Charity Accounts Intelreading the accounts so you don’t have to

VENTURE ARTS

Registered charity 1176385 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

PROVIDING: (A)PRACTICAL WORKSHOPS, TRAINING COURSES ANDMENTORING IN VARIOUS ART FORMS; (B)EVENTS, FESTIVALS AND WORK EXPERIENCEPROGRAMMES IN PARTNERSHIP WITH OTHER ORGANISATIONS AND SCHOOLS; AND (C)FACILITIESAND RESOURCES TO ENABLE THE CREATION OF ART.

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

Latest income
£703k
Latest spending
£707k
Registered
2017
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity ended the year with a net deficit of £4,212, though underlying results were in line with expectations. The trustees report that the charity holds sufficient reserves to cover three months of general running costs and closure costs, placing it in a healthy position to continue operations.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: three months of unrestricted expenditure (held: £463k)
“The Board sees this as a satisfactory fund to cover three months’ general running costs and the unfortunate situation of redundancy and cost of closure.” — page 10
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Services in kind from Sheila Bird Studio, owned by trustee Atul Bansal, valued at £17,500.
“The charity benefitted from services in kind from Sheila Bird Studio, owned by trustee Atul Bansal. The services provided were drawings, specifications and project management services for the capital development project. The in-kind support provided up to 31st March has been valued at £17,500.” — page 27
“Sheila Bird also paid Venture Arts a total of £3,705 for artist workshops, valued at £2,205, and commissioned artwork, valued at £1,500” — page 27
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Payments to Sheila Bird Studio for workshops and artwork totaling £3,705.
“The charity benefitted from services in kind from Sheila Bird Studio, owned by trustee Atul Bansal. The services provided were drawings, specifications and project management services for the capital development project. The in-kind support provided up to 31st March has been valued at £17,500.” — page 27
“Sheila Bird also paid Venture Arts a total of £3,705 for artist workshops, valued at £2,205, and commissioned artwork, valued at £1,500” — page 27
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Building maintenance services from the common law partner of the Head of Finance, valued at £720.
“The charity benefitted from services in kind from Sheila Bird Studio, owned by trustee Atul Bansal. The services provided were drawings, specifications and project management services for the capital development project. The in-kind support provided up to 31st March has been valued at £17,500.” — page 27
“Sheila Bird also paid Venture Arts a total of £3,705 for artist workshops, valued at £2,205, and commissioned artwork, valued at £1,500” — page 27
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Artist residency services from Grizedale Arts, for which the Venture Arts Director was a trustee, valued at £1,099.
“The charity benefitted from services in kind from Sheila Bird Studio, owned by trustee Atul Bansal. The services provided were drawings, specifications and project management services for the capital development project. The in-kind support provided up to 31st March has been valued at £17,500.” — page 27
“Sheila Bird also paid Venture Arts a total of £3,705 for artist workshops, valued at £2,205, and commissioned artwork, valued at £1,500” — page 27
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Third Sector Accountancy Limited. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Corporate structure

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Venture Arts (matched by registered charity number).

Funders the charity credits

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

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.

Official officers record.

Property (HM Land Registry)

1 registered title 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)

Total income
£703k
Total spending
£707k
Cost of raising funds
£37k
Reserves (reported)
£340k
Employees
22

Reported reserves equal ~5.8 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (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: 5.2% of total income — above the median for charities its size (4.9%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Bolton · Bury · Manchester City · Oldham · Rochdale · Salford City · Stockport · Tameside · Trafford · Wigan

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/03/2025£703k£707k
31/03/2024£722k£697k
31/03/2023£778k£796k
31/03/2022£659k£603k
31/03/2021£721k£463k

Common questions

Is VENTURE ARTS financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity ended the year with a net deficit of £4,212, though underlying results were in line with expectations. The trustees report that the charity holds sufficient reserves to cover three months of general running costs and closure costs, placing it in a healthy position to continue operations. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Third Sector Accountancy Limited.

Who funds VENTURE ARTS?

Funders whose own accounts filings name VENTURE ARTS as a grant recipient include IRWIN MITCHELL CHARITIES FOUNDATION, THE FIDELITY UK FOUNDATION, JOSEPH LEVY FOUNDATION, YOUNG MANCHESTER, The Ashley Family Foundation.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
IRWIN MITCHELL CHARITIES FOUNDATIONFY2025£591k
THE FIDELITY UK FOUNDATIONFY2025£198kArts, Culture and Heritage
JOSEPH LEVY FOUNDATIONFY2023£10kVenture Arts used their unrestricted grant to fund an art facilitator to deliver two 6 hour sessions a week for 17 weeks for young people with learning disabili
JOSEPH LEVY FOUNDATIONFY2025£10k
YOUNG MANCHESTERFY2023£9k
JOSEPH LEVY FOUNDATIONFY2022£5kArt facilitator sessions for young people with learning disabilities
The Ashley Family FoundationFY2023£4k
LORD MAYOR OF MANCHESTER'S CHARITY APPEAL TRUSTFY2023£4kMATERIAL INSTITUTIONAL GRANTS
The Ashley Family FoundationFY2022£1k
YOUNG MANCHESTERFY2024£300
The Ashley Family FoundationFY2024£0
The Ashley Family FoundationFY2025£0

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

FunderDateAmountPurpose
Postcode Lottery27/07/2022£25kSupporting learning disabled people to participate in arts and culture
The National Lottery Community Fund09/01/2020£447kVenture Arts: Skills Development Strand
The National Lottery Heritage Fund07/01/2016£37k"Enrichment Programme in Museums with Learning Disabled People"

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.

FunderSimilar charities fundedAmount to them
THE ALBERT GUBAY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION1£75k
THE FREELANDS FOUNDATION LIMITED1£35k
THE GOLSONCOTT FOUNDATION1£29k
SOMERSET COMMUNITY FOUNDATION1£7k
WILFRID AND CONSTANCE CAVE FOUNDATION1£5k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with ALL ARTS & MEDIA LTD.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
VENTURE ARTS£703k—0above—no doubt
ALL ARTS & MEDIA LTD FY2024£99k—0unclear—no doubt
NEW VENTURE PRODUCTIONS FY2025£117k—0unclear—no doubt
ASSOCIATION FOR CULTURAL ADVANCEMENT THROUGH VISUAL ART LIMITED FY2022£2.0m£60,001 - £70,000—unclear—no doubt
ARTS FACTORY LTD FY2026£738k—0below—no doubt
CONTAINS ART CIO FY2025£330kUnder £60,0000above—no doubt

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