THE ROYAL SCHOOL OF NEEDLEWORK

Registered charity 312774 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as RSN

The RSN comprises three core activities; the Education programme, the Collection and the Studio. These three activities are integrally linked; Studio staff teach on the courses; students work in the Studio; students work on items from the Collection and the collection informs work in the Studio and the courses.

Objects

THE CARRYING ON OF THE ROYAL SCHOOL OF NEEDLEWORK; THE FOUNDING AND CARRYING ON OR ASSISTING OF OTHER SCHOOLS OF NEEDLEWORK; THE TEACHING AND GIVING INSTRUCTION IN ORNAMENTAL NEEDLEWORK AND THE SUPPLYING OF SUITABLE EMPLOYMENT FOR POOR GENTLEWOMEN.

Area of benefit: NOT DEFINED

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

Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Environment/conservation/heritage · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Richmond upon Thames, London, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a net deficit of £654,912 for the year, driven by investment losses and restructuring costs, resulting in free reserves falling to £1,168,912. This figure is explicitly noted as being £520,088 below the trustees' stated policy target of five months' total expenditure. Despite the recurring deficit and reserves being below target, the trustees and auditors confirm there is no material uncertainty regarding the charity's 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

Accounts audited by Buzzacott Audit LLP. Discloses 3 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
• Engaging external speakers at charity events policy and procedures
• 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
• Risk management
• Safeguarding policy and procedures
• Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
• Social media policy and procedures
• Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
• Trustee expenses policy and procedures

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.

Corporate structure

• Registered company of the charity Companies House 00012192

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — The Royal School of Needlework (matched by registered charity number).

Leadership, per the charity’s website

• Pip Wood — Chair (source)
• Rhian Harris — CEO (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.

Funders the charity credits

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

• The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust — “We would like to acknowledge and thank the following Charitable Trusts and Foundations that support the RSN, our vision and values. The D’Oy…” (source page)

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.

• PUNAKS, Zoe — director, appointed 15/07/2026not on trustee list
• HIMSWORTH, Alice — director, appointed 15/07/2026not on trustee list
• PALMER, Linda Anne — director, appointed 11/02/2026on trustee list
• MILA, Peter — director, appointed 09/10/2024on trustee list
• MUMFORD, Sarah Jane — director, appointed 04/05/2023on trustee list
• LEFTWICH, Paula, Dr — director, appointed 04/05/2023on trustee list
• PICKARD, Keith William — director, appointed 01/02/2023on trustee list
• RICHARDS, Julie Ann — director, appointed 28/07/2022on trustee list
• WOOD, Pauline Elizabeth — director, appointed 05/10/2021on trustee list
• RITCHIE, Eleri Lynn — director, appointed 05/10/2021on trustee list
• CULLEN, Patricia Barbara, Professor — director, appointed 23/06/2020on trustee list

Official officers record.

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

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

Reported reserves equal ~3.8 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (61% 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: 31.1% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 5.3%) (benchmarks).

Register events

• Received assets from another charity (14/07/2023) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

• Dr Paula Leftwich
• Eleri Lynn Ritchie
• Julie Ann Richards
• Keith William Pickard · trustee of 1 other charity
• Linda Anne Palmer
• Louisa Christofidou
• Patricia Barbara Cullen
• Pauline Elizabeth Wood
• Peter Mila
• Sarah Jane Mumford

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

Operates in: Bristol City · Durham · Japan · Richmond Upon Thames · Scotland · United States · Warwickshire

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

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

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 ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS BATH AND DISTRICT BRANCH.

• ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS BATH AND DISTRICT BRANCH income £2.9m
• THE ROYAL DRAWING SCHOOL income £4.5m
• ROYAL SOCIETY OF BRITISH ARTISTS LIMITED income £45k
• ROYAL SOCIETY OF PAINTER-PRINTMAKERS income £126k
• ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS CRAVEN AND UPPER WHARFEDALE BRANCH income £55k
• THE NURTURE GROUP NETWORK LIMITED income £2.1m

Side by side with its peers

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