THE ZURBARAN TRUST
Registered charity 1146437 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as URBAN ZURBARAN
The charity was formed to acquire from the Church Commissioners a collection of paintings by the Spanish artist Zurbaran, and in conjunction with her sister charity, The Auckland Castle Trust (Charity Reg:1146219), to enable these paintings to be seen by the general public.It also owns other paintings, furniture and artefacts that form part of the permanent exhibition at Auckland Castle
Causes: General Charitable Purposes · Education/training · The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Environment/conservation/heritage · Economic/community Development/employment · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that the charity holds significant unrestricted and designated reserves of £22,255,242, supported by an endowment fund of £9,050,541. The trustees report that budgeted income and expenditure are sufficient to continue as a going concern, with no material uncertainties identified by the auditors.
Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Largest income source: Donations (73% of income)
“Donations 4 162,226 754,564 - 916,790 2,215,804” — page 12
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves policy: The level of endowment and designated funds maintained should equal the value of the heritage assets held. (held: £22.3m)
“The level of endowment and designated funds maintained should equal the value of the heritage assets held. Due to the nature of other expenditure and the relationship with The Auckland Project and Lempriere Pringle 2015 other reserves are usually held at a low level.” — page 4
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Donations from Trustee
“During the year, donations of £55,000 (2024: £674,210) were received from Mr J G Ruffer, a Trustee of The Zurbaran Trust. During the year, donations of £19,750 (2024: nil) were received from Mrs J M Ruffer, a Trustee of The Zurbaran Trust.” — page 27
“Certain costs relating to The Trust (such as insurance and governance costs) are paid by The Auckland Project and are recharged to The Zurbaran Trust. During the year, heritage assets and services were paid for by The Auckland Project under a loan agreement on the Trust's behalf.” — page 27
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Costs paid by related party
“During the year, donations of £55,000 (2024: £674,210) were received from Mr J G Ruffer, a Trustee of The Zurbaran Trust. During the year, donations of £19,750 (2024: nil) were received from Mrs J M Ruffer, a Trustee of The Zurbaran Trust.” — page 27
“Certain costs relating to The Trust (such as insurance and governance costs) are paid by The Auckland Project and are recharged to The Zurbaran Trust. During the year, heritage assets and services were paid for by The Auckland Project under a loan agreement on the Trust's behalf.” — page 27
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by S&W Audit. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.
Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Zurbaran Trust (matched by registered charity number).
Leadership, per the charity’s website
- Nicholas Holtam — 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).
- Visit England Heritage Fund — “This is Durham Visit England Heritage Fund Visit England Family Arts Britains Finest” (source page)
- Visit England — “This is Durham Visit England Heritage Fund Visit England Family Arts Britains Finest” (source page)
- Britains Finest — “This is Durham Visit England Heritage Fund Visit England Family Arts Britains Finest” (source page)
Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram · linkedin
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)
Reported reserves equal ~2.8 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (86% 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: 0.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).
Register events
- Received assets from another charity (04/07/2013) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Durham
Income and spending
Common questions
Is THE ZURBARAN TRUST financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity holds significant unrestricted and designated reserves of £22,255,242, supported by an endowment fund of £9,050,541. The trustees report that budgeted income and expenditure are sufficient to continue as a going concern, with no material uncertainties identified by the auditors. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by S&W Audit.
Who funds THE ZURBARAN TRUST?
Funders whose own accounts filings name THE ZURBARAN TRUST as a grant recipient include LEMPRIERE PRINGLE 2015, THE HEADLEY TRUST, THE JERUSALEM TRUST, DRAPERS CHARITABLE FUND, THE HOBSON CHARITY LIMITED.
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.
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 ARUNDEL CASTLE TRUSTEES LIMITED.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.