THE SCHOOL OF CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE

Registered charity 1195159 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The purpose of The School of Contemplative Life is to teach meditation from the Christian wisdom tradition as spiritual path to peace, community and oneness. Please refer to www.schoolofcontemplativelife.com for our aims.

Objects

THE OBJECT OF THE CIO IS TO PROMOTE AND PROTECT EMOTIONAL, MENTAL AND SPIRITUALHEALTH FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC BY THE PROVISION OF MEDITATION AND IN SUCH OTHERWAYS AS THE CHARITY TRUSTEES MAY DECIDE.

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 · Education/training · The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives · Human Rights/religious Or Racial Harmony/equality Or Diversity · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£213k

Latest spending

£217k

Registered

2021

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a net expenditure of £3,568 for the year, resulting in a decrease in total unrestricted funds from £9,576 to £6,963. The trustees' report indicates that the charity maintains a reserves policy of holding nine to twelve months of fixed costs, though the current unrestricted reserves are significantly below this target. The independent examiner confirmed that no material matters came to their attention and that the accounts comply with applicable regulations.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: nine to twelve months of fixed costs (held: £7k)

“The board has agreed to maintain unrestricted reserves equivalent to approximately nine to twelve months of fixed costs.” — page 6

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Payments to trustees: C Whittington and R Sharpe (spouse of trustee) each received £15,142.

“During 2025 C Whittington, a trustee and R Sharpe, the spouse of C Whittington, were each paid a salary of £15,142.” — page 16

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Trustee C Whittington and spouse R Sharpe received salaries.

“During 2025 C Whittington, a trustee and R Sharpe, the spouse of C Whittington, were each paid a salary of £15,142.” — page 16

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts independently examined (not a full audit). Discloses 5 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.

Complaints policy and procedures
Financial reserves policy and procedures
Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
Internal risk management policy and procedures
Safeguarding policy and procedures
Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
Social media policy and procedures
Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
Trustee expenses policy and procedures

Funders the charity credits

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

University of Derby — “We recently received support from the University of Derby in the form of a research student who worked with us to produce our first social i…” (source page)

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

Trustees · trustee networks

Maggie Farrar CBEchair · trustee of 1 other charity
Christopher Ian Whittington
Peter Ruxton Ph.D
Rev Janet Williams Ph.d
Rev Joanna Jepson CF

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

Operates in: Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/12/2025	£213k	£217k
31/12/2024	£211k	£202k
31/12/2023	£190k	£191k
31/12/2022	£14k	£5k

Common questions

Is THE SCHOOL OF CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a net expenditure of £3,568 for the year, resulting in a decrease in total unrestricted funds from £9,576 to £6,963. The trustees' report indicates that the charity maintains a reserves policy of holding nine to twelve months of fixed costs, though the current unrestricted reserves are significantly below this target. The independent examiner confirmed that no material matters came to their attention and that the accounts comply with applicable regulations. Its FY2025 accounts were independently examined.

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
ST CECILIA'S ABBEY RYDE ISLE OF WIGHT	1	£5k
ST MARY'S PRIORY FERNHAM RESIDUAL FUND	1	£3k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE SCHOOL OF MEDITATION.

THE SCHOOL OF MEDITATION income £146k
SAMADHI RETREAT CENTRE income £238k
THE WORLD COMMUNITY FOR CHRISTIAN MEDITATION income £2.3m
SCHOOL OF SUFI TEACHING income £201k
SPEAK LIFE income £705k
NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN CENTRE INTERNATIONAL income £248k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
THE SCHOOL OF CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE	£213k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
THE SCHOOL OF MEDITATION FY2025	£146k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
SAMADHI RETREAT CENTRE FY2025	£238k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
THE WORLD COMMUNITY FOR CHRISTIAN MEDITATION FY2024	£2.3m	—	—	below	—	no doubt
SCHOOL OF SUFI TEACHING FY2025	£201k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
SPEAK LIFE FY2025	£705k	—	0	above	—	no doubt

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