THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF THE HOLY AND UNDIVIDED TRINITY OF ELY

Registered charity 1202546 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as ELY CATHEDRAL

Ely Cathedral is a Christian Church offering daily worship and a place of prayer and sanctity. It is the seat of the Bishop of Ely and the mother church of over 300 parishes that make up the Diocese of Ely. The Cathedral is also a historical monument, built to the glory of God, which welcomes thousands of pilgrims and visitors every year.

Objects

THE OBJECTS OF THE CHAPTER ARE - (A) TO ADVANCE THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FAITH AND PRACTICE OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, IN PARTICULAR BY FURTHERING THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND;(B) TO CARE FOR AND CONSERVE THE FABRIC AND STRUCTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH BUILDING;(C) TO ADVANCE ANY OTHER CHARITABLE PURPOSES WHICH ARE ANCILLARY TO THE FURTHERANCE OF THE PURPOSE REFERRED TO IN SUB-PARAGRAPH (A) OR (B).THE CHAPTER MUST ACT FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT WITHIN THE MEANING OF SECTION 4(3) OF THE CHARITIES ACT 2011.

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

Causes: Religious Activities · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: East Cambridgeshire, East of England, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the Cathedral recorded a small operating surplus before investment movements of £29,000 in 2025, following previous years of deficits. However, the trustees report that unrestricted free reserves of £4.1m remain 25% below the stated target of £5.4m, and total funds held by the related Ely Cathedral Trust are significantly below their long-term policy target.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Price Bailey LLP. Discloses 6 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
• 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
• 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.

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

Corporate structure

• Trading subsidiary: ELY CATHEDRAL ENTERPRISES LIMITED Companies House 01988081 · Financial health read from its filings

Funders the charity credits

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

• Church Commissioners' Cathedral Sustainability Fund — “Website generously supported by Church Commissioners' Cathedral Sustainability Fund” (source page)

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~21.7 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 29.5% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 5.3%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• Rev James Reveleychair · trustee of 1 other charity
• Canon Dr Mary Felicity Cooke · trustee of 2 other charities
• Canon Harriet Sarah Burles
• Canon Sir Jonathan Guy Jones KCB KC hon
• Canon Timothy John Walters
• Francis William Miles Burkitt · trustee of 2 other charities
• Revd Canon Dr Jenny Anne Wright · trustee of 1 other charity
• The Revd Canon Thomas Oliver Buchanan · trustee of 1 other charity

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

Operates in: Cambridgeshire · Norfolk

Income and spending

Common questions

Shared trustees with funders

Register facts shown side by side: a person serves as trustee of both this charity and a funder whose accounts record grants to it. Shared trusteeship is lawful and common; well-run charities manage it through declared-interest procedures.

• Rev James Reveley — trustee here and at ELY CATHEDRAL TRUST
• Revd Canon Dr Jenny Anne Wright — trustee here and at THE FRIENDS OF ELY CATHEDRAL CIO

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 ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.

• ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL income £26.6m
• THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY IN CHICHESTER income £2.8m
• THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST ANDREW IN WELLS income £5.7m
• THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF SAINT MARY AND SAINT CHAD IN LICHFIELD income £3.4m
• ELY CATHEDRAL TRUST income £640k
• THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY AND OF SAINT PETER AND SAINT PAUL AND OF SAINT SWITHUN OF WINCHESTER income £6.4m

Side by side with its peers

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