestricted reserves of £565,301. The trustees maintain a reserves policy of approximately £80,000, which is well below the actual unrestricted reserves held. The auditors confirmed that the financial statements give a true and fair view and identified no material uncertainties regarding going concern.
Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Reserves policy: three months overhead costs as reserves which are estimated to be approximately £80,000 (held: £565k)
“Trustees consider it reasonable to maintain three months overhead costs as reserves which are estimated to be approximately £80,000.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Sandeep Virdee, a Trustee, is also the Artistic Director of the charity. His appointment and remuneration have been agreed by other Trustees and comply with the charity’s constitution and Charity Commission requirements.
“Sandeep Virdee, a Trustee, is also the Artistic Director of the charity. His appointment and remuneration have been agreed by other Trustees and comply with the charity’s constitution and Charity Commission requirements.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by The Corporate Practice Limited. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.
Corporate structure
Leadership, per the charity’s website
- Sandeep Virdee OBE — Artistic Director (source)
- Shanthini Thaker — Chief Operating Officer (source)
- Nishant Bhasker — Trustee (Co-Chair) (source)
- Harmeet (Raj) Virdee — Trustee (Co-Chair) (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.
Funders the charity credits
Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).
- Arts Council England — “We have been funded by Arts Council England since 2006 and have been a National Portfolio Organisation since 2011” (source page)
- Sky Arts — “We have been funded by Sky Arts television since 2008 to produce TV programmes from a selection of concerts from our Darbar Festivals” (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.
- BHASKAR, Nishant — director, appointed 27/08/2014on trustee list
- VIRDEE, Sandeep Singh — director, appointed 26/09/2007not on trustee list
- LALL, Simrat — secretary, appointed 21/04/2022
Official officers record.
Property (HM Land Registry)
1 registered title in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (0 freehold); recorded price paid £615k. 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)
Reported reserves equal ~1.6 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (54% 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: 0.4% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).
- Deepak Paramanand
- Freya Salway
- Harmeet Virdee
- NISHANT BHASKAR
- Narmada Guruswamy
- Sabine Kindal
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Throughout England
Income and spending
Common questions
Is DARBAR ARTS CULTURE AND HERITAGE TRUST financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that total income increased to £1,298,133, resulting in a net income of £187,153 and unrestricted reserves of £565,301. The trustees maintain a reserves policy of approximately £80,000, which is well below the actual unrestricted reserves held. The auditors confirmed that the financial statements give a true and fair view and identified no material uncertainties regarding going concern. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by The Corporate Practice Limited.
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 NORTHAMPTONSHIRE MUSIC AND PERFORMING ARTS TRUST.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.