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CHESTER DIOCESAN BOARD OF EDUCATION

Registered charity 525790 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as CHESTER DIOCESAN EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

Support Church of England Schools in the Diocese of Chester

Causes: Education/training · Religious Activities · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£2.4m
Latest spending
£2.7m
Registered
1967
Accounts read
FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a net deficit of £280,301 for the year ended 31 December 2024, contrasting with a surplus in the prior year. However, the trustees confirm that free unrestricted reserves of £1,951,577 are adequate to meet the stated policy target of holding twenty-four months of unrestricted expenditure, and the financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis.

Automated summary of the FY2024 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £81,040 — above the median for charities its size (£70k)
“Of these, the highest paid was Mr Christopher Penn who received £81,040 (2023 - £74,985) excluding employers national insurance, together with pension contributions of £12,008 (2023 - £11,248).” — page 37
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Employees paid over £60,000: 1
“Of these, the highest paid was Mr Christopher Penn who received £81,040 (2023 - £74,985) excluding employers national insurance, together with pension contributions of £12,008 (2023 - £11,248).” — page 37
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Largest income source: Income from investments (75% of income)
“Income from investments 5 168,725 - 313,006 481,731 143,972 - 311,040 455,012” — page 27
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves policy: twenty four months unrestricted expenditure (held: £2.0m)
“The boards policy is to hold a minimum of twenty four months unrestricted expenditure within its unrestricted reserves, and the boards reserves adequately cover this.” — page 12
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Contribution re joint employment contracts and other recharges payable to The Chester Diocesan Board of Finance, an organisation in which there are a number of trustees on both boards totalled £377,839 (2023 - £373,677). The balance outstanding in creditors at the year end is £19,681 (2023 - £117).
“Contribution re joint employment contracts and other recharges payable to The Chester Diocesan Board of Finance, an organisation in which there are a number of trustees on both boards totalled £377,839 (2023 - £373,677). The balance outstanding in creditors at the year end is £19,681 (2023 - £117). The charity owns 16.67% of the ordinary share capital of DBE Services Ltd, an entity which commenced trading on 1st January 2006. The company undertakes support work across six northern dioceses. A distribution of £16,769 (2023 - £94,190} was received from DBE Services Ltd during the year.” — page 46
“The charity owns 16.67% of the ordinary share capital of DBE Services Ltd, an entity which commenced trading on 1st January 2006. The company undertakes support work across six northern dioceses. A distribution of £16,769 (2023 - £94,190} was received from DBE Services Ltd during the year.” — page 46
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: The charity owns 16.67% of the ordinary share capital of DBE Services Ltd. A distribution of £16,769 was received from DBE Services Ltd during the year.
“Contribution re joint employment contracts and other recharges payable to The Chester Diocesan Board of Finance, an organisation in which there are a number of trustees on both boards totalled £377,839 (2023 - £373,677). The balance outstanding in creditors at the year end is £19,681 (2023 - £117). The charity owns 16.67% of the ordinary share capital of DBE Services Ltd, an entity which commenced trading on 1st January 2006. The company undertakes support work across six northern dioceses. A distribution of £16,769 (2023 - £94,190} was received from DBE Services Ltd during the year.” — page 46
“The charity owns 16.67% of the ordinary share capital of DBE Services Ltd, an entity which commenced trading on 1st January 2006. The company undertakes support work across six northern dioceses. A distribution of £16,769 (2023 - £94,190} was received from DBE Services Ltd during the year.” — page 46
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Total income receivable from Woodchurch High School, of which Revd L Bannon was employed and Dr D Cumberland was a director was £1,945 (2023 - £1,620).
“Contribution re joint employment contracts and other recharges payable to The Chester Diocesan Board of Finance, an organisation in which there are a number of trustees on both boards totalled £377,839 (2023 - £373,677). The balance outstanding in creditors at the year end is £19,681 (2023 - £117). The charity owns 16.67% of the ordinary share capital of DBE Services Ltd, an entity which commenced trading on 1st January 2006. The company undertakes support work across six northern dioceses. A distribution of £16,769 (2023 - £94,190} was received from DBE Services Ltd during the year.” — page 46
“The charity owns 16.67% of the ordinary share capital of DBE Services Ltd, an entity which commenced trading on 1st January 2006. The company undertakes support work across six northern dioceses. A distribution of £16,769 (2023 - £94,190} was received from DBE Services Ltd during the year.” — page 46
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: DBE Services Ltd
“The charity owns 16.67% of the ordinary share capital of DBE Services Ltd, an entity which commenced trading on 1st January 2006. The company undertakes support work across six northern dioceses.” — page 46
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Mitchell Charlesworth (Audit) Limited. Discloses 6 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Comparing this charity’s FY2023 and FY2024 accounts as analysed by this site.

Leadership, per the charity’s website

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.

Property (HM Land Registry)

60 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (55 freehold). All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

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

Total income
£2.4m
Total spending
£2.7m
Reserves (reported)
£2.0m
Employees
0

Reported reserves equal ~8.6 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (76% 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: 0.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Cheshire East · Cheshire West & Chester · Derbyshire · Halton · Stockport · Tameside · Trafford · Warrington · Wirral · Wrexham

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/12/2024£2.4m£2.7m
31/12/2023£2.6m£1.9m
31/12/2022£2.5m£2.4m
31/12/2021£2.3m£2.3m
31/12/2020£1.1m£456k

Common questions

Is CHESTER DIOCESAN BOARD OF EDUCATION financially healthy?

Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a net deficit of £280,301 for the year ended 31 December 2024, contrasting with a surplus in the prior year. However, the trustees confirm that free unrestricted reserves of £1,951,577 are adequate to meet the stated policy target of holding twenty-four months of unrestricted expenditure, and the financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Mitchell Charlesworth (Audit) Limited.

What does the highest-paid employee of CHESTER DIOCESAN BOARD OF EDUCATION earn?

Per its FY2024 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £81,040 band, and 1 employees earned over £60,000.

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.

FunderSimilar charities fundedAmount to them
THE DERBY DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE LIMITED1£1.3m
THE COVENTRY DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE LTD1£328k
FIRST IPC PRESBYTERY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM1£119k
GOSPEL PARTNERS TRUST1£11k
CULHAM ST GABRIEL'S TRUST1£5k
THE SOLA TRUST1£3k
CHURCH BY THE BAY, MORECAMBE1£0

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF CHESTER, CHRIST CHURCH.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
CHESTER DIOCESAN BOARD OF EDUCATION£2.4m£81,0401above—no doubt
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF CHESTER, CHRIST CHURCH FY2025£114k—0unclear—no doubt
DERBY DIOCESAN BOARD OF EDUCATION FY2024£445k——unclear—no doubt
INCORPORATED ROCHESTER DIOCESAN BOARD OF EDUCATION FY2024£1.7m——unclear—no doubt
COVENTRY DIOCESAN BOARD OF EDUCATION FY2025£491k—0within—no doubt
TRINITY CHURCH CHESTER FY2024£116k—0above—no doubt

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