ESMEE FAIRBAIRN FOUNDATION
Registered charity 200051 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as THE ESMEE FAIRBAIRN CHARITABLE TRUST, THE ESMEE FAIRBAIRN TRUST FUND
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that the Foundation holds unrestricted reserves of £1.336 billion, which the Trustees consider sufficient to continue as a going concern. The investment portfolio, valued at £1.381 billion, achieved a total return of 9.4% in 2025, outperforming the long-term objective of RPI plus 4%. The Foundation spent £60.7 million on charitable activities and raising funds, supported by investment income of £8.9 million.
What the accounts disclose
Employees paid over £60,000: 13
“The number of employees who received remuneration of more than £60,000 in the year was as follows: 2025 5 2 4 1 1” — page 87
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Grant to Pembroke College, University of Oxford
“Beatrice Hollond is a Member of the Investment Committee of Pembroke College, University of Oxford which was awarded a grant of £20,000 in October 2025, which was fully paid in December 2025.”
“Professor David Hill is Trustee of Woodland Trust, which was provided with a Social Investment of £995,000 in May 2025, which was fully drawn in October 2025.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Social Investment to Woodland Trust
“Beatrice Hollond is a Member of the Investment Committee of Pembroke College, University of Oxford which was awarded a grant of £20,000 in October 2025, which was fully paid in December 2025.”
“Professor David Hill is Trustee of Woodland Trust, which was provided with a Social Investment of £995,000 in May 2025, which was fully drawn in October 2025.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Grant to Safe Passage
“Beatrice Hollond is a Member of the Investment Committee of Pembroke College, University of Oxford which was awarded a grant of £20,000 in October 2025, which was fully paid in December 2025.”
“Professor David Hill is Trustee of Woodland Trust, which was provided with a Social Investment of £995,000 in May 2025, which was fully drawn in October 2025.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Grant to The University of Durham
“Beatrice Hollond is a Member of the Investment Committee of Pembroke College, University of Oxford which was awarded a grant of £20,000 in October 2025, which was fully paid in December 2025.”
“Professor David Hill is Trustee of Woodland Trust, which was provided with a Social Investment of £995,000 in May 2025, which was fully drawn in October 2025.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Leadership, per the charity’s website
- Professor David Hill — Chair, Audit and Risk Committee (source)
- Beatrice Hollond — Chair, Finance and Administration Committee (source)
- Beatrice Hollond — Chair, Governance and Nominations Committee (source)
- Edward Bonham Carter — Chair, Investment Committee (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.
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2025)
Cost of raising funds
£3.2m
Reserves (reported)
£1336.4m
Register events
- Received assets from another charity (24/04/2025) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
Trustees
- BEATRICE HANNAH MILLICENT HOLLONDchair
- Dame Clare Moriarty
- Dr Wanda Wyporska
- Edward Bonham Carter
- Elspeth Jones
- Gautham Radhakrishnan
- Grace Elizabeth Marjorie Hughes-Hallett
- Harriet Manners
- Mary Ann Sieghart
- Professor Claire Elice Alexander
- Professor David Hill
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Northern Ireland · Scotland · Throughout England And Wales
Income and spending
Common questions
Is ESMEE FAIRBAIRN FOUNDATION financially healthy?
The accounts state that the Foundation holds unrestricted reserves of £1.336 billion, which the Trustees consider sufficient to continue as a going concern. The investment portfolio, valued at £1.381 billion, achieved a total return of 9.4% in 2025, outperforming the long-term objective of RPI plus 4%. The Foundation spent £60.7 million on charitable activities and raising funds, supported by investment income of £8.9 million. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Who funds ESMEE FAIRBAIRN FOUNDATION?
Funders whose own accounts filings name ESMEE FAIRBAIRN FOUNDATION as a grant recipient include THE LANKELLYCHASE FOUNDATION, THE BRITISH FEDERATION OF FILM SOCIETIES.
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 THE GEOFF & FIONA SQUIRE FOUNDATION.