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THE FRIENDS OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY

Registered charity 272926 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The objects of the Friends of the Royal Academy are:- to support the charitable work of the Royal Academy of Arts- to promote and to co-operate with the Academy and other charitable organisations in promoting the Arts and in particular the arts of design and the creation and appreciation of the arts

Causes: Arts/culture/heritage/science · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£11.4m
Latest spending
£11.4m
Registered
1977
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity generated unrestricted income of £11,387,149 against expenditure of £1,406,056, resulting in a net income of £9,956,164 which was fully donated to the Royal Academy. Free reserves stood at £115,734, a level the Board considers appropriate given its practice of not accumulating reserves. The charity reports no material uncertainties regarding its ability to continue as a going concern.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: not to accumulate reserves (held: £116k)
“the current practice is to pass the entire annual net income to the Royal Academy and not to accumulate reserves.” — page 7
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Purchase of goods from R.A. Enterprises Limited
“During the year the Charity purchased £387,313 (2024: £386,993) of goods from R.A. Enterprises Limited, a subsidiary of the Royal Academy, related to costs for the quarterly RA Magazine.” — page 21
“In order to optimise cash management efficiency, the current accounts of the Charity and the Royal Academy and its subsidiary undertakings are pooled, such that overnight all cleared debit and credit balances on the current accounts of these entities are set off into a single Royal Academy account.” — page 21
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Cash pooling arrangement
“During the year the Charity purchased £387,313 (2024: £386,993) of goods from R.A. Enterprises Limited, a subsidiary of the Royal Academy, related to costs for the quarterly RA Magazine.” — page 21
“In order to optimise cash management efficiency, the current accounts of the Charity and the Royal Academy and its subsidiary undertakings are pooled, such that overnight all cleared debit and credit balances on the current accounts of these entities are set off into a single Royal Academy account.” — page 21
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Crowe UK LLP. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Corporate structure

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.

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/08/2025)

Total income
£11.4m
Total spending
£11.4m
Reserves (reported)
£116k
Employees
14

Reported reserves equal ~0.1 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (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 (3.8%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/08/2025£11.4m£11.4m
31/08/2024£11.8m£11.8m
31/08/2023£12.0m£12.0m
31/08/2022£12.6m£12.6m
31/08/2021£12.7m£12.7m

Common questions

Is THE FRIENDS OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity generated unrestricted income of £11,387,149 against expenditure of £1,406,056, resulting in a net income of £9,956,164 which was fully donated to the Royal Academy. Free reserves stood at £115,734, a level the Board considers appropriate given its practice of not accumulating reserves. The charity reports no material uncertainties regarding its ability to continue as a going concern. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Crowe UK LLP.

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.

FunderSimilar charities fundedAmount to them
THE ROTHSCHILD FOUNDATION2£1.2m
THE JOHN S COHEN FOUNDATION2£45k
THE ROSE FOUNDATION2£45k
CHK Foundation2£40k
STANLEY PICKER TRUST2£40k
THE JOHN BOOTH CHARITABLE FOUNDATION2£28k
THE LONDON WOMEN'S CLINIC FOUNDATION1—
THE CHAMPNISS FOUNDATION1—

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with Royal Academy Trust.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
THE FRIENDS OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY£11.4m—0above—no doubt
Royal Academy Trust FY2025£5.4m—0unclear—no doubt
THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS FY2025£37.1m—0unclear—no doubt
BANKSIDE GALLERY LIMITED FY2024£448k——unclear—no doubt
INTERNATIONAL FRIENDS OF THE INTERNATIONAL LYRIC ART FESTIVAL FY2025£388k—0below—no doubt
ARTSWORK LIMITED FY2025£1.9m——unclear—no doubt

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