INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL SHEFFIELD

Registered charity 1184849 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as DOC/FEST, DOCFEST, SHEFFIELD DOC/FEST, SHEFFIELD DOCFEST

Sheffield DocFest's mission is to advance the art of film, education and training in the art of documentary filmmaking. We offer filmmakers and artists a place for inspiration, debate, growth and challenge, providing an international platform to launch works as part of a carefully curated programme that challenges trends, brings diversity and enriches engagement.

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

Latest income

£1.4m

Latest spending

£1.5m

Registered

2019

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity generated a net deficit of £109,458 for the year ended 31 July 2025, reducing its total funds to £77,090. The trustees acknowledge a material uncertainty regarding the charity's ability to continue as a going concern due to risks to its cash position, although they maintain that adequate resources exist for the foreseeable future. Unrestricted reserves stood at £64,022, which is below the stated policy target of three months' averaged operating costs.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: three months’ averaged operating costs (held: £64k)

“The Trustees aspire to increase the level of unrestricted reserves over the next three to seven years to a target of three months’ averaged operating costs”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Going concern: material uncertainty disclosed

“The matters explained in note 1 to the financial statements indicates the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast doubt over the group’s ability to continue as a going concern.”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: The financial results of Sheffield DocFest Limited as disclosed in note 13 of these financial statements.

“The financial results of Sheffield DocFest Limited as disclosed in note 13 of these financial statements. Transactions with trustees are disclosed in note 11 of these financial statements. There were no other related party transactions in the year.” — page 34

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Hawsons Chartered Accountants. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Going concern: no going-concern doubt (FY2024) → material uncertainty (FY2025).

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

Corporate structure

Trading subsidiary: SHEFFIELD DOCFEST LIMITED Companies House 13274186

SHEFFIELD DOCFEST LIMITED — per its own Companies House accounts

Creditors include £50,709 owed to related parties.

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Raul Niño Zambrano — Creative Director (source)
Mimi Poskitt — Managing 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.

Funders the charity credits

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

BFI National Lottery Creative Challenge Fund — “Our Queer Realities Director’s Lab is returning for two more editions, supported by the BFI National Lottery Creative Challenge Fund, awardi…” (source page)
BFI — “Principal Funders, Partners and Sponsors BFI The British Film Institute is the lead body for film in the UK with the ambition to create a fl…” (source page)
BBC — “Major Funders, Partners and Sponsors BBC The largest broadcasting corporation in the world. The BBC produces programmes that inform, educate…” (source page)

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/07/2025)

Total income

£1.4m

Total spending

£1.5m

Cost of raising funds

£10k

Reserves (reported)

£43k

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~0.3 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 (37% 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 (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

Anne Morrisonchair
BRIAN EDWARDS · trustee of 1 other charity
DAVID RAMSDEN · trustee of 1 other charity
Daniel Jamie Gordon
Dr Galia Gold
Fauzia Khan
Fran Baker
Guy Gadney
Helen Scott
Jennifer Anne Kimber
Lucy Clare McDowell
Roly Keating
SACHA THOMAS ADAM MIRZOEFF
Stephen Bowen
Zoe Alice Mumba

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

Operates in: Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/07/2025	£1.4m	£1.5m
31/07/2024	£1.5m	£1.4m
31/07/2023	£1.4m	£1.4m
31/07/2022	£1.5m	£1.5m
31/07/2021	£1.7m	£1.6m

Common questions

Is INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL SHEFFIELD financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity generated a net deficit of £109,458 for the year ended 31 July 2025, reducing its total funds to £77,090. The trustees acknowledge a material uncertainty regarding the charity's ability to continue as a going concern due to risks to its cash position, although they maintain that adequate resources exist for the foreseeable future. Unrestricted reserves stood at £64,022, which is below the stated policy target of three months' averaged operating costs. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Hawsons Chartered Accountants.

Who funds INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL SHEFFIELD?

Funders whose own accounts filings name INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL SHEFFIELD as a grant recipient include CHURCH BURGESSES TRUST.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
CHURCH BURGESSES TRUST	FY2021	£3k	General Charitable Grants

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
THE SAINTBURY TRUST	1	£12k
THE BRITFORD BRIDGE TRUST	1	£10k
CHAPMAN CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£2k
THE JOICEY TRUST	1	£2k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with DOC SOCIETY CHARITABLE TRUST.

DOC SOCIETY CHARITABLE TRUST income £152k
THE SHEFFIELD MEDIA AND EXHIBITION CENTRE LIMITED income £4.2m
BERWICK FILM & MEDIA ARTS FESTIVAL income £339k
WATERSPRITE FILM FESTIVAL LTD income £139k
FIERCE (FESTIVAL) LIMITED income £410k
BFI TRUST income £2.0m

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL SHEFFIELD	£1.4m	—	—	unclear	—	material uncertainty
DOC SOCIETY CHARITABLE TRUST FY2025	£152k	—	0	below	—	no doubt
THE SHEFFIELD MEDIA AND EXHIBITION CENTRE LIMITED FY2025	£4.2m	—	—	below	—	material uncertainty
BERWICK FILM & MEDIA ARTS FESTIVAL FY2025	£339k	Under £60,000	0	unclear	—	no doubt
WATERSPRITE FILM FESTIVAL LTD FY2025	£139k	—	0	above	—	no doubt
FIERCE (FESTIVAL) LIMITED FY2025	£410k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt

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