Friends of the Nations' Libraries

Registered charity 313020 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · Wikidata: Q5504347 · Wikipedia · also known as FRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL LIBRARIES

Grants to promote the acquisition by national and regional libraries and archives of printed books, manuscripts and records of historical, literary, artistic, architectural, musical or such like interest and to assist the libraries in any other way which the Charity considers appropriate.

Objects

THE PURCHASE OF BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS AS GIFTS TO THE NATIONAL LIBRARIES.(THE EXPRESSION "NATIONAL LIBRARIES" IS UNDERSTOOD PRIMARILY TO MEAN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, AND THE NATIONAL LIBRARIES OF SCOTLAND AND WALES; BUT THE SOCIETY WILL BE FREE, AS OCCASION ARISES, TO ASSIST ALSO UNIVERSITY, MUNICIPAL AND OTHER LIBRARIES TO SECURE PRINTED BOOKS OR MANUSCRIPTS WHICH HAVE SPECIAL INTEREST FOR THEM).

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: Arts/culture/heritage/science · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: West Berkshire, South East, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the Charity’s net assets increased to £6,659,758, supported by an investment portfolio valued at £5,701,520 and unrestricted reserves held in the General Endowment Fund of £2,955,561. The Trustees report a net surplus for the year and confirm that resources are adequate to meet commitments, with no material uncertainties affecting 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 Knox Cropper LLP. Discloses 4 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.

• Complaints policy and procedures
• Conflicting interests
• Financial reserves policy and procedures
• Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
• Investing charity funds policy and procedures
• Investment
• Risk management
• Safeguarding 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.

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2024)

Reported reserves equal ~100.5 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 7.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (62% 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: 10.2% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 3.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• Mr Geordie Greigchair
• Anothy Colin Richard Davis
• Artemis Clare Antonia Cooper
• Charles Adam Laurie Sebag-Montefiore CBE
• Christopher Henry Charles Whittick · trustee of 4 other charities
• Dr Amina Shah
• Dr George Boothen Morris
• Dr Jessica Pearsall Gardner
• Dr Rhodri Llwyd Morgan
• Professor Kathryn Sutherland · trustee of 1 other charity
• Professor RICHARD OVENDEN OBE · trustee of 4 other charities
• STEPHEN PETER CLARKE · trustee of 1 other charity
• Thomas William Ayling
• Tina Michelle Morton

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

Operates in: Northern Ireland · Scotland · Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

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

Grants marked “Unverified read” were flagged by automated checks as possibly misread from the funder’s filed accounts. They are listed, but left out of the totals, counts and funder relationships this site computes.

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 FRIENDS OF SOUTHWOLD LIBRARY.

• FRIENDS OF SOUTHWOLD LIBRARY income £46k
• THE FRIENDS OF THE BRITISH LIBRARY income £1.6m
• FRIENDS OF HONLEY LIBRARY income £52k
• FRIENDS OF TOTTINGTON LIBRARY income £44k
• FRIENDS OF LAMBETH PALACE LIBRARY income £72k
• THE FRIENDS OF ROWAN ASSOCIATION income £41k

Side by side with its peers

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