THE COVENTRY FREEMEN'S CHARITY

Registered charity 229237 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The payment of charity benefits or to provide relief in need to needy Freemen of the City of Coventry and the widows, widowers and other direct dependants of a deceased Freeman, who are resident within the UK.

Causes: The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Get email alerts

Latest income

£1.1m

Latest spending

£977k

Registered

1978

Accounts read

FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that the charity held unrestricted free reserves of £1,953,056, which the trustees consider to be in accordance with their policy of maintaining between one and two years' expenditure. The charity reported a surplus of £273,232 for the year, supported by strong investment income, and confirmed that resources are adequate to continue operations with no material uncertainties identified.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: at least one year’s expenditure but not more than two (held: £2.0m)

“It is intended that the level of unrestricted funds represented by accumulated surpluses are to equate to at least one year’s expenditure but not more than two.” — page 5

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Dafferns Audit Limited. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

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

Total income

£1.1m

Total spending

£977k

Cost of raising funds

£6k

Reserves (reported)

£2.3m

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~27.9 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Investments (100% 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: 0.5% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

John Wilkinsonchair
DAVID BULLMAN
DAVID MANDER
GEORGE WILKINSON
MICHAEL RAWSON
MR DAVID HANDFORD · trustee of 1 other charity
Peter Gordon Rosier
Raj Bansal
Steven John Rawson

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

Operates in: Coventry City · Warwickshire

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/12/2025	£1.1m	£977k
31/12/2024	£1.2m	£1.1m
31/12/2023	£1.2m	£897k
31/12/2022	£973k	£871k
31/12/2021	£934k	£771k

Common questions

Is THE COVENTRY FREEMEN'S CHARITY financially healthy?

Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that the charity held unrestricted free reserves of £1,953,056, which the trustees consider to be in accordance with their policy of maintaining between one and two years' expenditure. The charity reported a surplus of £273,232 for the year, supported by strong investment income, and confirmed that resources are adequate to continue operations with no material uncertainties identified. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Dafferns Audit Limited.

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 EDGAR E LAWLEY FOUNDATION	2	£4k
THE EDWARD AND DOROTHY CADBURY TRUST	2	£2k
COVENTRY BUILDING SOCIETY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION	1	£140k
THE WILL CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£36k
WILLIAM ADLINGTON CADBURY CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£20k
THE ALAN EDWARD HIGGS CHARITY	1	£18k
COVENTRY CHURCH (MUNICIPAL) CHARITIES	1	£16k
THE BATCHWORTH TRUST	1	£15k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with COVENTRY CHURCH (MUNICIPAL) CHARITIES.

COVENTRY CHURCH (MUNICIPAL) CHARITIES income £1.7m
CITY CHURCH COVENTRY income £190k
COVENTRY CYRENIANS LIMITED income £2.3m
CLOTHING COVENTRY income £221k
COVENTRY CITIZENS ADVICE income £1.8m
COVENTRY BUILDING SOCIETY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION income £908k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
THE COVENTRY FREEMEN'S CHARITY	£1.1m	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
COVENTRY CHURCH (MUNICIPAL) CHARITIES FY2025	£1.7m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
CITY CHURCH COVENTRY FY2025	£190k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
COVENTRY CYRENIANS LIMITED FY2025	£2.3m	£80,001 - £90,000	1	above	—	no doubt
CLOTHING COVENTRY FY2024	£221k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
COVENTRY CITIZENS ADVICE FY2025	£1.8m	more than £60,000	1	above	—	no doubt

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