ORCHESTRA OF ST JOHN'S LIMITED

Registered charity 289106 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as OSJ

THE ORCHESTRA'S MISSION IS TO ADVANCE AND PROMOTED THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC IN THE KNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTANDING AND APPRECIATION OF MUSIC AND IN PARTICULAR BY THE PROVISION AND PRESENTATION OF PUBLIC CONCERTS.

Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Economic/community Development/employment · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£337k

Latest spending

£319k

Registered

1984

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity recorded a surplus of £17,901 for the year ended 31 August 2025, resulting in total funds rising to £347,075. The trustees note that all funds are effectively committed due to the inherent uncertainty of fundraising and economic headwinds. The independent examiner confirmed that no matters came to their attention to suggest the accounts were materially misstated.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: The aim of the Charity's reserves policy is to ensure that its ongoing and future activities are reasonably protected from unexpected variances in income and expenditure. (held: £347k)

“The aim of the Charity's reserves policy is to ensure that its ongoing and future activities are reasonably protected from unexpected variances in income and expenditure.” — page 6

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Payments to Artistic Director

“Payments totaling £75,900 (2024: £88,100) were paid to the Artistic Director during the year.” — page 15

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts independently examined (not a full audit). Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Funders the charity credits

Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).

The Big Give — “Thank you for reaching our target for ‘The Big Give 2025’ We accessed a total of £18,000 including matched funding.” (source page)

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

Register events

Received assets from another charity (24/05/2021) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

Belinda Jane Coote
Edward David Kynaston Mott · trustee of 1 other charity
Elizabeth Heather Cooper
Jacqueline Claire Michele Smith · trustee of 1 other charity
Jennifer Louise Hill
Michael Hugh Taylor · trustee of 1 other charity
SIR TOM SHEBBEARE · trustee of 1 other charity

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

Operates in: Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/08/2025	£337k	£319k
31/08/2024	£357k	£406k
31/08/2023	£404k	£364k
31/08/2022	£378k	£323k
31/08/2021	£309k	£261k

Common questions

Is ORCHESTRA OF ST JOHN'S LIMITED financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity recorded a surplus of £17,901 for the year ended 31 August 2025, resulting in total funds rising to £347,075. The trustees note that all funds are effectively committed due to the inherent uncertainty of fundraising and economic headwinds. The independent examiner confirmed that no matters came to their attention to suggest the accounts were materially misstated. Its FY2025 accounts were independently examined.

Who funds ORCHESTRA OF ST JOHN'S LIMITED?

Funders whose own accounts filings name ORCHESTRA OF ST JOHN'S LIMITED as a grant recipient include THE ROWSE FAMILY TRUST, THE REED FOUNDATION, CHARLES S FRENCH CHARITABLE TRUST, CECIL PILKINGTON CHARITABLE TRUST, THE MARTIN SMITH FOUNDATION.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
THE ROWSE FAMILY TRUST	FY2025	£24k
THE REED FOUNDATION	FY2022	£21k	Christmas Challenge
CHARLES S FRENCH CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£5k
CECIL PILKINGTON CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£5k
CECIL PILKINGTON CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£3k
THE MARTIN SMITH FOUNDATION	FY2024	£2k
DORIS FIELD CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£1k	Single payment
THE ROWSE FAMILY TRUST	FY2022	£1k
DORIS FIELD CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£1k	Single payment
THE ASTOR FOUNDATION	FY2022	£750	Arts and heritage
THE ROWSE FAMILY TRUST	FY2024	£0
THE MARTIN SMITH FOUNDATION	FY2023	£0
THE ROWSE FAMILY TRUST	FY2023	—

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.

Funder	Similar charities funded	Amount to them
DR RADCLIFFE'S TRUST	3	£15k
THE ADRIAN SWIRE CHARITABLE TRUST	2	£62k
THE MARCHUS TRUST	2	£10k
ANSON CHARITABLE TRUST	2	£8k
THE GOLSONCOTT FOUNDATION	2	£3k
THE MICHAEL BISHOP FOUNDATION	1	£1.1m
THE THOMPSON FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£350k
JOHN ELLERMAN FOUNDATION	1	£150k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with OXFORD PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA TRUST.

OXFORD PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA TRUST income £3.1m
ACADEMY OF ST MARTIN IN THE FIELDS income £4.6m
THE ORCHESTRA OF THE SWAN income £672k
THE ENGLISH CONCERT income £1.4m
ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA LIMITED income £11.8m
ALINA ORCHESTRA LIMITED income £150k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
ORCHESTRA OF ST JOHN'S LIMITED	£337k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
OXFORD PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA TRUST FY2025	£3.1m	£80,001 - £90,000	1	within	—	no doubt
ACADEMY OF ST MARTIN IN THE FIELDS FY2025	£4.6m	£100,001 - £110,000	—	unclear	—	no doubt
THE ORCHESTRA OF THE SWAN FY2025	£672k	—	0	below	—	no doubt
THE ENGLISH CONCERT FY2025	£1.4m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA LIMITED FY2025	£11.8m	—	—	unclear	5.0%	no doubt

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