LOVE MUSIC TRUST

Registered charity 1148615 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The Love Music Trust is the lead partner and fund holder for the Cheshire and Wirral music hub.As lead partner, the Love Music Trust has a responsibility to support all state schools in the area to deliver the aims and objectives of the National Plan for Music Education. In addition the trust delivers lessons into schools and runs ensembles and choirs.

Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£1.3m

Latest spending

£1.1m

Registered

2012

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that unrestricted reserves stood at £296,655, with a surplus of £825 for the year. The trustees maintain a prudent level of resources to support future delivery, noting that Arts Council funding is secured until August 2026. The charity operates on a going concern basis with adequate resources for the foreseeable future.

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

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £60,001 - £70,000 — below the median for charities its size (£70k)

“In the band £60,001 - £70,000 1” — page 30

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Reserves policy: a prudent level of resources to support the effective delivery of music education into the future (held: £297k)

“The Trustees’ policy is to carry forward a prudent level of resources to support the effective delivery of music education into the future. The level of reserves will be kept under regular review.” — page 7

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Jonathan Savage, a trustee, is a director of UCan Play Ltd. Purchases of services from UCan Play Ltd during the year amounted to £153,003 (2024: £Nil). There were no outstanding balances with UCan Play Ltd at the year end.

“Jonathan Savage, a trustee of the charity, is also a director of UCan Play Ltd. Purchases of services from UCan Play Ltd during the year amounted to £153,003 (2024: £Nil). There were no outstanding balances with UCan Play Ltd at the year end.” — page 37

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by WR Partners. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Corporate structure

Registered company of the charity Companies House 08123495 · Financial health read from its filings

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.

BEBBINGTON, David Charles — director, appointed 23/10/2025on trustee list
STEWART, Catriona — director, appointed 23/10/2025on trustee list
ROBINSON, Philip Fraser — director, appointed 23/10/2025on trustee list
ELLINSON, Charlotte Louise — director, appointed 23/10/2025on trustee list
HUMPHREYS, Mark Alastair, Dr — director, appointed 26/09/2024on trustee list
GARDINER, Robert, Dr — director, appointed 24/03/2022on trustee list
HILL, Jonathan David — director, appointed 14/09/2017on trustee list
COWELL, Jane — director, appointed 11/09/2015on trustee list
BURNS, Sarah Irene — director, appointed 28/06/2012on trustee list
OAKES, David Samuel — secretary, appointed 19/01/2026

Official officers record.

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

Total income

£1.3m

Total spending

£1.1m

Reserves (reported)

£297k

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~3.1 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 (55% 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).

Trustees · trustee networks

Dr Mark Humphreyschair
Catriona Stewart · trustee of 1 other charity
Charlotte Louise Ellinson
David Charles Bebbington
Dr Robert Gardiner
JANE COWELL
Jonathan David Hill
Philip Fraser Robinson
SARAH IRENE BURNS

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

Operates in: Cheshire East · Cheshire West & Chester · Wirral

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/08/2025	£1.3m	£1.1m
31/08/2024	£1.0m	£1.0m
31/08/2023	£983k	£957k
31/08/2022	£927k	£902k
31/08/2021	£808k	£811k

Common questions

Is LOVE MUSIC TRUST financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that unrestricted reserves stood at £296,655, with a surplus of £825 for the year. The trustees maintain a prudent level of resources to support future delivery, noting that Arts Council funding is secured until August 2026. The charity operates on a going concern basis with adequate resources for the foreseeable future. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by WR Partners.

What does the highest-paid employee of LOVE MUSIC TRUST earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £60,001 - £70,000 band.

Who funds LOVE MUSIC TRUST?

Funders whose own accounts filings name LOVE MUSIC TRUST as a grant recipient include THE NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR YOUTH MUSIC.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
THE NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR YOUTH MUSIC	FY2023	£21k

Government & lottery funding

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

Funder	Date	Amount	Purpose
The National Lottery Community Fund	31/05/2018	£10k	My Whole World- a live musical soap opera for modern times.
The National Lottery Community Fund	09/11/2016	£10k	Life on Shuffle- a youth-led art and music installation

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.

Funder	Similar charities funded	Amount to them
THE NISBET TRUST	2	£350k
THE FOYLE FOUNDATION	2	£225k
The Merchant Taylors' Foundation	2	£105k
THE MAYOR OF LONDON'S FUND FOR YOUNG MUSICIANS	2	£82k
THE CHILDHOOD TRUST	2	£26k
The Ashley Family Foundation	2	£17k
DR RADCLIFFE'S TRUST	2	£8k
The Barnes Fund	1	£336k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MUSIC TRUST.

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MUSIC TRUST income £2.9m
BENSLOW MUSIC TRUST income £1.6m
THE MUSICSPACE TRUST income £437k
BRISTOL MUSIC TRUST income £14.4m
CORNWALL MUSIC SERVICE TRUST income £1.8m
LEWISHAM MUSIC income £1.3m

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
LOVE MUSIC TRUST	£1.3m	£60,001 - £70,000	—	unclear	—	no doubt
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MUSIC TRUST FY2025	£2.9m	—	—	below	—	no doubt
BENSLOW MUSIC TRUST FY2025	£1.6m	—	1	unclear	—	no doubt
THE MUSICSPACE TRUST FY2025	£437k	Under £60,000	0	unclear	—	no doubt
BRISTOL MUSIC TRUST FY2025	£14.4m	—	—	below	—	no doubt
CORNWALL MUSIC SERVICE TRUST FY2025	£1.8m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt

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