THE BANBURY MUSEUM TRUST

Registered charity 1153109 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Banbury Museum is a purpose built museum, which displays historic collections relating to North Oxfordshire and beyond, and temporary exhibitions. The Museum engages a broad audience through an extensive programme of educational activities and also engages in historical research of both activities and collections. It offers professional museum advice to other museums and heritage projects.

Objects

TO ADVANCE THE AWARENESS AND EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC, PARTICULARLY, BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY, IN THE HISTORY OF BANBURY, NORTH OXFORDSHIRE AND THE ADJOINING COUNTIES, AND PRESERVE THE COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES IN ITS STEWARDSHIP.THIS WILL BE ACHIEVED, IN PARTICULAR BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY, BY:-- EFFECTIVE STEWARDSHIP OF THE MUSEUM'S COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES.- EXHIBITING, INTERPRETING AND PROVIDING ACCESS TO COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES.- ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING MUSEUM(S), AND/OR ARCHIVE(S) FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC, AND ASSISTING OTHER ORGANISATIONS IN ACHIEVING THESE OBJECTIVES.- COLLECTING ARTEFACTS AND ARCHIVES IN THE MUSEUM'S OWN RIGHT, OR IN COLLABORATION WITH OTHER MUSEUMS.

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

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

Registered contact address: Cherwell, South East, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the Trust reported a consolidated net surplus of £6,363 for the year ended 31 March 2025, with total unrestricted reserves of £223,342. The Trustees confirm that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future, noting reliance on grant funding from Cherwell District Council. The defined benefit pension scheme, previously in deficit, is now in surplus, removing a significant potential liability.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts independently examined (not a full audit). Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

• Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
• Complaints handling
• Complaints policy and procedures
• Conflicting interests
• Financial reserves policy and procedures
• Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
• Internal risk management policy and procedures
• Investing charity funds policy and procedures
• Investment
• Paying staff
• Risk management
• Safeguarding policy and procedures
• Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
• Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
• Social media policy and procedures
• Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
• Trustee expenses policy and procedures
• Volunteer management

From the charity’s annual return (Part A, self-declared)

Answers and figures the charity gave in Part A of its annual return to the Charity Commission. They are self-declared: not verified by the Commission or by this site. Only positive answers and figures are listed; items not listed are simply not shown.

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Annual return filing dates (Charity Commission record)

Of its last 5 annual returns with a recorded received date, 1 was received after the due date: year ending 31/03/2021 (received 30/08/2022, 211 days after the 31/01/2022 due date).

Due and received dates as recorded in the Commission’s annual-return data; the data does not say whether an extension was agreed. Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Funders the charity credits

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

• Cherwell District Council — “Banbury Museum & Gallery is supported by Cherwell District Council” (source page)

Property (HM Land Registry)

2 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (0 freehold). All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~0.8 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (75% 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: 18.9% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.9%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• Helen Fordechair · trustee of 3 other charities
• Alastair Scott
• Clare Adams · trustee of 1 other charity
• JOHN ERNEST SPRATT · trustee of 1 other charity
• Jonathan Mark Walton · trustee of 1 other charity
• Rebecca Mileham
• Rob Pattenden
• Shaida Hussain

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

Operates in: Buckinghamshire · Gloucestershire · Northamptonshire · Oxfordshire · Warwickshire

Income and spending

Common questions

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 THE SALISBURY AND SOUTH WILTSHIRE MUSEUM TRUST.

• THE SALISBURY AND SOUTH WILTSHIRE MUSEUM TRUST income £930k
• THE BLANDFORD FORUM MUSEUM, HERITAGE AND ARTS TRUST income £50k
• WALLINGFORD MUSEUM income £31k
• THE MUSEUM OF DARTMOOR LIFE income £61k
• BARNSLEY MUSEUMS AND HERITAGE TRUST income £127k
• BANBURY CHARITIES income £421k

Side by side with its peers

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