THE OVERSEAS BISHOPRICS' FUND

Registered charity 245334 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The object of the Fund shall be the advancement of the Christian religion by the provision of support for the establishment and maintenance of bishoprics within or closely associated with the Anglican Communion in any area of the world outside the United Kingdom.

Objects

THE OBJECT OF THE FUND SHALL BE TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR THE SENIOR NATIONAL AND REGIONAL LEADERSHIP OF THE WORLDWIDE CHURCH, AND IN PARTICULAR FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF BISHOPRICS WITHIN THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION.(2) IN RELATION TO ANY AREA OF THE WORLD OUTSIDE THE UNITED KINGDOM WHERE THERE EXISTS A CHURCH THAT IS PART OF THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION OR IN COMMUNION WITH THE SEE OF CANTERBURY, THE FUND MAY:(A) PROVIDE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TOWARDS THE SETTING UP AND MAINTENANCE OF THE BISHOPRICS OF SUCH A CHURCH; AND(B) HOLD ENDOWMENT FUNDS FOR THE BENEFIT OF SUCH BISHOPRICS;(3) IN RELATION TO ANY AREA OF THE WORLD OUTSIDE THE UNITED KINGDOM, THE FUND MAY:(A) PROVIDE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TOWARDS THE SETTING UP AND MAINTENANCE OF THE BISHOPRICS OF ANY CHURCH WHOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IS SUCH THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE FUND, HAVING SOUGHT THE ADVICE OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, JUDGES IT SUITABLE THAT SUCH ASSISTANCE BE GIVEN; AND(B) HOLD ENDOWMENT FUNDS FOR THE BENEFIT OF SUCH BISHOPRICS.(4) IN RELATION TO ANY CHURCH IN ANY OF THE ABOVE CATEGORIES OR IN RELATION TO ANY PART OF SUCH A CHURCH, WHERE THERE IS NOT IN PLACE FOR THE TIME BEING A SYSTEM OF EPISCOPAL LEADERSHIP, ANY REFERENCE IN THE ABOVE PROVISIONS TO A BISHOPRIC SHALL HAVE EFFECT AS IF IT WERE TO THE OFFICE AND WORK OF A SENIOR NATIONAL OR REGIONAL LEADER OF STATUS EQUIVALENT TO THAT OF A BISHOP.

Area of benefit: WORLDWIDE

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

Causes: Religious Activities · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Westminster, London, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that total net assets decreased to £17,501,920 from £18,148,673 in the prior year, driven by investment revaluation losses. The charity maintains unrestricted reserves of £133,448, which the trustees confirm are above their stated policy target of £37,856. The trustees and auditors both confirm the charity is operating on a going concern basis with sufficient liquidity to meet commitments.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Crowe U.K. LLP. Discloses 3 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 policy and procedures
• 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
• Risk management
• Safeguarding 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.

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

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

Reported reserves equal ~3.5 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Investments (100% 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

• Bishop Anthony Poggo
• Colin Graham BIRD · trustee of 8 other charities
• Dr Liyanaarachchige Sanjeevani Ranjana Perera
• Edward Graham Mellish Chaplin
• Fiona Janice Proud
• Paul David Tester
• Rev Davidson Samuel Solanki
• Rev Mark Oxbrow · trustee of 2 other charities
• Rev Rana Khan · trustee of 6 other charities
• Rt Revd Dr Gulnar Eleanor Francis-Dehqani · trustee of 2 other charities
• STEPHEN SLACK CBE · trustee of 2 other charities
• Sarah Louise Newnham · trustee of 1 other charity

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

Operates in: Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Common questions

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 FOUNDATION MATTERS.

• FOUNDATION MATTERS income £366k
• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CHURCH FOUNDATION LTD income £220k
• WORLD OUTREACH income £103k
• THE OXFORD DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE income £24.9m
• BISHOPRIC OF PUBLIC ECUMENICAL AND SOCIAL SERVICES UK income £117k
• THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH income £6.4m

Side by side with its peers

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