THE HENRY BARBER TRUST
Registered charity 528917 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register
To fund four professorial chairs at the University of Birmingham;To fund the maintenance of the Barber Institute;To purchase works of art or beauty for display at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts;To fund musical recitals for performance at or in connection with the Barber Institute of Fine Arts;To purchase musical instruments, printed and manuscript music and musical and fine arts books.
Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that the Charity holds unrestricted reserves of £1,231,023 on the General Fund, which is above its stated policy target of at least £500,000. The Trustees report a reasonable expectation of adequate resources for the foreseeable future, with no material uncertainties identified regarding going concern.
Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Reserves policy: at least £500,000 (held: £1.2m)
“The Charity aims to maintain reserves on the General Fund of at least £500,000 in order to meet any unforeseen expenditure and to enable it to meet its funding commitments, regardless of an uneven income stream.” — page 10
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Payments to trustees: Annuities amounting to £13,518 were paid to five Trustees for their contribution to the work of the Charity.
“Annuities amounting to £13,518 (2024: £11,876) were paid to five (2024: five) Trustees for their contribution to the work of the Charity.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: The Charity has close links with the University of Birmingham. The written consent of the University of Birmingham to the appointment of each Trustee must be obtained. At least one but not more than three of the Trustees shall at any time be members of the council or staff of the University of Birmingham.
“The Charity has close links with the University of Birmingham. The written consent of the University of Birmingham to the appointment of each Trustee must be obtained. At least one but not more than three of the Trustees shall at any time be members of the council or staff of the University of Birmingham.” — page 14
“TPIC (Birmingham) Limited is the Charity's wholly-owned dormant subsidiary undertaking.” — page 14
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: TPIC (Birmingham) Limited is the Charity's wholly-owned dormant subsidiary undertaking.
“The Charity has close links with the University of Birmingham. The written consent of the University of Birmingham to the appointment of each Trustee must be obtained. At least one but not more than three of the Trustees shall at any time be members of the council or staff of the University of Birmingham.” — page 14
“TPIC (Birmingham) Limited is the Charity's wholly-owned dormant subsidiary undertaking.” — page 14
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by Cooper Parry Group Limited. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/07/2025)
Cost of raising funds
£188k
Reported reserves equal ~34.1 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, largest income source: Investments (99% 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: 7.3% of total income — above the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).
Register events
- Received assets from another charity (03/04/2017) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Birmingham City
Income and spending
Common questions
Is THE HENRY BARBER TRUST financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the Charity holds unrestricted reserves of £1,231,023 on the General Fund, which is above its stated policy target of at least £500,000. The Trustees report a reasonable expectation of adequate resources for the foreseeable future, with no material uncertainties identified regarding going concern. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Cooper Parry Group Limited.
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.
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Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE BARBICAN CENTRE TRUST LIMITED.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.