CARLISLE DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE

Registered charity 251977 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as CARLISLE DBF, CARLISLE DIOCESE, DIOCESE OF CARLISLE

Resourcing the Church of England's mission and ministry primarily in the parishes of the Diocese of Carlisle and contributing towards the work of the Church nationally.

Causes: Religious Activities · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£11.2m
Latest spending
£10.7m
Registered
1967
Accounts read
FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a net surplus of £1.814 million for the year, with total funds increasing to £87.144 million. The Trustees confirm that free reserves are held at a level equivalent to at least two months of expenditure, which they consider sufficient to meet normal commitments. The charity is prepared on a going concern basis with no material uncertainties identified regarding its ability to continue operating.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: two months expenditure (held: £2.2m)
“the Diocese policy has been to hold a level of free reserves equivalent to at least two months expenditure.”
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Grants received from Church Commissioners
“Payments were made to the Archbishops’ Council for contributions to the National Church and for training of Ordinands totalling £519,000 (2023: £514,000). Payments of £2,540,000 (2023: £2,486,000) were made to the Church Commissioners for clergy stipends and the Church of England Pensions Board was paid £516,000 (2023: £545,000) for clergy pensions.” — page 65
“During the year Rydal Hall Ltd paid £17,000 (2023: £16,000) to Carlisle DBF as its Ministry Offer contribution, in support of its Chaplain.” — page 65
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Subsidiary Rydal Hall Ltd paid Ministry Offer
“Payments were made to the Archbishops’ Council for contributions to the National Church and for training of Ordinands totalling £519,000 (2023: £514,000). Payments of £2,540,000 (2023: £2,486,000) were made to the Church Commissioners for clergy stipends and the Church of England Pensions Board was paid £516,000 (2023: £545,000) for clergy pensions.” — page 65
“During the year Rydal Hall Ltd paid £17,000 (2023: £16,000) to Carlisle DBF as its Ministry Offer contribution, in support of its Chaplain.” — page 65
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Subsidiary Rydal Hydro Ltd paid rent and dividends
“Payments were made to the Archbishops’ Council for contributions to the National Church and for training of Ordinands totalling £519,000 (2023: £514,000). Payments of £2,540,000 (2023: £2,486,000) were made to the Church Commissioners for clergy stipends and the Church of England Pensions Board was paid £516,000 (2023: £545,000) for clergy pensions.” — page 65
“During the year Rydal Hall Ltd paid £17,000 (2023: £16,000) to Carlisle DBF as its Ministry Offer contribution, in support of its Chaplain.” — page 65
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Subsidiary Restore (Cumbria) received grants
“Payments were made to the Archbishops’ Council for contributions to the National Church and for training of Ordinands totalling £519,000 (2023: £514,000). Payments of £2,540,000 (2023: £2,486,000) were made to the Church Commissioners for clergy stipends and the Church of England Pensions Board was paid £516,000 (2023: £545,000) for clergy pensions.” — page 65
“During the year Rydal Hall Ltd paid £17,000 (2023: £16,000) to Carlisle DBF as its Ministry Offer contribution, in support of its Chaplain.” — page 65
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Dodd & Co Audit Limited. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

In the news

Recent coverage mentioning this charity by name (automated match; headlines belong to their publishers).

Corporate structure

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.

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.

Official officers record.

Property (HM Land Registry)

226 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (218 freehold); recorded price paid £995k. 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)

Total income
£11.2m
Total spending
£10.7m
Cost of raising funds
£228k
Reserves (reported)
£1.6m
Employees
74

Reported reserves equal ~1.8 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (55% 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: 2.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (3.8%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Cumbria

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/12/2024£11.2m£10.7m
31/12/2023£10.2m£9.9m
31/12/2022£9.7m£9.6m
31/12/2021£9.2m£8.8m
31/12/2020£8.8m£8.1m

Common questions

Is CARLISLE DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE financially healthy?

Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a net surplus of £1.814 million for the year, with total funds increasing to £87.144 million. The Trustees confirm that free reserves are held at a level equivalent to at least two months of expenditure, which they consider sufficient to meet normal commitments. The charity is prepared on a going concern basis with no material uncertainties identified regarding its ability to continue operating. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Dodd & Co Audit Limited.

Who funds CARLISLE DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE?

Funders whose own accounts filings name CARLISLE DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE as a grant recipient include THE ARCHBISHOPS' COUNCIL.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
THE ARCHBISHOPS' COUNCILFY2025£6.8mDiocesan Investment Programme (DIP) - A Younger Church / New Christian Communities

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

FunderDateAmountPurpose
The National Lottery Heritage Fund26/03/2024£8k"St John's Laundry Heritage Centre"
UK government01/04/2022£739kSchool Condition Allocation - Voluntary Aided Sector Recipients
UK government14/10/2020£4kCRF20: St John's Church
UK government01/04/2020£204kFull Fibre Broadband
UK government01/04/2020£886kSchool Condition Allocation - Voluntary Aided Sector Recipients
UK government01/04/2020£230kDevolved Formula Capital - Local Authority & Voluntary Aided Sector Recipients
The National Lottery Heritage Fund29/07/2013£48k"Restoration of 1864/65 William Butterfield painted ceilings in St Bridget's Church Brigham Cumbria"
The National Lottery Community Fund21/09/2006£2kOverhall of Church's Electrical Installation
The National Lottery Community Fund20/10/2005£4kRebuild
The National Lottery Heritage Fund24/06/2002£483k"Rydal Hall - Historic Landscape Restoration"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund05/08/1998£8k"Ambleside, Rydal Hall - Restoration Plan"

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

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
CARLISLE DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE£11.2m—0above—no doubt
THE SALISBURY DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE FY2024£13.9m——below—no doubt
THE DERBY DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE LIMITED FY2025£11.0m——unclear—no doubt
THE NEWCASTLE DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE FY2025£8.1m——above—no doubt
THE DURHAM DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE FY2025£12.5m£90,001 - £100,000—within—no doubt
PORTSMOUTH DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE FY2025£9.4m—0unclear—no doubt

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