YORK CITIZENS' THEATRE TRUST LIMITED

Registered charity 229396 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as YORK CITIZENS' THEATRE TRUST LTD, YORK THEATRE ROYAL

To create work of quality, daring, delight and accomplishment on and off our stages, that offers a diverse mix of entertainment, and aesthetic enjoyment.To offer the building, and our knowledge, skills and experience as a resource toIocal people, and to encourage both theatre going and theatre making.To give best value in all aspects of our operation.

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

Latest income

£4.5m

Latest spending

£4.6m

Registered

1963

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a net deficit of £126,302 for the year, resulting in a decline in total net assets to £1,188,108. However, the trustees note that financial liquidity improved significantly due to high advance ticket sales, and free reserves were maintained at £280,729, which aligns with their policy to maintain positive free reserves.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: positive free reserves (held: £281k)

“The theatre’s current target is to maintain positive free reserves.” — page 10

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Income from Bradford Culture Company (trustee connection)

“There was income of £456,240 (2024: £nil) from Bradford Culture Company, an organisation in which Matthew Noddings was a freelance production manager during the year.” — page 57

“During the year there was expenditure of £nil (2025: £5,664) with Make It York, a charity in which Will Zhuang was also a trustee during the year.” — page 57

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Expenditure with Make It York (trustee connection)

“There was income of £456,240 (2024: £nil) from Bradford Culture Company, an organisation in which Matthew Noddings was a freelance production manager during the year.” — page 57

“During the year there was expenditure of £nil (2025: £5,664) with Make It York, a charity in which Will Zhuang was also a trustee during the year.” — page 57

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Expenditure with York BID Company Limited (trustee connection)

“There was income of £456,240 (2024: £nil) from Bradford Culture Company, an organisation in which Matthew Noddings was a freelance production manager during the year.” — page 57

“During the year there was expenditure of £nil (2025: £5,664) with Make It York, a charity in which Will Zhuang was also a trustee during the year.” — page 57

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Expenditure with Frantic Assembly (trustee connection)

“There was income of £456,240 (2024: £nil) from Bradford Culture Company, an organisation in which Matthew Noddings was a freelance production manager during the year.” — page 57

“During the year there was expenditure of £nil (2025: £5,664) with Make It York, a charity in which Will Zhuang was also a trustee during the year.” — page 57

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Trading subsidiary: York Theatre Royal Enterprises Limited, York Theatre Productions Limited

“The Charity has two trading subsidiaries which form part of the group and in which it is the sole shareholder: York Theatre Royal Enterprises Ltd and York Theatre Productions Ltd.” — page 12

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by BHP LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

In the news

Recent coverage mentioning this charity by name (automated match; headlines belong to their publishers).

York Theatre Royal chief exec Tom Bird to leave after five years for Sheffield Theatres charleshutchpress.co.uk · 05/12/2022

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — York Theatre Royal (matched by registered charity number).

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Juliet Forster — Creative Director (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.

Funders the charity credits

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

City of York Council — “Public funders – City of York Council and Arts Council England.” (source page)
Arts Council England — “Public funders – City of York Council and Arts Council England.” (source page)
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation — “Trusts and Foundations – The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Theatres Trust, Enterprise Arts Trust, Ed de Nunzio Charitable Trust, Garfield West…” (source page)
Theatres Trust — “Trusts and Foundations – The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Theatres Trust, Enterprise Arts Trust, Ed de Nunzio Charitable Trust, Garfield West…” (source page)
Enterprise Arts Trust — “Trusts and Foundations – The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Theatres Trust, Enterprise Arts Trust, Ed de Nunzio Charitable Trust, Garfield West…” (source page)
Ed de Nunzio Charitable Trust — “Trusts and Foundations – The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Theatres Trust, Enterprise Arts Trust, Ed de Nunzio Charitable Trust, Garfield West…” (source page)
Garfield Western Foundation — “Trusts and Foundations – The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Theatres Trust, Enterprise Arts Trust, Ed de Nunzio Charitable Trust, Garfield West…” (source page)
The National Lottery Heritage Fund — “Trusts and Foundations – The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Theatres Trust, Enterprise Arts Trust, Ed de Nunzio Charitable Trust, Garfield West…” (source page)
the Sylvia & Colin Shepherd Charitable Trust — “Trusts and Foundations – The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Theatres Trust, Enterprise Arts Trust, Ed de Nunzio Charitable Trust, Garfield West…” (source page)
Patricia & Donald Shepherd Charitable Trust — “Trusts and Foundations – The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Theatres Trust, Enterprise Arts Trust, Ed de Nunzio Charitable Trust, Garfield West…” (source page)
The Foyle Foundation — “Trusts and Foundations – The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Theatres Trust, Enterprise Arts Trust, Ed de Nunzio Charitable Trust, Garfield West…” (source page)
Backstage Trust — “Trusts and Foundations – The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Theatres Trust, Enterprise Arts Trust, Ed de Nunzio Charitable Trust, Garfield West…” (source page)
North Yorkshire Youth — “Trusts and Foundations – The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Theatres Trust, Enterprise Arts Trust, Ed de Nunzio Charitable Trust, Garfield West…” (source page)

Property (HM Land Registry)

1 registered title in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (0 freehold). All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)

Total income

£4.5m

Total spending

£4.6m

Cost of raising funds

£858k

Reserves (reported)

£281k

Employees

115

Reported reserves equal ~0.7 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (60% 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: 19.2% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

Alfred Vincent Spencer
Cath Clelland MBE
Denise Nichola Jagger · trustee of 2 other charities
Helen Boaden · trustee of 1 other charity
Lewis Parrey
Maggie Pavlou
Matthew Hunnybun · trustee of 2 other charities
Matthew Michael Noddings
Saira Khan
Shamim Eimaan · trustee of 1 other charity

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

Operates in: City Of York

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/03/2025	£4.5m	£4.6m
31/03/2024	£4.2m	£4.7m
31/03/2023	£4.1m	£4.6m
31/03/2022	£3.5m	£3.5m
31/03/2021	£2.7m	£1.9m

Common questions

Is YORK CITIZENS' THEATRE TRUST LIMITED financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a net deficit of £126,302 for the year, resulting in a decline in total net assets to £1,188,108. However, the trustees note that financial liquidity improved significantly due to high advance ticket sales, and free reserves were maintained at £280,729, which aligns with their policy to maintain positive free reserves. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by BHP LLP.

Who funds YORK CITIZENS' THEATRE TRUST LIMITED?

Funders whose own accounts filings name YORK CITIZENS' THEATRE TRUST LIMITED as a grant recipient include THE PATRICIA AND DONALD SHEPHERD CHARITABLE TRUST, THE SYLVIA AND COLIN SHEPHERD CHARITABLE TRUST, THE COMPANY OF MERCHANT TAYLORS OF THE CITY OF YORK, ED DE NUNZIO CHARITABLE TRUST, THE THEATRES TRUST CHARITABLE FUND.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
THE PATRICIA AND DONALD SHEPHERD CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£105k
THE SYLVIA AND COLIN SHEPHERD CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£45k
THE PATRICIA AND DONALD SHEPHERD CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£25k
THE COMPANY OF MERCHANT TAYLORS OF THE CITY OF YORK	FY2022	£15k	Charitable activities
ED DE NUNZIO CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£11k	Access All Areas (AAA) theatre groups
THE PATRICIA AND DONALD SHEPHERD CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£10k
THE THEATRES TRUST CHARITABLE FUND	FY2023	£5k	Small Grants Programme
THE SYLVIA AND COLIN SHEPHERD CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£5k
THE THEATRES TRUST CHARITABLE FUND	FY2024	£5k	Small Grants Programme
THE THEATRES TRUST CHARITABLE FUND	FY2025	£5k
THE SYLVIA AND COLIN SHEPHERD CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£2k

Government & lottery funding

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

Funder	Date	Amount	Purpose
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	07/11/2024	£113k	"Sweet Legacies (working title)"
UK government	13/10/2022	£598k	National Portfolio Organisations
UK government	13/10/2022	£598k	National Portfolio Organisations
UK government	13/12/2021	£598k	National Portfolio Organisations
UK government	27/10/2021	£295k	Culture Recovery Fund: Continuity Support
UK government	08/06/2017	£598k	National Portfolio Organisations
City of York Council	—	£1k	Haxby Ward Grant
City of York Council	—	£1k	Heworth Ward Grant
City of York Council	—	£1k	Holgate Ward Grant
City of York Council	—	£1k	Huntngton Ward Grant
City of York Council	—	£1k	Micklegate Ward Grant
City of York Council	—	£1k	Rawcliffe Ward Grant
City of York Council	—	£1k	Westfield Ward Grant
City of York Council	—	£1k	Copmanthorpe Ward Grant
City of York Council	—	£1k	Micklegate Ward Grant
City of York Council	—	£1k	Guildhall Ward Grant
City of York Council	—	£1k	Fishergate Ward Grant
City of York Council	—	£1k	Dringhouses Ward Grant
City of York Council	—	£1k	Clifton Ward Grant
City of York Council	—	£1k	Youth Service grant

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
SCARBOROUGH THEATRE DEVELOPMENT TRUST	1	£54k
THE LESLIE SMITH FOUNDATION	1	£7k
THE MIDDLETON FOUNDATION	1	£4k
THE SAMUEL STOREY FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£680

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THEATRE@41 LTD.

THEATRE@41 LTD income £101k
NEWCASTLE THEATRE ROYAL TRUST LIMITED income £16.3m
MADDERMARKET THEATRE TRUST LIMITED income £620k
YORK CIVIC TRUST income £500k
MERLIN THEATRE TRUST LIMITED income £270k
BLACKPOOL GRAND THEATRE TRUST LIMITED income £227k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
YORK CITIZENS' THEATRE TRUST LIMITED	£4.5m	—	—	above	—	no doubt
THEATRE@41 LTD FY2025	£101k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
NEWCASTLE THEATRE ROYAL TRUST LIMITED FY2025	£16.3m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
MADDERMARKET THEATRE TRUST LIMITED FY2025	£620k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
YORK CIVIC TRUST FY2025	£500k	—	0	above	—	no doubt
MERLIN THEATRE TRUST LIMITED FY2025	£270k	—	0	above	9.6%	no doubt

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