BRISTOL MUSEUMS DEVELOPMENT TRUST
Registered charity 1137777 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register
To raise funds for Bristol Museums' and Bristol Archives' collections, historic buildings, learning and community activities, exhibitions, events and allied activities in order to conserve the collections and make them widely accessible.
Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Environment/conservation/heritage · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that the charity held unrestricted reserves of £236,513 against a policy target of approximately £50,000, indicating a strong financial position. The trustees confirmed that the charity has adequate resources to continue operations for the foreseeable future, supported by low running costs covered by the local authority.
Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Largest income source: Unrestricted donations (90% of income)
“Income received in the period ending 30 September 2025 amounted to £275,550, of which £27,094 was restricted for specific projects and the remaining £248,456 was allocated to unrestricted income.” — page 12
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves policy: in the region of £50,000 (held: £237k)
“The Trust has a policy of maintaining unrestricted reserves in the region of £50,000 in order to fulfil its governance requirements and meet its commitments for grant-making according to its policy” — page 13
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts independently examined (not a full audit). Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.
Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Bristol Museums Development Trust (matched by registered charity number).
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 30/09/2022)
Cost of raising funds
£15k
Reported reserves equal ~9.4 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 7.0 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 3.0% of total income — above the median for charities its size (2.9%) (benchmarks).
Register events
- Received assets from another charity (08/04/2020) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
- Fiona Jane Whiston Hallworthchair
- Celia Mary Downie
- Cllr Joanne Stafford-Townsend
- Edmund James Thomas Fay
- Eleanor Amy Denney
- Elizabeth Armour Harris
- Huw Thomas James
- Ian Peter Oxley
- Jocelyn Louis Ormond
- Philip James Murray Walker
- Samuel Matthew Alvis
- Victoria Jane Swindells
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Bristol City
Income and spending
Common questions
Is BRISTOL MUSEUMS DEVELOPMENT TRUST financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity held unrestricted reserves of £236,513 against a policy target of approximately £50,000, indicating a strong financial position. The trustees confirmed that the charity has adequate resources to continue operations for the foreseeable future, supported by low running costs covered by the local authority. Its FY2025 accounts were independently examined.
Who funds BRISTOL MUSEUMS DEVELOPMENT TRUST?
Funders whose own accounts filings name BRISTOL MUSEUMS DEVELOPMENT TRUST as a grant recipient include THE HEADLEY TRUST.
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 FRIENDS OF BRISTOL MUSEUMS, GALLERIES & ARCHIVES.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.