BOOKMARK READING CHARITY

Registered charity 1177681 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as BOOKMARK READING LIMITED

We're helping children develop the reading skills they need to succeed in school and beyond, by creating flexible volunteering at the heart of our communities.

Causes: Education/training · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£4.1m
Latest spending
£4.2m
Registered
2018
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity finished the year with a deficit of £0.1m and total reserves of £5.0m. Per the trustees' report, unrestricted free reserves of £2.6m represent seven and a half months of forecast operational expenditure, which is within the stated reserves policy of six months plus or minus 25%. The charity reports a robust balance sheet and no material uncertainties regarding its ability to continue as a going concern.

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

What the accounts disclose

Largest income source: Corporate donations (54% of income)
“Corporate donations 2,082,422”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: Bookmark Reading Trading Limited
“The wholly owned subsidiary, Bookmark Reading Trading Limited, is a company registered in England and Wales. It is used to operate the non-charitable activities of Bookmark Reading Charity.” — page 47
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Hazlewoods LLP. Discloses 3 of 6 completeness components.

Corporate structure

BOOKMARK READING TRADING LIMITED — per its own Companies House accounts
  • No intra-group transactions or balances are disclosed due to an exemption from disclosure.

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

Leadership, per the charity’s website

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.

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.

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/08/2025)

Total income
£4.1m
Total spending
£4.2m
Cost of raising funds
£632k
Reserves (reported)
£2.6m
Employees
46

Reported reserves equal ~7.5 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (97% 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: 15.6% of total income — above the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/08/2025£4.1m£4.2m
31/08/2024£7.1m£4.0m
31/08/2023£4.2m£3.5m
31/08/2022£5.2m£5.1m
31/08/2021£2.2m£1.7m

Common questions

Is BOOKMARK READING CHARITY financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity finished the year with a deficit of £0.1m and total reserves of £5.0m. Per the trustees' report, unrestricted free reserves of £2.6m represent seven and a half months of forecast operational expenditure, which is within the stated reserves policy of six months plus or minus 25%. The charity reports a robust balance sheet and no material uncertainties regarding its ability to continue as a going concern. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Hazlewoods LLP.

Who funds BOOKMARK READING CHARITY?

Funders whose own accounts filings name BOOKMARK READING CHARITY as a grant recipient include The Barratt Redrow Foundation, Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation UK, THE GENERATIONAL FOUNDATION, THE CHILDHOOD TRUST, The Daniel Freedman Foundation.

Known funders

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

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 SCHOOLREADERS.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
BOOKMARK READING CHARITY£4.1m——above—no doubt
SCHOOLREADERS FY2025£940kmore than £60,0001within—no doubt
CHAPTER ONE (U.K.) LTD FY2025£1.8m£90,001 - £100,0003above—no doubt
READING VOLUNTARY ACTION FY2025£723k—0unclear—no doubt
READING COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTRE LTD FY2025£244k—0unclear—no doubt
WORLD BOOK DAY LIMITED FY2025£1.3m——below12.6%no doubt

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