THE ROYAL PHILATELIC SOCIETY, LONDON

Registered charity 286840 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · Wikidata: Q3446009 · Wikipedia

The advancement of education by promoting, encouraging and contributing to the scientific study and practice of Philately in all its branches for the benefit of the public.

Objects

"THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION BY PROMOTING, ENCOURAGING, AND CONTRIBUTING TO THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY AND PRACTICE OF PHILATELY IN ALL ITS BRANCHES FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC".

Area of benefit: UNDEFINED

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

Causes: Education/training · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: City of London, London, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the Society reported a net loss of £103,734 for the year ended 31 December 2025, driven by a structural deficit where expenditure exceeds income. The Treasurer's review highlights that unrestricted funds are currently insufficient to cover six months of expendable resources, a level below the charity's own reserves policy target. While the Society is asset-rich with significant fixed assets, it faces cash flow pressures from rising maintenance costs and debt reduction, prompting a call for increased donations to secure long-term sustainability.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Begbies Chartered Accountants. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

• Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
• Complaints handling
• Complaints policy and procedures
• Conflicting interests
• Financial reserves policy and procedures
• Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
• Internal risk management policy and procedures
• Investing charity funds policy and procedures
• Investment
• Paying staff
• Risk management
• Safeguarding policy and procedures
• Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
• Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
• Social media policy and procedures
• Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
• Trustee expenses policy and procedures
• Volunteer management

From the charity’s annual return (Part A, self-declared)

Answers and figures the charity gave in Part A of its annual return to the Charity Commission. They are self-declared: not verified by the Commission or by this site. Only positive answers and figures are listed; items not listed are simply not shown.

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Property (HM Land Registry)

2 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (2 freehold); recorded price paid £10.4m. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~170.5 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (48% 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: 19.0% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.9%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• Alan Gerald Druce
• Antony John Newson
• DAVID ALAN WINNIE · trustee of 1 other charity
• David Gwynne Harries
• Ian Parry Greig
• Ian Sidney Balcombe · trustee of 1 other charity
• James Lawrence Grimwood-Taylor
• John Arthur Davies
• John Monteagle Stimson
• Lars Jorgensen
• Mark William Bailey
• Michael Bernard Hoffman
• Peter Francis Cockburn
• Simon David Martin-Redman
• Simon Richards · trustee of 2 other charities
• Steven Harrison
• Susan Elizabeth Taylor
• Suzanne Jill Rae

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

Operates in: Scotland · Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Common questions

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 ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

• ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY income £684k
• THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OF PHILOSOPHY income £469k
• SOCIETY FOR APPLIED PHILOSOPHY income £175k
• THE ROYAL ECONOMIC SOCIETY income £2.4m
• LONDON PETROPHYSICAL SOCIETY income £34k
• THE PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY income £89k

Side by side with its peers

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