Kiln Theatre

Registered charity 276892 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as KILN THEATRE LIMITED, THE TRICYCLE, TRICYCLE THEATRE COMPANY LIMITED

The charity uses different art forms to entertain, educate & stimulate audiences, participants and users to contribute towards a more cohesive community.

Causes: General Charitable Purposes · Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£4.0m
Latest spending
£4.6m
Registered
1978
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a net expenditure of £528,420 for the year, funded by restricted, designated, and general funds. Per the trustees' report, free reserves stood at £1,154,449, which the trustees confirmed met their policy target of maintaining between three and six months' operating expenses.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: three to six months of operating expenses (held: £1.2m)
“Trustees continue to hold the view that general reserves should be maintained at between 3 and 6 months’ operating expenses.” — page 18
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Donations from trustees
“The charity received an aggregate amount of £106,248 in donations from Trustees during the year (2024: £6,134). This included a donation of £100,000 from a family charitable trust of one of the Trustees.” — page 43
“At the year end, the company was owed £53,700 (2024: £24,545) from Tricycle Screen Limited and £8,271 (2024: £8,271) from Kiln London Productions Limited.” — page 43
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Amounts owed by subsidiaries
“The charity received an aggregate amount of £106,248 in donations from Trustees during the year (2024: £6,134). This included a donation of £100,000 from a family charitable trust of one of the Trustees.” — page 43
“At the year end, the company was owed £53,700 (2024: £24,545) from Tricycle Screen Limited and £8,271 (2024: £8,271) from Kiln London Productions Limited.” — page 43
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: Kiln London Productions Limited, Tricycle Screen Limited
“The charity has two wholly owned subsidiary companies; Kiln London Productions Limited (formerly Tricycle London Productions Limited) and Tricycle Screen Limited.” — page 20
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Nyman Libson Paul LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Comparing this charity’s FY2024 and FY2025 accounts as analysed by this site.

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Kiln Theatre (matched by registered charity number).

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)

Total income
£4.0m
Total spending
£4.6m
Cost of raising funds
£209k
Reserves (reported)
£1.2m
Employees
75

Reported reserves equal ~3.0 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (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: 5.2% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Throughout London

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/03/2025£4.0m£4.6m
31/03/2024£4.1m£4.2m
31/03/2023£3.3m£4.2m
31/03/2022£3.3m£3.6m
31/03/2021£3.0m£2.2m

Common questions

Is Kiln Theatre financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a net expenditure of £528,420 for the year, funded by restricted, designated, and general funds. Per the trustees' report, free reserves stood at £1,154,449, which the trustees confirmed met their policy target of maintaining between three and six months' operating expenses. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Nyman Libson Paul LLP.

Who funds Kiln Theatre?

Funders whose own accounts filings name Kiln Theatre as a grant recipient include THE FIDELITY UK FOUNDATION, BACKSTAGE TRUST, WEMBLEY NATIONAL STADIUM TRUST, THE PEARS FAMILY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT UK FOUNDATION.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
THE FIDELITY UK FOUNDATIONFY2024£255kRenovating the Kiln Theatre's current cinema space and public toilets, and towards a new post of Event and Sales Manager to grow earned income and increase fina
BACKSTAGE TRUSTFY2024£200kCore funding
BACKSTAGE TRUSTFY2023£150k
BACKSTAGE TRUSTFY2023£150kCore cost funding
BACKSTAGE TRUSTFY2025£125kCore funding to underpin operational costs
WEMBLEY NATIONAL STADIUM TRUSTFY2025£120kTo cover costs associated with Kiln Theatres’ transformative Creative Education programmes. Awarded over 3 years.
THE PEARS FAMILY CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2024£60kMinding the Gap project
WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT UK FOUNDATIONFY2022£50k
THE MACKINTOSH FOUNDATIONFY2024£34k
THE RODDICK FOUNDATIONFY2023£33kCore costs
THE RODDICK FOUNDATIONFY2024£30k
THE HOBSON CHARITY LIMITEDFY2024£30kTheatre
THE MACKINTOSH FOUNDATIONFY2023£28k
THE RODDICK FOUNDATIONFY2025£20k
WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT UK FOUNDATIONFY2021£11k
THE JOHN S COHEN FOUNDATIONFY2023£5kEducation & Academic
THE AUSTIN AND HOPE PILKINGTON TRUSTFY2023£5k
THE JOHN S COHEN FOUNDATIONFY2024£5kEducation & Academic
THE AUSTIN AND HOPE PILKINGTON TRUSTFY2021£5k
CHAPMAN CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2024£2k
CHAPMAN CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£1k
THE JOHN THAW FOUNDATIONFY2025£1k
THE JOHN THAW FOUNDATIONFY2026£1k
THE GOLSONCOTT FOUNDATIONFY2022£500

Government & lottery funding

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

FunderDateAmountPurpose
City Bridge Foundation14/06/2024£3kGrant to Kiln Theatre
City Bridge Foundation12/04/2024£2kGrant to Kiln Theatre
The National Lottery Heritage Fund05/07/2023£310k"Celebrating Our Stories: The Kilburn High Road Project"
City Bridge Foundation07/01/2021£247kGrant to Kiln Theatre
Greater London Authority01/10/2018£75kYoung Londoners Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund07/03/2017£282k"A Friendly Society: revealing the ForestersÂ’ history at the Tricycle Theatre and BrentÂ’s community stories"
The National Lottery Community Fund01/03/2017£10kTricycle Theatre community outreach workshops for young people
City Bridge Foundation28/01/2016£100kGrant to Kiln Theatre
City Bridge Foundation16/04/2014£5kGrant to Kiln Theatre
City Bridge Foundation28/06/2012£60kGrant to Kiln Theatre
The National Lottery Community Fund17/05/2012£9kSummer Fun @ Press Road
The National Lottery Community Fund20/01/2009£10kPress Road Drama
The National Lottery Community Fund13/10/2006£5kThe Tricycle
The National Lottery Heritage Fund20/04/2006£50k"Brent Cultural Heritage Project"

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 NOTTINGHAM ARTS THEATRE LIMITED.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
Kiln Theatre£4.0m——within—no doubt
NOTTINGHAM ARTS THEATRE LIMITED FY2025£370k—0unclear—no doubt
THE CRITERION THEATRE TRUST FY2024£4.4m——unclear—no doubt
THE TORCH THEATRE COMPANY LIMITED FY2025£1.9m—0below—no doubt
KIRKLEES THEATRE TRUST FY2025£1.8m—0below5.5%no doubt
THEATRE503 LIMITED FY2026£553k—0unclear—noted

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