NORTHFIELD ARTS FORUM

Registered charity 1206257 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as NAF

Advance arts, heritage and culture education for the public in Northfield, Birmingham and surrounding areas by offering community activities and events, including classes, courses, exhibitions, performances and workshops in pottery, horticulture, dance, poetry, textiles, singing, painting, sculpture, scripted performance and creative writing.

Objects

TO ADVANCE THE EDUCATION OF THE ARTS, HERITAGE AND CULTURE FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC IN THE DISTRICT OF NORTHFIELD, THE CITY OF BIRMINGHAM AND THE SURROUNDING AREA BY OFFERING ACCESS TO COMMUNITY-FOCUSED ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS, SUCH AS CLASSES, COURSES, EXHIBITIONS, PERFORMANCES AND WORKSHOPS, IN PARTICULAR, BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY IN POTTERY, HORTICULTURE, DANCE, POETRY, TEXTILES, SINGING, PAINTING, SCULPTURE, SCRIPTED PERFORMANCE AND CREATIVE WRITING

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

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

Registered contact address: Birmingham, West Midlands, England (from the postcode on the register)

Latest income

£261k

Latest spending

£224k

Registered

2023

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity held unrestricted free reserves of £5,696, which the Trustees consider to be below their policy target of three months of unrestricted operating expenditure. Per the trustees' report, the charity is operating in a challenging financial environment with replacement funding not yet fully secured, leading to the termination of the Artistic Director’s contract and a reliance on volunteer leadership to manage cash flow pressures.

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

What the accounts disclose

Largest income source: Grants (92% of income)

“Total income for the year amounted to £261,350 which included grants (£240,785), donations (£19,125) and room hire (£1,440).”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Reserves position: below the charity's own stated reserves policy

“At the year end, the charity held unrestricted free reserves of £5,696, equivalent to approximately four months of unrestricted expenditure. The Trustees consider this level of reserves to be below the target level established within the reserves policy.” — page 6

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Going concern: noted by the trustees or auditor

“The Trustees are aware that the charity is currently operating in a challenging financial environment due to the ending of a number of grant funding streams and the fact that replacement funding has not yet been fully secured.” — page 6

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Abbie Meacham, who was a Trustee at the time of the transactions, received payments totalling £1,030 for freelance project delivery and event support work undertaken on behalf of the charity.

“Abbie Meacham, who was a Trustee at the time of the transactions, received payments totalling £1,030 for freelance project delivery and event support work undertaken on behalf of the charity. The arrangement was discussed and approved by the Board of Trustees, excluding the interested Trustee, on 13 March 2023. The Trustees considered the payments to be reasonable and in the best interests of the charity.” — page 21

“Leila Williams, Chair of the charity, received a payment of £500 in respect of the design and development of the charity’s website. The arrangement was approved by the remaining Trustees at a Board meeting held on 27 September 2025 on the basis that the work was considered necessary and the cost represented reasonable value to the charity. The charity also incurs an ongoing annual website hosting cost of £60 payable to Leila Williams” — page 21

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Leila Williams, Chair of the charity, received a payment of £500 in respect of the design and development of the charity’s website. The arrangement was approved by the remaining Trustees at a Board meeting held on 27 September 2025 on the basis that the work was considered necessary and the cost represented reasonable value to the charity. The charity also incurs an ongoing annual website hosting cost of £60 payable to Leila Williams

“Abbie Meacham, who was a Trustee at the time of the transactions, received payments totalling £1,030 for freelance project delivery and event support work undertaken on behalf of the charity. The arrangement was discussed and approved by the Board of Trustees, excluding the interested Trustee, on 13 March 2023. The Trustees considered the payments to be reasonable and in the best interests of the charity.” — page 21

“Leila Williams, Chair of the charity, received a payment of £500 in respect of the design and development of the charity’s website. The arrangement was approved by the remaining Trustees at a Board meeting held on 27 September 2025 on the basis that the work was considered necessary and the cost represented reasonable value to the charity. The charity also incurs an ongoing annual website hosting cost of £60 payable to Leila Williams” — page 21

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
Conflicting interests
Financial reserves policy and procedures
Internal risk management policy and procedures
Safeguarding policy and procedures
Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
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.

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/03/2025

Volunteers: 25
Government income: £15,283 — grants £15,283 (2); 6% of the £261,350 total gross income on the same return
Trustee benefits, answered Yes to: any trustee benefit; payments to trustees for services to the charity

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

Annual return filing dates (Charity Commission record)

Its only annual return with a recorded received date was received after the due date: year ending 31/03/2025 (received 27/07/2026, 177 days after the 31/01/2026 due date).

Due and received dates as recorded in the Commission’s annual-return data; the data does not say whether an extension was agreed. Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Northfield Arts Forum (matched by registered charity number).

Trustees · trustee networks

CHRISTINE SPOONER · trustee of 1 other charity
Deniece Gabriel
Johnathan Stephen-Smith
LEILA WILLIAMS
Lachlan Thomas Telford Smith
Portland Jones

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

Operates in: Birmingham City

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/03/2025	£261k	£224k

Common questions

Is NORTHFIELD ARTS FORUM financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity held unrestricted free reserves of £5,696, which the Trustees consider to be below their policy target of three months of unrestricted operating expenditure. Per the trustees' report, the charity is operating in a challenging financial environment with replacement funding not yet fully secured, leading to the termination of the Artistic Director’s contract and a reliance on volunteer leadership to manage cash flow pressures. Its FY2025 accounts were independently examined.

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

Funder	Date	Amount	Purpose
The National Lottery Community Fund	13/02/2025	£20k	Community Anthems
Sport England	18/03/2020	£8k	Make, Move, Play
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	12/06/2018	£10k	"Suffragettes - 100 years on"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	30/08/2017	£40k	"Crossing Bridges"

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
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION	1	£13k
DAVID LAING FOUNDATION	1	£5k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with NORTHAMPTON ARTS COLLECTIVE LIMITED.

NORTHAMPTON ARTS COLLECTIVE LIMITED income £157k
LICHFIELD ARTS income £242k
HOLMFIRTH ART & MUSIC LIMITED income £85k
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE MUSIC AND PERFORMING ARTS TRUST income £5.6m
THE NORTHUMBRIA COMMUNITY TRUST income £380k
HASTINGS ARTS FORUM income £34k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
NORTHFIELD ARTS FORUM	£261k	—	0	below	—	noted
NORTHAMPTON ARTS COLLECTIVE LIMITED FY2025	£157k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
LICHFIELD ARTS FY2025	£242k	—	0	above	—	no doubt
HOLMFIRTH ART & MUSIC LIMITED FY2026	£85k	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE MUSIC AND PERFORMING ARTS TRUST FY2025	£5.6m	—	—	below	—	no doubt
THE NORTHUMBRIA COMMUNITY TRUST FY2025	£380k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt

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