THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CHEMISTRY

Registered charity 207890 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as CHEMICAL SOCIETY

The RSC is an international charity and professional body that connects chemical scientists with each other and society as a whole. We develop and celebrate professional capabilities. We publish new research, bring people together to spark new ideas and partnerships, and support teachers to inspire future generations. We speak up to influence the people making decisions that affect us all.

Causes: General Charitable Purposes · Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that the charity finished the year in a financially sound position, although it reported a net operating deficit of £14.2m offset by financial investment gains of £7.3m. The trustees note that free reserves temporarily fell below the target range and plan to address this deficit by 2028, while maintaining a strong overall financial position with ample reserves available.

Automated summary of the FY2024 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Grant Thornton UK LLP. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

• Employees paid over £60,000: 175 (FY2023) → 211 (FY2024).
• Reserves position vs the charity's own policy moved from "within" (FY2023) to "below" (FY2024).

Comparing this charity’s FY2023 and FY2024 accounts as analysed by this site.

Corporate structure

• Trading subsidiary: CHEMISTRY LIMITED Companies House 03801760
• Trading subsidiary: RSC WORLDWIDE LIMITED Companies House 06702733
• Registered company of the charity Companies House RC000524

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Royal Society of Chemistry (matched by registered charity number).

Funders the charity credits

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

• London Schools Excellence Fund — “We were awarded £300,000 from the Mayor of London through the London Schools Excellence Fund, to support our Inspiring Chemistry Teachers pr…” (source page)
• National Science Academy — “The National Science Academy Grant Scheme has supported the Welsh activities of our Spectroscopy in a Suitcase (SIAS) outreach programme wit…” (source page)
• Royal Society — “In partnership with the Royal Society we are co-funding Newton Fund international researcher exchanges between scientists in the UK and Afri…” (source page)
• Science Foundation Ireland — “With the support of SFI, we are expanding our current Spectroscopy in a Suitcase programme (SIAS) across Ireland. The support provides enhan…” (source page)
• Wilkinson Charitable Trust — “Our 'Inspire To Teach' programme is supported by a grant of £60,000 over three years from the Wilkinson Charitable Trust.” (source page)
• Wolfson Foundation — “During four years of support and a financial donation of £1m the Wolfson Foundation has made a substantial difference to the aspirations of …” (source page)

Property (HM Land Registry)

2 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (0 freehold); recorded price paid £25.0m. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Electoral Commission register entries

Entries on the Electoral Commission’s public register where this charity (or its company) appears as the source — typically sponsorship of an APPG or an overseas visit provided to an MP, which charities may lawfully do. Shown with the Commission’s own reference; this is a transparency record, not an allegation.

• Non Cash: Steve Yemm (MP - Member of Parliament) — £4k · 12/11/2025 · ref NC0834229
  Other

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook (219,792 likes)

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2024)

Reported reserves equal ~9.2 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (94% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 2.7% of total income — below the median for charities its size (3.8%) (benchmarks).

Register events

• Received assets from another charity (04/03/2020) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

• Dr Alexander W F Reip BSc MSc CChem FRSC FIMMM
• Dr Amanda Cooke FRSC
• Dr Annette Doherty OBE FRSC
• Dr Ida Marcia Philbin BSc CChem FRSC FAPM Hons DSC
• Dr Jenny Boxwell CSci CChem FRSC
• Dr Rehana Sidat BSc CSci CChem FRSC
• Dr Stephen J Byard BSc CSci CChem FRSC
• Jonathan Christopher Oxley BSc MBA CChem FRSC CMgr FCMI
• Professor David M Smith BA PhD CChem FRSC
• Professor Edwin C Constable MA DPhil CChem FRSC
• Professor Elise Cartmell BSc DIC PhD CChem FRSC FRSE
• Professor Jeremy Graham Frey MA DPhil CChem FRSC
• Professor Jeremy Shears BSc PhD FRSC
• Professor Magdalena Titirici FRSC
• Professor Robert Mokaya OBE FRSC

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

Operates in: Brazil · China · Germany · India · Japan · Northern Ireland · Scotland · Throughout England And Wales · United States

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

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

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 ROYAL SOCIETY OF BIOLOGY.

• THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF BIOLOGY income £3.2m
• SOCIETY OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY income £4.4m
• RSA (THE ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF ARTS, MANUFACTURES AND COMMERCE) income £12.6m
• ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY income £2.3m
• ROYAL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY income £1.7m
• THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON FOR IMPROVING NATURAL KNOWLEDGE (COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE ROYAL SOCIETY) income £157.6m

Side by side with its peers

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