LEEDS CASTLE FOUNDATION
Registered charity 268354 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register
The aims and activities of Leeds Castle Foundation are to preserve the Castle, its collections and its grounds for the benefit and enjoyment of the public. Its secondary aim is to provide a location for discussion and debate of medical science, and a forum for the arts. The Castle and its grounds are made available to the general public for 364 days per annum.
Causes: Education/training · The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Amateur Sport · Animals · Environment/conservation/heritage · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that the charity reported a net loss of £90,000 for the year ended 31 March 2025, driven by a decrease in investment returns and pension scheme actuarial losses. Despite this, the trustees confirm the organization remains a going concern with adequate resources to continue operations for the foreseeable future, supported by robust reserves and cost-saving measures.
Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Reserves position: below the charity's own stated reserves policy (held: £16.3m; policy: eighteen months of total expenditure)
“Currently, total free reserves equate to approximately sixteen months of expenditure.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Governance: Incident Reporting
“In March 2025, the Leeds Castle Foundation formally reported an accident involving a senior member of staff to the Charity Commission, in accordance with regulatory requirements. The accident, which occurred on 26 March 2025, was subject to a Trustee-led investigation” — page 9
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by Crowe U.K. LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.
Corporate structure
Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Leeds Castle Foundation (matched by registered charity number).
Leadership, per the charity’s website
- Helen Bonser-Wilton — Chief Executive (source)
- Lucy Hutchings — Commercial Operations Director (source)
- Robin Richman — Finance Director (source)
- Mark Delin — Marketing & Events Director (source)
- Dave Hedges — Estates Director (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.
- MACKENZIE, Emily Charlotte — director, appointed 12/06/2026on trustee list
- STRINGER, Matthew Jackson — director, appointed 12/06/2026on trustee list
- KNIGHT, Ruth — director, appointed 29/09/2023on trustee list
- ARMITT, Judith Jane — director, appointed 29/09/2023on trustee list
- MASOTTI, Sarah Eleanor — director, appointed 29/09/2023on trustee list
- ROOTS, Sarah Elizabeth — director, appointed 29/09/2023on trustee list
- KERSLAKE, Rosaleen Clare — director, appointed 16/12/2022not on trustee list
- SMITH, Julian Arthur Vaughan — director, appointed 30/04/2021on trustee list
- DEEBLE, Helen — director, appointed 15/03/2019on trustee list
- TINNISWOOD, Adrian John — director, appointed 16/03/2018on trustee list
- RICHMAN, Robin Andrew — secretary, appointed 01/04/2009
Official officers record.
Property (HM Land Registry)
13 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (13 freehold); recorded price paid £120k. 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 29/03/2025)
Cost of raising funds
£5.3m
Reported reserves equal ~4.8 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (51% 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: 42.1% of total income — above the 90th percentile for charities its size (median 3.8%) (benchmarks).
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Kent
Income and spending
Common questions
Is LEEDS CASTLE FOUNDATION financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a net loss of £90,000 for the year ended 31 March 2025, driven by a decrease in investment returns and pension scheme actuarial losses. Despite this, the trustees confirm the organization remains a going concern with adequate resources to continue operations for the foreseeable future, supported by robust reserves and cost-saving measures. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Crowe U.K. LLP.
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 ARUNDEL CASTLE TRUSTEES LIMITED.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.