WOMEN'S PRIZE TRUST

Registered charity 1181253 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION, WPT

The objects for which the charity exists relate to the advancement of the art of literature for the public benefit. We foster & promote literature of merit written by women in all its forms, including by the encouragement of diversity & greater gender equality amongst writers & by the award of an annual prize for a full length novel written by a woman of any nationality & published in English.

Objects

THE OBJECTS FOR WHICH THE COMPANY IS ESTABLISHED ARE RESTRICTED SPECIFICALLY TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE ART OF LITERATURE FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT AND IN PARTICULAR TO FOSTER AND PROMOTE LITERATURE OF MERIT WRITTEN BY WOMEN IN ALL ITS FORMS, INCLUDING BY THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF DIVERSITY AND GREATER GENDER EQUALITY AMONGST WRITERS AND BY THE AWARD OF AN ANNUAL PRIZE FOR A FULL LENGTH NOVEL WRITTEN BY A WOMAN OF ANY NATIONALITY AND PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH.

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

Causes: Arts/culture/heritage/science · Human Rights/religious Or Racial Harmony/equality Or Diversity · website · Get email alerts

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity ended the period with total funds of £152,952, a significant increase from the £15,405 brought forward, driven by a net income of £137,547. Per the trustees' report, unrestricted reserves are maintained at a level equivalent to between three and six months of expenditure, a policy the trustees consider has been maintained throughout the year. The charity reports 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

Accounts audited by UHY Calvert Smith LLP. Discloses 4 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
• Paying staff
• Risk management
• Safeguarding policy and procedures
• Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
• Social media policy and procedures
• Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
• Trustee expenses policy and procedures

Leadership, per the charity’s website

• Anna Rafferty — Chair (source)
• Claire Shanahan — Executive Director (source)
• Kate Mosse — Founder Director (source)
• Lynsey Passmore — Marketing and Audiences 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.

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

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

Reported reserves equal ~1.3 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (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: 0.1% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• ANNA MARIE LEONTIA OLLARDchair
• Aliceson Robinson
• Anna Catherine Maria Derkacz
• Jenny Izumi Fry
• Juliet Mushens
• Laura Bailey
• Maura Eileen Wilding
• Sarah Davis · trustee of 1 other charity
• Scarlett Curtis
• Zainab Weller

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

Operates in: Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Common questions

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 BOOKER PRIZE FOUNDATION.

• BOOKER PRIZE FOUNDATION income £3.5m
• AUTHORS' AWARDS AND ADVANCEMENT income £179k
• THE CHARLOTTE AITKEN TRUST income £175k
• THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM income £236k
• GRANTA TRUST income £2.1m
• THE ROYAL LITERARY FUND income £4.3m

Side by side with its peers

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