THE SOUTH LONDON CHURCH FUND AND SOUTHWARK DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE
Registered charity 249678 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as THE DIOCESE OF SOUTHWARK
Resourcing the Ministry and Mission in every parish Managing the number of clergy in post against budget, and collecting Fairer Shares contributionsProviding clergy training, housing, stipends, pension supporting parish based ministryContributing to national church institutionsProviding education & social outreach fundingProviding Diocesan Retreat House
Causes: General Charitable Purposes · The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Religious Activities · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts
The accounts state that the Diocesan Board of Finance finished 2024 with a surplus of £0.4m, reversing a £3m deficit from the previous year, driven by gains on property sales and increased income from the Parish Support Fund. The charity holds free/unrestricted reserves of £2.968m, which are below the stated policy target of three months' budgeted unrestricted expenditure (£6.5m).
Automated summary of the FY2024 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Fundraising cost ratio: 6.5% of fundraised income, as disclosed
“The amount spent on administration as a proportion of the total expenditure of the SDBF amounted to 6.5% (2023: 7%).”
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves policy: three months of unrestricted expenditure (held: £3.0m)
“The Trustees’ policy was gradually to grow working financial reserves in the General Fund such that it was equivalent to three months’ budgeted unrestricted expenditure by the end of 2020, with an aspiration to achieve six months’ budgeted unrestricted expenditure by the end of 2025.”
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: SDBF is a member of the SDBE Multi Academy Trust (MAT) and is represented through the Diocesan Secretary.
“SDBE Multi Academy Trust (MAT), which is an exempt charitable company (No 10385920). The SDBF is a member of the MAT and is represented through the Diocesan Secretary.”
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: Southwark DBF Trading
“The SDBF is the beneficial owner of a subsidiary undertaking, Southwark DBF Trading, a company limited by guarantee, which is registered in England and supplies property and administrative services to the SDBF.”
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by Buzzacott Audit LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.
Corporate structure
SOUTHWARK DBF TRADING LIMITED — per its own Companies House accounts
Leadership, per the charity’s website
- Christopher Chessun — Bishop of Southwark (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.
Company officers (Companies House)
Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.
- DUMBRECK, Geoffrey James William, The Venerable Dr — director, appointed 11/01/2026on trustee list
- COOK, Helen Jane, The Reverend — director, appointed 01/01/2026on trustee list
- CALDERBANK, Peter Charles Edward — director, appointed 13/12/2025on trustee list
- WILSON, Rosemary Georgia — director, appointed 30/05/2025on trustee list
- JATHANNA, Roshan Naveenchandra — director, appointed 30/05/2025on trustee list
- PEACOCK, Nicholas James, Reverend Dr — director, appointed 05/12/2024on trustee list
- SHEPHERD, Bridget Claire, The Reverend — director, appointed 05/12/2024on trustee list
- BACZYK-BELL, Charles John Mackinnon, The Reverend Doctor — director, appointed 05/12/2024on trustee list
- WOODS, Grahame Elliott — director, appointed 05/12/2024on trustee list
- CHIKE, Chigor, The Venerable Doctor — director, appointed 05/12/2024on trustee list
- GARCIA FUERTE, Antonio, The Reverend — director, appointed 05/12/2024not on trustee list
- WILLIAMS, David Anthony — director, appointed 05/12/2024not on trustee list
- WADDELL, Paul Martin — director, appointed 05/12/2024on trustee list
- LEBEY, Nicholas Kwabena, The Reverend Captain — director, appointed 05/12/2024on trustee list
- MACNEANEY, Jonathan Niall Agnew, The Reverend — director, appointed 05/12/2024on trustee list
- BENNETT, Anne Yvonne, The Reverend — director, appointed 05/12/2024on trustee list
- MANSON, Thomas Marshall — director, appointed 05/12/2024on trustee list
- MURDOCH, James William — director, appointed 05/12/2024on trustee list
- GAINSBOROUGH, Jonathan Martin, Revd Dr — director, appointed 02/02/2023on trustee list
- DOCX, Sarah Frances — director, appointed 13/07/2022on trustee list
Official officers record.
Property (HM Land Registry)
639 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (589 freehold); recorded price paid £12.3m. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.
Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2024)
Reported reserves equal ~1.3 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, largest income source: Other (83% 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 (3.8%) (benchmarks).
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Kent · Surrey · Throughout London
Income and spending
Common questions
Is THE SOUTH LONDON CHURCH FUND AND SOUTHWARK DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE financially healthy?
Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that the Diocesan Board of Finance finished 2024 with a surplus of £0.4m, reversing a £3m deficit from the previous year, driven by gains on property sales and increased income from the Parish Support Fund. The charity holds free/unrestricted reserves of £2.968m, which are below the stated policy target of three months' budgeted unrestricted expenditure (£6.5m). Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Buzzacott Audit LLP.
Who funds THE SOUTH LONDON CHURCH FUND AND SOUTHWARK DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE?
Funders whose own accounts filings name THE SOUTH LONDON CHURCH FUND AND SOUTHWARK DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE as a grant recipient include THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST, OLD COULSDON IN THE DIOCESE OF SOUTHWARK, THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST. JAMES WEST STREATHAM SOUTHWARK, THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST. MILDRED'S, ADDISCOMBE, THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF CATFORD (SOUTHEND) AND DOWNHAM, THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SAINT MARK, REIGATE.
Shared trustees with funders
Register facts shown side by side: a person serves as trustee of both this charity and a funder whose accounts record grants to it. Shared trusteeship is lawful and common; well-run charities manage it through declared-interest procedures.
Known funders
Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.
Government & lottery funding
Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).
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 THE SALISBURY DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE.
Side by side with its peers
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