FRIENDS TRUSTS LIMITED

Registered charity 237698 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The Company is the denominational trust corporation for the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and its principal activity is to act as a custodian trustee . It also receives legacies as trustee for unincorporated Quaker charities.The Company administers certain trusts where it has been appointed managing trustee. The income is distributed in accordance with the terms of each trust.

Causes: General Charitable Purposes · Education/training · The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Religious Activities · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · Get email alerts

Latest income

£210k

Latest spending

£258k

Registered

1964

Accounts read

FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that total net assets decreased from £7,383,244 to £7,319,215, driven by a net loss before investment losses of £44,221 and investment losses of £19,808. Unrestricted reserves remained stable at £166,219, and the trustees confirmed the financial position remains stable with no material uncertainties regarding going concern.

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

What the accounts disclose

Largest income source: Investment income (71% of income)

“Investment income 151,554”

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Reserves policy: sufficient (held: £166k)

“At the end of the year, unrestricted reserves amount to £166k (2023: £166k). It is felt that these reserves are sufficient.” — page 6

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Britain Yearly Meeting provides secretarial and administrative support without charge, valued at £66,808.

“The value of the services are treated as donations and were £66,808 in 2024 (2023: £37,727)” — page 27

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Sayer Vincent LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Reserves position vs the charity's own policy moved from "below" (FY2023) to "within" (FY2024).

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

Property (HM Land Registry)

438 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (410 freehold); recorded price paid £3.1m. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2023)

Total income

£181k

Total spending

£230k

Cost of raising funds

£32k

Reserves (reported)

£184k

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~9.6 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 7.0 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Investments (79% 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: 17.4% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 2.9%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

Alastair Jackson
Alastair Thomas
John Capper
MALCOLM STERRATT
Mark Tod · trustee of 1 other charity
Martin Ford · trustee of 3 other charities
Nicola Jane Bennett
PAUL WHITEHOUSE

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

Operates in: Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/12/2024	£210k	£258k
31/12/2023	£625k	£230k
31/12/2022	£260k	£162k
31/12/2021	£217k	£372k
31/12/2020	£531k	£620k

Common questions

Is FRIENDS TRUSTS LIMITED financially healthy?

Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that total net assets decreased from £7,383,244 to £7,319,215, driven by a net loss before investment losses of £44,221 and investment losses of £19,808. Unrestricted reserves remained stable at £166,219, and the trustees confirmed the financial position remains stable with no material uncertainties regarding going concern. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Sayer Vincent LLP.

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
WEST WILTSHIRE AND EAST SOMERSET AREA MEETING	1	£19k

Charities like this

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

THE FRIENDLY TRUST income £775k
NORTHUMBRIA AREA MEETING OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS (QUAKERS) IN BRITAIN income £232k
DEVON AREA MEETING OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS (QUAKERS) IN BRITAIN income £254k
HERTFORD AND HITCHIN AREA MEETING OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS (QUAKERS) income £187k
MAN GROUP PLC CHARITABLE TRUST income £334k
QUAKER HOUSING TRUST LIMITED income £102k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
FRIENDS TRUSTS LIMITED	£210k	—	0	within	—	no doubt
THE FRIENDLY TRUST FY2025	£775k	£70,001 - £80,000	1	unclear	—	no doubt
NORTHUMBRIA AREA MEETING OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS (QUAKERS) IN BRITAIN FY2024	£232k	—	0	above	—	no doubt
DEVON AREA MEETING OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS (QUAKERS) IN BRITAIN FY2024	£254k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
HERTFORD AND HITCHIN AREA MEETING OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS (QUAKERS) FY2024	£187k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
MAN GROUP PLC CHARITABLE TRUST FY2023	£334k	—	0	above	—	no doubt

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