THE FRIENDS OF WELLS CATHEDRAL

Registered charity 208797 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Grant making to Cathedral Chapter & Departments. Membership activities such as talks and outings.

Causes: Religious Activities · Environment/conservation/heritage · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£818k

Latest spending

£2.3m

Registered

1962

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that free reserves are negative £35,811, with unrestricted liabilities including grant commitments totalling £559,540. The trustees note that fixed asset investments could be realised to provide necessary cash flow and are satisfied that overall reserves remain appropriate for day-to-day operations.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: adequate financial stability and means for the charity to meet its charitable objectives for the foreseeable future (held: £36k)

“It is the policy of the charity that reserves should provide adequate financial stability and means for the charity to meet its charitable objectives for the foreseeable future.”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Donations from trustees

“During the year restricted donations totalling £43,198 (2024: £23,034) were received from 9 (2024: 7) Trustees.” — page 18

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts independently examined (not a full audit). Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

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

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

Total income

£818k

Total spending

£2.3m

Cost of raising funds

£40k

Reserves (reported)

£0

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~0.0 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 4.9% of total income — above the median for charities its size (4.9%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

Arnold Willschair · trustee of 1 other charity
Anne Paul
Cressida Charlotte Parsons · trustee of 1 other charity
David Alastair Morgan-Hewitt · trustee of 1 other charity
Dr Megan Isobel Jane Daffern · trustee of 2 other charities
John Parsons
Juliette Marie Coakes
Maureen Frances Anne Boylan · trustee of 1 other charity
Paul Richard Dickinson · trustee of 2 other charities
Philip Haldane Nunnerley
Richard Thomas Wynn-Jones · trustee of 1 other charity
SIMON JAMES BIRKETT

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

Operates in: Somerset

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/12/2025	£818k	£2.3m
31/12/2024	£547k	£48k
31/12/2023	£158k	£48k
31/12/2022	£389k	£36k
31/12/2021	£278k	£14k

Common questions

Is THE FRIENDS OF WELLS CATHEDRAL financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that free reserves are negative £35,811, with unrestricted liabilities including grant commitments totalling £559,540. The trustees note that fixed asset investments could be realised to provide necessary cash flow and are satisfied that overall reserves remain appropriate for day-to-day operations. Its FY2025 accounts were independently examined.

Who funds THE FRIENDS OF WELLS CATHEDRAL?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE FRIENDS OF WELLS CATHEDRAL as a grant recipient include THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SOUTH PETHERTON WITH THE SEAVINGTONS AND THE LAMBROOKS.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SOUTH PETHERTON WITH THE SEAVINGTONS AND THE LAMBROOKS	FY2023	£70

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
THE FAIRFIELD CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£40k
THE HOBSON CHARITY LIMITED	1	£29k
THE MEDLOCK CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£25k
THE DICKINSON FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£16k
THE MCCORQUODALE CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£5k
THE ANTHONY AND ELIZABETH MELLOWS CHARITABLE SETTLEMENT	1	£5k
THE DYERS' COMPANY CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£2k
THE VERNON ELLIS FOUNDATION	1	£1k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE FRIENDS OF EXETER CATHEDRAL.

THE FRIENDS OF EXETER CATHEDRAL income £392k
THE FRIENDS OF HEREFORD CATHEDRAL income £126k
THE ASSOCIATION OF THE FRIENDS OF SALISBURY CATHEDRAL income £290k
THE FRIENDS OF GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL CIO income £124k
FRIENDS OF NORWICH CATHEDRAL income £333k
THE WELLS CATHEDRAL CHORISTER TRUST income £512k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
THE FRIENDS OF WELLS CATHEDRAL	£818k	—	unclear	—	no doubt
THE FRIENDS OF EXETER CATHEDRAL FY2025	£392k	—	above	—	no doubt
THE FRIENDS OF HEREFORD CATHEDRAL FY2025	£126k	—	unclear	—	no doubt
THE ASSOCIATION OF THE FRIENDS OF SALISBURY CATHEDRAL FY2026	£290k	—	unclear	—	no doubt
THE FRIENDS OF GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL CIO FY2025	£124k	—	unclear	—	no doubt
FRIENDS OF NORWICH CATHEDRAL FY2025	£333k	—	unclear	—	no doubt

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