FRANCIS C SCOTT CHARITABLE TRUST

Registered charity 232131 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Grant giving

Objects

TO SUCH CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONS AND FOR SUCH CHARITABLE PURPOSES AS THE TRUSTEES SHALL FROM TIME TO TIME THINK FIT.

Area of benefit: NATIONAL

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

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

Registered contact address: Westmorland and Furness, North West, England (from the postcode on the register)

Latest income

£1.2m

Latest spending

£1.5m

Registered

1964

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that unrestricted reserves were negative at £800,628 as of 31 December 2025, a position the Trustees attribute to the accrual of future grant commitments rather than operational deficits. The charity reported a net movement in funds of £1,627,517 for the year, driven by significant investment gains, and maintains a total asset base of over £41 million. The Trustees confirmed that the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate and that there are no material uncertainties regarding the charity's ability to continue its operations.

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

What the accounts disclose

Largest income source: Investment income (77% of income)

“Investment income received during the year was £1,540,030” — page 9

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Reserves policy: no designated reserve fund (reserves figure: −£801k)

“The Trustees are satisfied that this is a sensible approach in relation to annual investment income and that their investment strategy is sufficiently robust to obviate the need for a designated reserve fund.”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Legal costs incurred from Wrigleys Solicitors, an entity in which Trustee Laura Moss is a partner.

“During the year, the trust has incurred legal costs of £17,040 from Wrigleys Solicitors, an entity in which Laura Moss is a partner.” — page 30

“An annual donation of £5,200 was made to the Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services to be spent on charitable causes at the Chair's discretion.” — page 30

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Donation to Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services at the Chair's discretion.

“During the year, the trust has incurred legal costs of £17,040 from Wrigleys Solicitors, an entity in which Laura Moss is a partner.” — page 30

“An annual donation of £5,200 was made to the Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services to be spent on charitable causes at the Chair's discretion.” — page 30

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Dodd & Co Audit Limited. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
Complaints handling
Complaints policy and procedures
Conflicting interests
Financial reserves policy and procedures
Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
Internal risk management policy and procedures
Investing charity funds policy and procedures
Investment
Paying staff
Risk management
Safeguarding policy and procedures
Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
Social media policy and procedures
Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
Trustee expenses policy and procedures

From the charity’s annual return (Part A, self-declared)

Answers and figures the charity gave in Part A of its annual return to the Charity Commission. They are self-declared: not verified by the Commission or by this site. Only positive answers and figures are listed; items not listed are simply not shown.

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/12/2025

Employees paid over £60,000: 1 (£60,001–£70,000: 1)
Grant-making is its main activity

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/12/2024

Employees paid over £60,000: 1 (£70,001–£80,000: 1)
Trustee benefits, answered Yes to: any trustee benefit; payments to trustees for services to the charity
Grant-making is its main activity

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/12/2023

Employees paid over £60,000: 1 (£60,001–£70,000: 1)
Grant-making is its main activity

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Helen Carter — Director (source)
Dr Stephen Curl — Chair of Trustees (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.

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

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

Total income

£1.2m

Total spending

£1.5m

Cost of raising funds

£139k

Reserves (reported)

£0

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~0.0 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Investments (99% 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: 11.7% of total income — above the median for charities its size (5.3%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

Stephen Curlchair
Alexander Scott · trustee of 2 other charities
Annalee Holliday · trustee of 1 other charity
Barbara Marion Stephens OBE · trustee of 1 other charity
Christine Knipe · trustee of 3 other charities
Elizabeth Sophie Schofield Steinhart
Ian Johnson
Laura Moss
MADELEINE MARY SCOTT · trustee of 4 other charities
MELANIE MELROSE WOTHERSPOON
Richard Ogden MBE
Sarah Dunning OBE

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

Operates in: Cumbria · Lancashire

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/12/2025	£1.2m	£1.5m
31/12/2024	£877k	£2.0m
31/12/2023	£558k	£1.5m
31/12/2022	£454k	£1.6m
31/12/2021	£455k	£1.6m

Common questions

Is FRANCIS C SCOTT CHARITABLE TRUST financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that unrestricted reserves were negative at £800,628 as of 31 December 2025, a position the Trustees attribute to the accrual of future grant commitments rather than operational deficits. The charity reported a net movement in funds of £1,627,517 for the year, driven by significant investment gains, and maintains a total asset base of over £41 million. The Trustees confirmed that the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate and that there are no material uncertainties regarding the charity's ability to continue its operations. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Dodd & Co 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
VENDQUOT LIMITED	1	£6k
ABG TRUST FUND	1	£4k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE FRIEDA SCOTT CHARITABLE TRUST.

THE FRIEDA SCOTT CHARITABLE TRUST income £330k
THE JOHN SCOTT CHARITABLE TRUST income £214k
FRANK RUSSON CHARITABLE TRUST income £34k
SCOTT (EREDINE) CHARITABLE TRUST income £653k
THE FORT TRUST income £29k
M I CHARITABLE TRUST income £21k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
FRANCIS C SCOTT CHARITABLE TRUST	£1.2m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
THE FRIEDA SCOTT CHARITABLE TRUST FY2025	£330k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
THE JOHN SCOTT CHARITABLE TRUST FY2025	£214k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
FRANK RUSSON CHARITABLE TRUST FY2025	£34k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
SCOTT (EREDINE) CHARITABLE TRUST FY2025	£653k	—	0	above	—	no doubt
THE FORT TRUST FY2026	£29k	—	0	above	—	no doubt

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