THE ELGAR FESTIVAL

Registered charity 1186804 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

To promote the arts and in particular the work of Edward Elgar for the public benefit in and around Worcester, chiefly through the presentation of an annual festival to include concerts, youth activities, exhibitions and other events.

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

Latest income

£130k

Latest spending

£137k

Registered

2019

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity ended the financial year with £18,559 in unrestricted reserves, which represents a decrease from the previous year's balance. The trustees note that the level of Arts Council grant funding is a main concern, though they maintain the charity will continue as a going concern by reducing programmes to match income.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: 10% of turnover (held: £19k)

“THE CHARITY DOES NOT HOLD ANY SPECIFIC RESERVES BUT AIMS TO HAVE A BALANCE OF 10% OF TURNOVER AT THE END OF THE FINANCIAL YEAR.”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Going concern: noted by the trustees or auditor

“THE LEVEL OF THE ARTS COUNCIL GRANT IS THE MAIN CONCERN. HOWEVER, PROGRAMMES CAN BE REDUCED TO MATCH INCOME SO THE CHARITY WILL ALWAYS BE A GOING CONCERN.”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts independently examined (not a full audit). Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Funders the charity credits

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

LG Harris Trust — “Funders LG Harris Trust” (source page)
The Limoges Charitable Trust — “The Limoges Charitable Trust” (source page)
Elgar Family Charitable Trust — “Elgar Family Charitable Trust” (source page)
Lillie Johnson Charitable Trust — “Lillie Johnson Charitable Trust” (source page)
Alan Woodfield Trust — “Alan Woodfield Trust” (source page)

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

Trustees · trustee networks

Dr Adrian Stewart Gregsonchair
Anne Renshaw
Ian David Care

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

Operates in: Worcestershire

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
30/09/2025	£130k	£137k
30/09/2024	£102k	£93k
31/03/2023	£113k	£106k
31/03/2022	£51k	£47k
31/03/2021	£40k	£39k

Common questions

Is THE ELGAR FESTIVAL financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity ended the financial year with £18,559 in unrestricted reserves, which represents a decrease from the previous year's balance. The trustees note that the level of Arts Council grant funding is a main concern, though they maintain the charity will continue as a going concern by reducing programmes to match income. Its FY2025 accounts were independently examined.

Who funds THE ELGAR FESTIVAL?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE ELGAR FESTIVAL as a grant recipient include THE BRANSFORD TRUST.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount
THE BRANSFORD TRUST	FY2025	£22k
THE BRANSFORD TRUST	FY2023	£15k
THE BRANSFORD TRUST	FY2024	£15k

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 ELMLEY FOUNDATION	2	£78k
THE REED FOUNDATION	2	£51k
L G HARRIS TRUST	1	£678k
THE ARDEOLA CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£72k
THE MUMFORD MEMORIAL TRUST	1	£55k
THE KATHLEEN HANNAY MEMORIAL CHARITY	1	£40k
MARIA BJORNSON MEMORIAL FUND	1	£30k
THE CHRISTOPHER LAING FOUNDATION	1	£20k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE ELGAR FOUNDATION.

THE ELGAR FOUNDATION income £208k
THE ENGLISH CONCERT income £1.4m
EALING YOUTH ORCHESTRA income £119k
THE HENLEY FESTIVAL TRUST income £4.6m
WORCESTER THEATRES CHARITABLE TRUST LTD income £2.6m
THE WINDSOR FESTIVAL SOCIETY LIMITED income £215k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
THE ELGAR FESTIVAL	£130k	—	0	unclear	—	noted
THE ELGAR FOUNDATION FY2025	£208k	—	0	above	—	no doubt
THE ENGLISH CONCERT FY2025	£1.4m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
EALING YOUTH ORCHESTRA FY2025	£119k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
THE HENLEY FESTIVAL TRUST FY2025	£4.6m	£100,001 - £110,000	—	within	—	no doubt
WORCESTER THEATRES CHARITABLE TRUST LTD FY2025	£2.6m	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt

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