THE FRIENDS OF ABINGDON ABBEY BUILDINGS TRUST

Registered charity 1183398 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

(a) for the public benefit, the preservation, restoration, development and maintenance of Abingdon Abbey, its buildings and site and other historic buildings and land in the town of Abingdon-on-Thames and its neighbourhood;(b) to advance education in the subjects of the abbey, its properties and the history, heritage and culture of the local area.

Objects

A) FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT, THE PRESERVATION, RESTORATION, DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF ABINGDON ABBEY, ITS BUILDING AND SITE AND OTHER HISTORIC BUILDINGS AND LAND IN THE TOWN OF ABINGDON-ON-THAMES AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD;B) TO ADVANCE EDUCATION IN THE SUBJECTS OF THE ABBEY, ITS PROPERTIES AND THE HISTORY, HERITAGE AND CULTURE OF THE LOCAL AREA.

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 · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Vale of White Horse, South East, England (from the postcode on the register)

Latest income

£571k

Latest spending

£351k

Registered

2019

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The charity holds unrestricted reserves of £32,516, a decrease from £33,812 in the prior year. The accounts state there are no material uncertainties about the trust’s ability to continue as a going concern. Total funds increased to £254,371, driven by significant restricted grant income of £493,412.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts independently examined (not a full audit). 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
Investing charity funds policy and procedures
Investment
Paying staff
Risk management
Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
Social media policy and procedures
Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
Trustee expenses policy and procedures
Volunteer management

From the charity’s annual return (Part A, self-declared)

Answers and figures the charity gave in Part A of its annual return to the Charity Commission. They are self-declared: not verified by the Commission or by this site. Only positive answers and figures are listed; items not listed are simply not shown.

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/12/2025

Has a trading subsidiary

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/12/2024

Volunteers: 60
Government income: £133,279 — grants £133,279 (1); 71% of the £187,123 total gross income on the same return

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/12/2023

Volunteers: 77
Government income: £25,000 — grants £25,000 (1); 12% of the £210,852 total gross income on the same return

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Friends of Abingdon Abbey Buildings Trust (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).

Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society — “This now includes Abingdon Town Council, Wolfson Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Historic Houses Foundation, Oxfordshire Buildings T…” (source page)
National Lottery Heritage Fund — “We are delighted that the National Lottery Heritage Fund have agreed to help fund this work with a £4m grant.” (source page)
Abingdon Town Council — “This now includes Abingdon Town Council, Wolfson Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Historic Houses Foundation, Oxfordshire Buildings T…” (source page)
Wolfson Foundation — “This now includes Abingdon Town Council, Wolfson Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Historic Houses Foundation, Oxfordshire Buildings T…” (source page)
Garfield Weston Foundation — “This now includes Abingdon Town Council, Wolfson Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Historic Houses Foundation, Oxfordshire Buildings T…” (source page)
Historic Houses Foundation — “This now includes Abingdon Town Council, Wolfson Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Historic Houses Foundation, Oxfordshire Buildings T…” (source page)
Oxfordshire Buildings Trust — “This now includes Abingdon Town Council, Wolfson Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Historic Houses Foundation, Oxfordshire Buildings T…” (source page)
Pilgrim Trust — “This now includes Abingdon Town Council, Wolfson Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Historic Houses Foundation, Oxfordshire Buildings T…” (source page)
Swire Trusts — “This now includes Abingdon Town Council, Wolfson Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Historic Houses Foundation, Oxfordshire Buildings T…” (source page)

Property (HM Land Registry)

1 registered title in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (1 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 31/12/2025)

Total income

£571k

Total spending

£351k

Cost of raising funds

£4k

Reserves (reported)

£36k

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~1.2 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Other (86% 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: 0.7% of total income — below the median for charities its size (4.9%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Received assets from another charity (06/10/2021) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

Gregory Bensberg MBEchair
Andrew Cherriman
BRYAN WYMAN BROWN · trustee of 1 other charity
Godfrey Cole CBE
Lucinda Sporle
Matthew Stevens
Michael Ward
Roger Michael Thomas · trustee of 2 other charities
Sarah Ann Onion

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

Operates in: Oxfordshire

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/12/2025	£571k	£351k
31/12/2024	£187k	£305k
31/12/2023	£211k	£212k
31/12/2022	£80k	£69k
31/12/2021	£93k	£73k

Common questions

Is THE FRIENDS OF ABINGDON ABBEY BUILDINGS TRUST financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The charity holds unrestricted reserves of £32,516, a decrease from £33,812 in the prior year. The accounts state there are no material uncertainties about the trust’s ability to continue as a going concern. Total funds increased to £254,371, driven by significant restricted grant income of £493,412. Its FY2025 accounts were independently examined.

Who funds THE FRIENDS OF ABINGDON ABBEY BUILDINGS TRUST?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE FRIENDS OF ABINGDON ABBEY BUILDINGS TRUST as a grant recipient include THE PILGRIM TRUST.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
THE PILGRIM TRUST	FY2025	£30k	Abingdon Abbey Buildings Enhancement Project.
THE PILGRIM TRUST	FY2021	£10k	Abingdon Abbey Buildings – enhancing a threatened community asset

Government & lottery funding

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

Funder	Date	Amount	Purpose
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	29/11/2022	£4.3m	"Abingdon Abbey Buildings - a heritage asset at the heart of the community"

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
WILLIAM ADLINGTON CADBURY CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£20k
THE EDWARD CADBURY CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£5k
THE SAINTBURY TRUST	1	£4k
THE GRIMMITT TRUST	1	£3k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with FRIENDS OF TEWKESBURY ABBEY.

FRIENDS OF TEWKESBURY ABBEY income £562k
BREAMORE ANCIENT BUILDINGS CONSERVATION TRUST income £38k
ABBEY LAWN TRUST income £253k
THE FRIENDS OF WALTHAM ABBEY CHURCH income £20k
THE HACKNEY HISTORIC BUILDINGS TRUST income £197k
FRIENDS OF WARDEN ABBEY VINEYARD income £27k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
THE FRIENDS OF ABINGDON ABBEY BUILDINGS TRUST	£571k	—	unclear	—	no doubt
FRIENDS OF TEWKESBURY ABBEY FY2025	£562k	—	below	—	no doubt
BREAMORE ANCIENT BUILDINGS CONSERVATION TRUST FY2025	£38k	—	unclear	—	noted
ABBEY LAWN TRUST FY2025	£253k	—	within	—	no doubt
THE FRIENDS OF WALTHAM ABBEY CHURCH FY2024	£20k	—	unclear	—	no doubt
THE HACKNEY HISTORIC BUILDINGS TRUST FY2025	£197k	—	unclear	—	no doubt

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