THE CONVERSATION TRUST (UK) LIMITED

Registered charity 1151436 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as THE CONVERSATION · also registered in Scotland as SC044707 (OSCR)

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Latest income

£2.7m

Latest spending

£2.5m

Registered

2013

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity returned to a surplus of £203,000 in FY25 after two years of losses, with total income growing 18.6% to £2.70 million. Free reserves stood at £423,511, which is below the trustees' stated policy target of approximately £550,000 (equivalent to four months' unrestricted operating expenditure). The trustees confirm adequate resources for going concern, supported by cash holdings of £1.3 million and diversified income streams.

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

What the accounts disclose

Related-party transaction: Management and payroll costs recharged to subsidiary Universal Impact Ltd.

“During the year, management and payroll costs of £174,732 (2024: £0) were recharged to subsidiary Universal Impact. At the reporting date, £14,753 (2024: £0) was due from Universal Impact to the charity.” — page 36

“Professer Nishan Canagarajah works for the University of Leicester, Einar Thorsen works for Bournemouth University, Diana Beech works for City St. George, Matt Walsh works for Cardiff University, Kavita Reddi works for University of London, Colleen Murrel works for Dublin City University and Kirsty Walker works for University College London, all of which are members of The Conversation.” — page 36

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Trustees hold positions at member universities or grant funders.

“During the year, management and payroll costs of £174,732 (2024: £0) were recharged to subsidiary Universal Impact. At the reporting date, £14,753 (2024: £0) was due from Universal Impact to the charity.” — page 36

“Professer Nishan Canagarajah works for the University of Leicester, Einar Thorsen works for Bournemouth University, Diana Beech works for City St. George, Matt Walsh works for Cardiff University, Kavita Reddi works for University of London, Colleen Murrel works for Dublin City University and Kirsty Walker works for University College London, all of which are members of The Conversation.” — page 36

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Nyman Libson Paul LLP. Discloses 3 of 6 completeness components.

Funders the charity credits

Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).

King's College London — “King's College London provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.” (source page)
5 Media — “5 is a non-profit foundation supporting projects imagined, developed and led by the 5 community with funding, resources and storytelling in …” (source page)
ISRF — “The Independent Social Research Foundation (ISRF) is a public benefit foundation funded by a group of private philanthropists with interests…” (source page)
Research England — “Research England creates and sustains the conditions for a healthy and dynamic research and knowledge exchange system in English universitie…” (source page)

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/07/2025)

Total income

£2.7m

Total spending

£2.5m

Cost of raising funds

£12k

Reserves (reported)

£424k

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~2.0 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 (91% 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: 0.5% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Received assets from another charity (14/08/2024) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

David Levy · trustee of 1 other charity
Diana Beech
Jacqueline Kirsty Walker
Katharine Louise Metzler
Kavita Reddi
Matthew Peter Walsh
Professor Colleen Maria Murrell
Professor David Gordon Sweeney
Professor Einar Thorsen
Professor Paul Joseph Boyle · trustee of 2 other charities
Rachel Walker
Vivienne Mary Hunt Parry

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

Operates in: Northern Ireland · Scotland · Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/07/2025	£2.7m	£2.5m
31/07/2024	£2.3m	£2.5m
31/07/2023	£2.4m	£2.4m
31/07/2022	£2.2m	£2.0m
31/07/2021	£1.9m	£1.7m

Common questions

Is THE CONVERSATION TRUST (UK) LIMITED financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity returned to a surplus of £203,000 in FY25 after two years of losses, with total income growing 18.6% to £2.70 million. Free reserves stood at £423,511, which is below the trustees' stated policy target of approximately £550,000 (equivalent to four months' unrestricted operating expenditure). The trustees confirm adequate resources for going concern, supported by cash holdings of £1.3 million and diversified income streams. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Nyman Libson Paul LLP.

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 NUFFIELD FOUNDATION	2	£628k
THE DULVERTON TRUST	2	£185k
THE REED FOUNDATION	2	£30k
THE EVAN CORNISH FOUNDATION	2	£20k
THE MOHN WESTLAKE FOUNDATION	1	£1.0m
THE HEALTH FOUNDATION	1	£496k
THE PEARS FAMILY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION	1	£300k
THE A B CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£195k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with FULL FACT.

FULL FACT income £2.9m
EVANGELICALS NOW LIMITED income £269k
NEW PRODUCERS FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY income £275k
National Centre For Universities and Business income £2.9m
CAUSEWAY EDUCATION LTD income £772k
GURLS TALK LIMITED income £207k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
THE CONVERSATION TRUST (UK) LIMITED	£2.7m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
FULL FACT FY2024	£2.9m	—	—	within	—	no doubt
EVANGELICALS NOW LIMITED FY2025	£269k	—	0	above	—	no doubt
NEW PRODUCERS FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FY2025	£275k	—	0	below	—	no doubt
National Centre For Universities and Business FY2025	£2.9m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
CAUSEWAY EDUCATION LTD FY2025	£772k	—	—	above	—	no doubt

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