SUNDERLAND CULTURE LIMITED

Registered charity 1184073 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

We operate museums, galleries and performing arts venues in Sunderland and deliver city-wide projects, events and performances that engage hundreds of thousands of people each year in visual arts, heritage, performance and learning opportunities.

Objects

FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC TO ADVANCE THE ARTS AND CULTURE AND TO ADVANCE EDUCATION IN THE ARTS OF PERFORMANCE, MUSIC, DRAMA, POETRY READING, SCULPTURE, PAINTING, PHOTOGRAPHY, HANDICRAFTS, LITERATURE, GLASS-MAKING, HISTORY, FILM AND ALL OTHER ASSOCIATED ARTS (THE ARTS) IN PARTICULAR BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY BY:1 ENCOURAGING PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN THE ARTS AND BY THE PRESENTATION OF CONCERTS, PERFORMANCES, EXHIBITIONS AND FESTIVALS, PROVIDED THAT THE PROMOTION OF SUCH FESTIVALS AND EVENTS IS UNDERTAKEN SOLELY FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT;2 DEVELOPING NEW AND INNOVATIVE WAYS OF DELIVERING THE ARTS;3 PARTICIPATION IN AND, WHERE APPROPRIATE, MANAGEMENT AND OVERSIGHT OF, CULTURAL OPERATIONS, VENUES AND ACTIVITIES PRIMARILY IN THE CITY OF SUNDERLAND TO ENSURE MAXIMUM BENEFIT AND RETURN, PROVIDED THAT SUCH PARTICIPATION AND MANAGEMENT IS UNDERTAKEN SOLELY FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT;

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

Causes: General Charitable Purposes · Arts/culture/heritage/science · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Sunderland, North East, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that free reserves were £217,774, which is above the trustees' stated policy target of approximately £206,000 (equivalent to three months of total income). The charity reported a net surplus of £619,606 for the year, resulting in strong positive cash balances 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

Accounts audited by Robson Laidler Accountants Limited. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

• Employees paid over £60,000: 1 (FY2024) → 0 (FY2025).

Comparing this charity’s FY2024 and FY2025 accounts as analysed by this site.

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
• Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
• Social media policy and procedures
• Trustee conflicts of interest 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.

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

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Sunderland Culture (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).

• Arts Council England — “Arts Council England logo” (source page)
• UK Government — “Funded by UK Government” (source page)
• Sunderland City Council — “Sunderland City Council logo” (source page)
• Sunderland Music, Arts and Culture Trust — “Sunderland Music, Arts and Culture Trust logo” (source page)

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~1.3 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (46% 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: 0.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.3%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• Thomas Andrew Billingtonchair · trustee of 1 other charity
• Catherine Auld
• Ciera Hudspith
• David Roy Sandbach
• Helen Driscoll
• Kumareswaradas Ramanathasas
• Marie Michelle Daurat
• Marie Nixon
• Neil Smith
• Nicola Greenan
• Sheree Irene Rymer
• Simon Briton

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

Operates in: Sunderland

Income and spending

Common questions

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 WE MAKE CULTURE.

• WE MAKE CULTURE income £293k
• SUNDERLAND ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY income £123k
• SUNDERLAND MUSIC, ARTS & CULTURE TRUST income £552k
• SUNDERLAND MIND income £517k
• SUNDERLAND THEATRE COMPANY income £42k
• THE MRS SUNDERLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL income £45k

Side by side with its peers

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