Charity Accounts Intelreading the accounts so you don’t have to

THE BRITISH ASIAN TRUST

Registered charity 1127366 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The British Asian Trust meets crucial needs in the poorest communities in South Asia and the UK. We invest in local, high impact charities that are making lasting differences to the lives of thousands of disadvantaged people. Together we work for the long-term change in the key areas of education, health and enterprise.

Causes: The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Environment/conservation/heritage · Economic/community Development/employment · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£12.5m
Latest spending
£15.4m
Registered
2009
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that total income decreased to £12.5 million from £14.7 million in the prior year, resulting in a net expenditure of £2.9 million. Consequently, net assets fell to £6.3 million, with free reserves standing at £1.7 million against a stated target minimum of £1.5 million. The trustees note a projected small deficit in unrestricted funds for the coming year as the charity invests in strategic priorities and institutional capacity.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: £1.5 million (held: £1.7m)
“For 2025/2026, £1.5 million has been determined as the target minimum level of free reserves to be held”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Company under common control
“At the balance sheet date, £411,388 (2024: £nil) was owed from a company under common control.” — page 50
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Burgess Hodgson Audit Limited. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

In the news

Recent coverage mentioning this charity by name (automated match; headlines belong to their publishers).

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — British Asian Trust (matched by registered charity number).

Leadership, per the charity’s website

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).

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

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

Total income
£12.5m
Total spending
£15.4m
Cost of raising funds
£1.7m
Reserves (reported)
£1.7m
Employees
47

Reported reserves equal ~1.3 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (60% 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: 13.2% of total income — above the median for charities its size (3.8%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Bangladesh · India · Pakistan · Sri Lanka

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/03/2025£12.5m£15.4m
31/03/2024£14.7m£16.1m
31/03/2023£16.5m£13.4m
31/03/2022£21.7m£15.2m
31/03/2021£5.5m£6.0m

Common questions

Is THE BRITISH ASIAN TRUST financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that total income decreased to £12.5 million from £14.7 million in the prior year, resulting in a net expenditure of £2.9 million. Consequently, net assets fell to £6.3 million, with free reserves standing at £1.7 million against a stated target minimum of £1.5 million. The trustees note a projected small deficit in unrestricted funds for the coming year as the charity invests in strategic priorities and institutional capacity. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Burgess Hodgson Audit Limited.

Who funds THE BRITISH ASIAN TRUST?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE BRITISH ASIAN TRUST as a grant recipient include STANDARD CHARTERED FOUNDATION, Z V M RANGOONWALA FOUNDATION, THE SHANTA FOUNDATION, CRODA FOUNDATION, CARETECH CHARITABLE FOUNDATION.

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)
STANDARD CHARTERED FOUNDATIONFY2024£60.0mFuturemakers (General)
Z V M RANGOONWALA FOUNDATIONFY2023£625kMental health programme in Pakistan
THE SHANTA FOUNDATIONFY2022£500k
CRODA FOUNDATIONFY2025£220kSupporting Rajasthan’s Women Microenterprises to Thrive and Preventing Child Labour
CRODA FOUNDATIONFY2022£200kwork in strengthening the vaccine and healthcare infrastructure in rural India
CARETECH CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2024£116kMental health and wellbeing for all in Pakistan
Z V M RANGOONWALA FOUNDATIONFY2022£100kEducation and Livelihoods
CARETECH CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2022£100k
John Lewis Partnership FoundationFY2024£73kSecond payment for project in Jaipur, India
THE BESTWAY FOUNDATIONFY2024£70k
THE T U U T CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£50kFunding a 2-year project in 5 Bangladesh garment factories to improve mental health of the workforce.
THE RANDAL CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2025£50kGrant to institutions
HALCROW FOUNDATIONFY2022£50kInnovative finance project, Pakistan
DAVID & RUTH LEWIS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£50kGeneral charitable funding
CARETECH CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2023£50kMental health and wellbeing for all in Pakistan
THE T U U T CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£50kVaccination programme equipment in India
THE HINDUJA FOUNDATIONFY2021£48kThe relief of poverty, hunger and sickness
THE GOYAL FOUNDATIONFY2023£30k
HALCROW FOUNDATIONFY2021£20k171 Women's Economic Empowerment
THE RANDAL CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2022£15k
THE RANDAL CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2023£15k
THE HINDUJA FOUNDATIONFY2022£15kThe relief of poverty, hunger and sickness
THE RANDAL CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2024£15k
THE KANTA FOUNDATIONFY2024£15k
WESTCOMBE FOUNDATIONFY2024£15k
THE O'SULLIVAN FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£14k
THE GOYAL FOUNDATIONFY2022£12k
THE EARL FITZWILLIAM CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£5k
THE O'SULLIVAN FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£3k
JOHN SWIRE 1989 CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2021£1k
GOWLING WLG (UK) CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£1k
SSP FOUNDATIONFY2022£1k
THE HISCOX FOUNDATIONFY2022£1k
GOWLING WLG (UK) CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£500
THE HINDUJA FOUNDATIONFY2024£200The relief of poverty, hunger and sickness
THE COSARAF CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2022£0Funding for High-Flow Oxygen Concentrators for the India COVID-19 Crisis appeal (amount not explicitly stated in text)
THE HINDUJA FOUNDATIONFY2023£-15kThe relief of poverty, hunger and sickness
The ROSL FoundationFY2021—Not specified in individual list
STANDARD CHARTERED FOUNDATIONFY2021—Education
STANDARD CHARTERED FOUNDATIONFY2022—

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 PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST NICHOLAS, TOOTING GRAVENEY1£17k
ALTAJIR TRUST1£13k
SELSDON BAPTIST CHURCH1£7k
JEREMY ALEXANDER SETTLEMENT1£6k
CARSHALTON BEECHES BAPTIST FREE CHURCH1£4k
RAYNERS LANE BAPTIST CHURCH1£3k
CHILTERN CHURCH1£2k
WORLD HARVEST (UK)1£250

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with SOUTH ASIAN CONCERN CHARITABLE TRUST.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
THE BRITISH ASIAN TRUST£12.5m——unclear—no doubt
SOUTH ASIAN CONCERN CHARITABLE TRUST FY2025£143k—0unclear—noted
GO HELP ASIA TRUST FY2025£265k—0within—no doubt
THE BRIDGE TRUST LTD FY2025£223kUnder £60,0000unclear—no doubt
BRITISH RECORD INDUSTRY TRUST FY2024£1.5m—0below—no doubt
BRITISH GAS ENERGY TRUST FY2025£15.8m——unclear—no doubt

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