THE MOWLEM INSTITUTE

Registered charity 243486 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as MOWLEM THEATRE AND ARTS CENTRE, THE MOWLEM, THE MOWLEM THEATRE, THE MOWLEM THEATRE AND ARTS CENTRE

Theatre, Cinema and Community Arts Centre for the benefit of the inhabitants of Swanage and in particular for the use of meetings, lectures and classes or for other forms of recreation and leisure time occupation with the object of providing further education and improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants.

Causes: General Charitable Purposes · Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Amateur Sport · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£730k

Latest spending

£747k

Registered

1965

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that unrestricted funds fell to £47,822, which is below the stated reserves policy target of three months' forward operational expenditure. The charity reported a small deficit of £17,744 for the year, funded by cash reserves, while holding £147,996 in restricted funds for specific projects.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: three months' forward operational expenditure (held: £48k)

“That liquid assets should be maintained sufficient to meet three months’ forward operational expenditure.” — page 9

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Trustees made donations

“3 Trustees made donations of £30,000 during the year (2024: 3 trustees donated £19,724). During the year the Trustees are not aware of any other related party transactions.” — page 23

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts independently examined (not a full audit). Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 30/09/2025)

Total income

£730k

Total spending

£747k

Cost of raising funds

£72

Reserves (reported)

£0

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~0.0 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (74% 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: 0.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (4.9%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

Mowlem Institute Charity Ltd

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

Operates in: Dorset

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
30/09/2025	£730k	£747k
30/09/2024	£802k	£801k
31/03/2023	£413k	£436k
31/03/2022	£260k	£292k
31/03/2021	£119k	£92k

Common questions

Is THE MOWLEM INSTITUTE financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that unrestricted funds fell to £47,822, which is below the stated reserves policy target of three months' forward operational expenditure. The charity reported a small deficit of £17,744 for the year, funded by cash reserves, while holding £147,996 in restricted funds for specific projects. Its FY2025 accounts were independently examined.

Who funds THE MOWLEM INSTITUTE?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE MOWLEM INSTITUTE as a grant recipient include TALBOT VILLAGE TRUST, THE VALENTINE 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)
TALBOT VILLAGE TRUST	FY2023	£20k
THE VALENTINE CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£12k
THE THEATRES TRUST CHARITABLE FUND	FY2024	£5k	Small Grants Programme
THE THEATRES TRUST CHARITABLE FUND	FY2025	£4k

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 LESLIE SMITH FOUNDATION	1	£7k
THE SCURRAH WAINWRIGHT CHARITY	1	£4k
THE J G GRAVES CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£2k
Moto Foundation	1	£331

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with MERLIN THEATRE TRUST LIMITED.

MERLIN THEATRE TRUST LIMITED income £270k
BARLEY MOW VILLAGE HALL CIO income £120k
The Montgomery Theatre and Arts Centre Limited income £1.9m
MOSELEY MUSLIM COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION income £108k
SIR JOHN MOORE'S SCHOOL AND EXHIBITION FOUNDATION income £145k
MILTON COMMUNITY CENTRE AND RECREATION GROUNDS income £136k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
THE MOWLEM INSTITUTE	£730k	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
MERLIN THEATRE TRUST LIMITED FY2025	£270k	—	0	above	9.6%	no doubt
BARLEY MOW VILLAGE HALL CIO FY2025	£120k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
The Montgomery Theatre and Arts Centre Limited FY2025	£1.9m	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
MOSELEY MUSLIM COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION FY2025	£108k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
SIR JOHN MOORE'S SCHOOL AND EXHIBITION FOUNDATION FY2025	£145k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt

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