THE CATHEDRAL OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST TRUST

Registered charity 1152820 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The aims of the charity are to provide for the preservation and development of the building known as the Cathedral of St John The Baptist, Norwich, to promote the community use of the premises for education to provide a meeting place and to maintain the fabric of the building.

Causes: Education/training · Religious Activities · Recreation · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£667k

Latest spending

£637k

Registered

2013

Accounts read

FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that the Trust's unrestricted reserves increased to £69,428, but the trustees identify that reserves are inadequate for long-term ambitions and the charity is reliant on an open-ended subsidy from the Diocese to remain a going concern. The transfer of day-to-day operations to the Diocese is planned to reduce financial uncertainty and risk.

Automated summary of the FY2024 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Reserves position: below the charity's own stated reserves policy (held: £69k)

“Reserves are inadequate to meet the long-term ambitions of the Trust. This is no longer a risk but an issue.” — page 6

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Going concern: noted by the trustees or auditor

“The Trustees have considered the financial position of the Trust in the context of the grant agreement with the Diocese, ongoing discussions with the Diocese, and correspondence with the Diocese and consider that they have reasonable assurance that the Trust will remain a going concern for the 12 months after the approval of these accounts.” — page 12

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: The Diocese paid net expenses on behalf of the Trust, treated as a donation.

“During the year net expenses of £227,593 (2023: £255,339) have been paid by The Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia, a Charity with Trustees in common, on behalf of the Trust. This has been treated as a donation within the Trust's accounts.” — page 22

“In addition, the Diocese received rent from Notre Dame Preparatory School of £36,000 (2023: £37,254) and has chosen to allocate this to CSJBT.” — page 22

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: The Diocese allocated rent from Notre Dame Preparatory School to the Trust.

“During the year net expenses of £227,593 (2023: £255,339) have been paid by The Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia, a Charity with Trustees in common, on behalf of the Trust. This has been treated as a donation within the Trust's accounts.” — page 22

“In addition, the Diocese received rent from Notre Dame Preparatory School of £36,000 (2023: £37,254) and has chosen to allocate this to CSJBT.” — page 22

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts independently examined (not a full audit). Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Going concern: no going-concern doubt (FY2023) → going-concern doubt noted (FY2024).

Comparing this charity’s FY2023 and FY2024 accounts as analysed by this site.

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2024)

Total income

£667k

Total spending

£637k

Reserves (reported)

£32k

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~0.6 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (58% 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 (4.9%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Received assets from another charity (25/02/2016) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

Christine Quinn
Douglas Lewins · trustee of 1 other charity
Howard Trust
Rev James Grant Hurst
Rev Martin Hardy

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

Operates in: Norfolk

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/12/2024	£667k	£637k
31/12/2023	£626k	£577k
31/12/2022	£647k	£851k
31/12/2021	£762k	£921k
31/12/2020	£687k	£432k

Common questions

Is THE CATHEDRAL OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST TRUST financially healthy?

Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that the Trust's unrestricted reserves increased to £69,428, but the trustees identify that reserves are inadequate for long-term ambitions and the charity is reliant on an open-ended subsidy from the Diocese to remain a going concern. The transfer of day-to-day operations to the Diocese is planned to reduce financial uncertainty and risk. Its FY2024 accounts were independently examined.

Who funds THE CATHEDRAL OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST TRUST?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE CATHEDRAL OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST TRUST as a grant recipient include ROYAL SOCIETY OF WILDLIFE TRUSTS.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
ROYAL SOCIETY OF WILDLIFE TRUSTS	FY2024	£775k	Biffa Award Grants

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
LEICESTER CATHEDRAL CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£3.5m
THE JULIA RAUSING TRUST	1	£475k
THE LEICESTER DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE	1	£374k
THE CHRISTOPHER AND HENRY OLDFIELD TRUST	1	£128k
The John Gurney Charitable Trust	1	£110k
THE KIRBY LAING FOUNDATION	1	£100k
THE IAN AND CLARE MATTIOLI CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£75k
THE R C SNELLING CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£55k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE CITY PARISH OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST, CARDIFF.

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE CITY PARISH OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST, CARDIFF income £112k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST. PETER MANCROFT WITH ST. JOHN MADDERMARKET, NORWICH income £654k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST, UPPER NORWOOD income £717k
THE ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL TRUST income £166k
BRISTOL CATHEDRAL income £1.9m
THE NORFOLK CHURCHES TRUST LIMITED income £451k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
THE CATHEDRAL OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST TRUST	£667k	—	0	below	—	noted
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE CITY PARISH OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST, CARDIFF FY2024	£112k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST. PETER MANCROFT WITH ST. JOHN MADDERMARKET, NORWICH FY2024	£654k	Under £60,000	0	below	—	no doubt
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST, UPPER NORWOOD FY2024	£717k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
THE ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL TRUST FY2025	£166k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
BRISTOL CATHEDRAL FY2024	£1.9m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt

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