SAILORS' SOCIETY

Registered charity 237778 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as B I S S, BRITISH AND INTERNATIONAL SAILORS' SOCIETY, BRITISH SAILORS' SOCIETY, BRITISH SAILORS' SOCIETY AT HOME AND ABROAD INCORPORATED, BSS

Latest income
£1.6m
Latest spending
£1.7m
Registered
1964
Accounts read
FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that the group recorded a net surplus of £5,000 for the year, with total reserves standing at £3.7 million. However, free unrestricted reserves were £1.9 million, which the trustees note is below their stated policy target of 24–36 months of unrestricted expenditure. The charity remains reliant on donations and legacies, which saw a decline in 2024, though the going concern basis is supported by sufficient financial reserves to operate through 2026.

What the accounts disclose

Reserves position: below the charity's own stated reserves policy
free reserves stood at £1.9 million, which equates to 18 months of total unrestricted expenditure. This is below the range set out in the policy
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Azets Audit Services.

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Sailors' Society (matched by registered charity number).

Leadership, per the charity’s website

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.

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2024)

Total income
£1.6m
Total spending
£1.7m
Cost of raising funds
£441k
Reserves (reported)
£1.9m
Employees
18

Reported reserves equal ~13.6 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Register events

Trustees

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

Operates in: Australia · Belgium · Brazil · Ghana · India · Indonesia · Liberia · Madagascar · Mozambique · New Zealand · Philippines · Russia

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/12/2024£1.6m£1.7m
31/12/2023£2.3m£2.1m
31/12/2022£1.4m£2.5m
31/12/2021£1.9m£3.0m
31/12/2020£2.4m£4.5m

Common questions

Is SAILORS' SOCIETY financially healthy?

The accounts state that the group recorded a net surplus of £5,000 for the year, with total reserves standing at £3.7 million. However, free unrestricted reserves were £1.9 million, which the trustees note is below their stated policy target of 24–36 months of unrestricted expenditure. The charity remains reliant on donations and legacies, which saw a decline in 2024, though the going concern basis is supported by sufficient financial reserves to operate through 2026. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Azets Audit Services.

Who funds SAILORS' SOCIETY?

Funders whose own accounts filings name SAILORS' SOCIETY as a grant recipient include THE I T F SEAFARERS TRUST, THE CORPORATION OF TRINITY HOUSE OF DEPTFORD STROND, BALTIC EXCHANGE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, THE ANCHOR FOUNDATION, THE CARMELA & RONNIE PIGNATELLI FOUNDATION.

Known funders

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

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.

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with SEAFARERS HOSPITAL SOCIETY.