THE BARN THEATRE PROJECT
Registered charity 1174253 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register
To promote, maintain, improve and enhance access to all aspects of professional and amateur performing art and the development of public appreciation of such art and to advance public education in relation to it
Causes: Arts/culture/heritage/science · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that the charity generated a surplus of £12,227 for the year ended 31 December 2025, with total income increasing by 10.6% to £2,479,851. Unrestricted reserves stood at £205,727, which is above the trustees' stated policy target of three months of expenditure. The trustees and auditors confirm the charity is a going concern, though the trustees note that securing alternative funding in the absence of Arts Council England support remains a major strategic challenge.
Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Reserves policy: three months of expenditure (held: £206k)
“Our aim is to form carried forward reserves amounting to three months of expenditure to support the continued operations of the charity.” — page 5
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Donations from Techsmart Theatre Services Limited (Trustee director)
“During the period donations were received of £77,280 (2024 - £58,250) from Techsmart Theatre Services Limited, a company in which a Trustee of The Barn Theatre Project is a director.” — page 29
“During the period purchases of £93,960 (2024 - £78,890) were made from Techsmart Theatre Services Limited, a company in which a Trustee of the Barn Theatre Project is a director.” — page 29
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Purchases from Techsmart Theatre Services Limited (Trustee director)
“During the period donations were received of £77,280 (2024 - £58,250) from Techsmart Theatre Services Limited, a company in which a Trustee of The Barn Theatre Project is a director.” — page 29
“During the period purchases of £93,960 (2024 - £78,890) were made from Techsmart Theatre Services Limited, a company in which a Trustee of the Barn Theatre Project is a director.” — page 29
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Donations from Trustee Nicholas Hornby
“During the period donations were received of £77,280 (2024 - £58,250) from Techsmart Theatre Services Limited, a company in which a Trustee of The Barn Theatre Project is a director.” — page 29
“During the period purchases of £93,960 (2024 - £78,890) were made from Techsmart Theatre Services Limited, a company in which a Trustee of the Barn Theatre Project is a director.” — page 29
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Donations from Trustee Ian Carling
“During the period donations were received of £77,280 (2024 - £58,250) from Techsmart Theatre Services Limited, a company in which a Trustee of The Barn Theatre Project is a director.” — page 29
“During the period purchases of £93,960 (2024 - £78,890) were made from Techsmart Theatre Services Limited, a company in which a Trustee of the Barn Theatre Project is a director.” — page 29
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: Barn Theatre Enterprises Limited
“The Charity has a subsidiary company Barn Theatre Enterprises Limited whose results are not consolidated in these accounts as the Trustees feel that the Company's results are not material to the Charity.” — page 4
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by Regulatory Audit. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.
Corporate structure
BARN THEATRE ENTERPRISES LIMITED — per its own Companies House accounts
Leadership, per the charity’s website
- Ian Carling — Chairman (source)
- Iwan Lewis — CEO & Artistic Director (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.
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.
- BURTON, Christopher Julian — director, appointed 15/06/2023on trustee list
- BENTON, Robert John — director, appointed 15/06/2023on trustee list
- HORNBY, Nicholas Michael — director, appointed 13/05/2022on trustee list
- WOODD, Charles Frederick, Basil — director, appointed 21/08/2018on trustee list
- HAYWARD, John Kenrick — director, appointed 19/05/2017on trustee list
- THACKABERRY, Stuart John — director, appointed 19/05/2017on trustee list
- CARLING, Christine Alice — director, appointed 19/05/2017on trustee list
- CARLING, Ian — director, appointed 22/11/2016on trustee list
Official officers record.
Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2025)
Cost of raising funds
£78k
Reported reserves equal ~0.3 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (79% 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: 3.1% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Gloucestershire
Income and spending
Common questions
Is THE BARN THEATRE PROJECT financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity generated a surplus of £12,227 for the year ended 31 December 2025, with total income increasing by 10.6% to £2,479,851. Unrestricted reserves stood at £205,727, which is above the trustees' stated policy target of three months of expenditure. The trustees and auditors confirm the charity is a going concern, though the trustees note that securing alternative funding in the absence of Arts Council England support remains a major strategic challenge. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Regulatory Audit.
Who funds THE BARN THEATRE PROJECT?
Funders whose own accounts filings name THE BARN THEATRE PROJECT as a grant recipient include CHK Foundation, SUSANNA PEAKE CHARITABLE TRUST, COUNTY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, THE MARTIN SMITH FOUNDATION.
Known funders
Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.
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 BARNET RECREATIONAL TRUST.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.