LEWES OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL TRUST

Registered charity 1163491 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Education of children from the age of three to eighteen in Lewes East Sussex

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Latest income

£11.2m

Latest spending

£10.5m

Registered

2015

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity generated a surplus of £783K for the year ended 31 August 2025, with total unrestricted reserves standing at £7,473K. The trustees note that they are conscious of the need to have funds available to cope with current economic uncertainties and to enable continued investment in property and staff.

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

What the accounts disclose

Related-party transaction: Photographic services provided by Whyte Photography, operated by the husband of the Head of the Junior School.

“During the year the school engaged Whyte Photography, operated by P Whyte, the husband of C Whyte (Head of the Junior School), for photographic services totalling £1,457 (2024 - £4,098). At the balance sheet date fnil (2024 - £nil) was outstanding.” — page 30

“During the year the school engaged M D J Light Bros Ltd for services totalling £3,093 (2024 - £5,910), a company of which J M Light (a Trustee — resigned 29/11/2024) is a shareholder. At the balance sheet date £nil (2024 - Enil) was outstanding.” — page 30

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Services provided by M D J Light Bros Ltd, a company of which a resigned Trustee is a shareholder.

“During the year the school engaged Whyte Photography, operated by P Whyte, the husband of C Whyte (Head of the Junior School), for photographic services totalling £1,457 (2024 - £4,098). At the balance sheet date fnil (2024 - £nil) was outstanding.” — page 30

“During the year the school engaged M D J Light Bros Ltd for services totalling £3,093 (2024 - £5,910), a company of which J M Light (a Trustee — resigned 29/11/2024) is a shareholder. At the balance sheet date £nil (2024 - Enil) was outstanding.” — page 30

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Remuneration paid to close family members of governors and key management personnel.

“During the year the school engaged Whyte Photography, operated by P Whyte, the husband of C Whyte (Head of the Junior School), for photographic services totalling £1,457 (2024 - £4,098). At the balance sheet date fnil (2024 - £nil) was outstanding.” — page 30

“During the year the school engaged M D J Light Bros Ltd for services totalling £3,093 (2024 - £5,910), a company of which J M Light (a Trustee — resigned 29/11/2024) is a shareholder. At the balance sheet date £nil (2024 - Enil) was outstanding.” — page 30

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: School fees paid by parents of governors/key management personnel.

“During the year the school engaged Whyte Photography, operated by P Whyte, the husband of C Whyte (Head of the Junior School), for photographic services totalling £1,457 (2024 - £4,098). At the balance sheet date fnil (2024 - £nil) was outstanding.” — page 30

“During the year the school engaged M D J Light Bros Ltd for services totalling £3,093 (2024 - £5,910), a company of which J M Light (a Trustee — resigned 29/11/2024) is a shareholder. At the balance sheet date £nil (2024 - Enil) was outstanding.” — page 30

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by TC Group. Discloses 3 of 6 completeness components.

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Mrs S Bonell — 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.

Property (HM Land Registry)

8 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (8 freehold); recorded price paid £2.6m. 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 31/08/2025)

Total income

£11.2m

Total spending

£10.5m

Reserves (reported)

£7.9m

Employees

195

Reported reserves equal ~9.0 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (98% 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 (3.8%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Received assets from another charity (07/08/2017) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

Susan Elizabeth Bonell OBEchair · trustee of 1 other charity
Amanda Clarke
Barbara Emmett
Emily Kate Barry
Geoff Perkins
Haydon James Steele Moore
JANINE BROOKS
Jonathan Michael Milner
MR ALISTAIR HARVEY
Sean Peter Read

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

Operates in: East Sussex

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/08/2025	£11.2m	£10.5m
31/08/2024	£10.8m	£10.1m
31/08/2023	£9.9m	£9.5m
31/08/2022	£8.8m	£8.1m
31/08/2021	£7.5m	£7.0m

Common questions

Is LEWES OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL TRUST financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity generated a surplus of £783K for the year ended 31 August 2025, with total unrestricted reserves standing at £7,473K. The trustees note that they are conscious of the need to have funds available to cope with current economic uncertainties and to enable continued investment in property and staff. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by TC Group.

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 AMERICAN SCHOOL IN LONDON FOUNDATION (UK) LIMITED	1	£7.9m
The Keith Howard Foundation	1	£100k
THE BARTLETT FOUNDATION	1	£86k
THE CHARIS TRUST	1	£58k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF TRINITY IN LEWES.

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF TRINITY IN LEWES income £1.2m
THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL AT LEEDS income £32.8m
LEICESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL TRUST income £235.7m
LEICESTER HIGH SCHOOL CHARITABLE TRUST LIMITED income £4.0m
NEWELLS SCHOOL TRUST LIMITED income £9.0m
ST OLAVE'S SCHOOL TRUST income £3.4m

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
LEWES OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL TRUST	£11.2m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF TRINITY IN LEWES FY2023	£1.2m	—	0	above	—	no doubt
THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL AT LEEDS FY2025	£32.8m	—	—	above	—	no doubt
LEICESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL TRUST FY2025	£235.7m	£190,001 - £200,000	—	unclear	—	no doubt
LEICESTER HIGH SCHOOL CHARITABLE TRUST LIMITED FY2024	£4.0m	£100,001 - £110,000	—	below	—	no doubt
NEWELLS SCHOOL TRUST LIMITED FY2025	£9.0m	—	—	below	—	no doubt

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