NATIONAL CHILDREN'S ORCHESTRAS OF GREAT BRITAIN

Registered charity 803026 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as THE NATIONAL CHILDREN'S ORCHESTRA

To advance education and in particular to advance the education and training in music and orchestral playing of children and young persons

Objects

TO ADVANCE EDUCATION AND IN PARTICULAR TO ADVANCE THE EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN MUSIC AND ORCHESTRAL PLAYING OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS THROUGH THE FORMATION OF AN ORCHESTRA OR ORCHESTRAS COMPOSED OF SUCH PERSONS.

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 · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Bristol, City of, South West, England (from the postcode on the register)

Latest income

£1.7m

Latest spending

£1.7m

Registered

1990

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that total income decreased by £328,634 to £1,672,179, primarily due to a large legacy gift received in the prior year. Expenditure increased by £124,826 to £1,694,890, resulting in a net deficit for the year, while unrestricted reserves remained above the stated policy target of £700,000.

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

What the accounts disclose

Largest income source: Membership fees (50% of income)

“Membership Fees £662,119”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Payments to trustees: 1 Trustee, L Stott, was paid £450 for services as a tutor.

“During the year 1 Trustee, L Stott, was paid a total of £450 (2024: £313) for services as a tutor.” — page 76

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Trustee paid for services

“During the year 1 Trustee, L Stott, was paid a total of £450 (2024: £313) for services as a tutor. The fees paid were in line with those paid to other tutors and freelancers providing similar services to the Charity.” — page 76

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Saffery LLP. Discloses 3 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Going concern: going-concern doubt noted (FY2024) → no going-concern doubt (FY2025).

Comparing this charity’s FY2024 and FY2025 accounts as analysed by this site.

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
Financial reserves policy and procedures
Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
Internal risk management policy and procedures
Investing charity funds policy and procedures
Paying staff
Risk management
Safeguarding policy and procedures
Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
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.

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/12/2025

Government income: £304,826 — grants £304,826 (1); 18% of the £1,672,179 total gross income on the same return
Employees paid over £60,000: 1 (£60,001–£70,000: 1)
Trustee benefits, answered Yes to: any trustee benefit; payments to trustees for services to the charity

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/12/2024

Government income: £300,002 — grants £300,002 (1); 15% of the £2,000,813 total gross income on the same return
Employees paid over £60,000: 1 (£60,001–£70,000: 1)
Trustee benefits, answered Yes to: any trustee benefit; payments to trustees for services to the charity

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/12/2023

Government income: £225,000 — grants £225,000 (1); 15% of the £1,546,483 total gross income on the same return
Trustee benefits, answered Yes to: any trustee benefit; payments to trustees for services to the charity

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Corporate structure

Registered company of the charity Companies House 02471385

Funders the charity credits

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

Arts Council of England — “We are a National Portfolio Organisation and National Youth Music Organisation, supported by the Arts Council of England.” (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.

SWIFT, Mark Paul — director, appointed 07/05/2026on trustee list
MOAR, Charlotte Mary Celia — director, appointed 07/05/2026on trustee list
LADKIN, Chris — director, appointed 07/05/2026not on trustee list
EAKIN, Michael George — director, appointed 07/05/2026on trustee list
JERROLD, Sophie Alexandra — director, appointed 06/05/2025on trustee list
JACK, Clare Helen — director, appointed 06/05/2025on trustee list
BUTT, Alistair William St.John — director, appointed 06/05/2025on trustee list
TOMLINSON, Roger — director, appointed 12/12/2024on trustee list
MEARS ESSWOOD, Alison Maria — director, appointed 12/12/2024not on trustee list
BURNS, Stuart Anthony — director, appointed 12/12/2024on trustee list
NGWE, Chinyereugo Uchenna, Dr — director, appointed 06/06/2022on trustee list
STOTT, Laetitia — director, appointed 06/06/2022on trustee list
WU, Christine Hing Lam — director, appointed 02/07/2021on trustee list
HIGHAM-EDWARDS, Bethany Anne — director, appointed 02/07/2021on trustee list
KANNEH-MASON, Kadiatu Gwyneth, Dr — director, appointed 02/07/2021on trustee list
MAGUIRE, Lucy Wolcott — director, appointed 02/07/2021on trustee list

Official officers record.

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2025)

Total income

£1.7m

Total spending

£1.7m

Cost of raising funds

£126k

Reserves (reported)

£700k

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~5.0 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (50% 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: 7.5% of total income — above the median for charities its size (5.3%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

Alison Mears Esswood
Alistair Butt
Bethany Anne Higham-Edwards
Charlotte Moar
Christine Wu
Christopher Ladkin
Clare Jack · trustee of 1 other charity
Dr Chinyereugo Uchenna Ngwe · trustee of 1 other charity
Dr Kadiatu Gwyneth Kanneh-Mason
Laetitia Stott
Lucy Wolcott Maguire
Mark Swift
Michael Eakin
Roger Tomlinson · trustee of 2 other charities
Sophie Jerrold
Stuart Burns

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

Operates in: Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/12/2025	£1.7m	£1.7m
31/12/2024	£2.0m	£1.6m
31/12/2023	£1.5m	£1.5m
31/12/2022	£1.3m	£1.4m
31/12/2021	£742k	£736k

Common questions

Is NATIONAL CHILDREN'S ORCHESTRAS OF GREAT BRITAIN financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that total income decreased by £328,634 to £1,672,179, primarily due to a large legacy gift received in the prior year. Expenditure increased by £124,826 to £1,694,890, resulting in a net deficit for the year, while unrestricted reserves remained above the stated policy target of £700,000. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Saffery LLP.

Who funds NATIONAL CHILDREN'S ORCHESTRAS OF GREAT BRITAIN?

Funders whose own accounts filings name NATIONAL CHILDREN'S ORCHESTRAS OF GREAT BRITAIN as a grant recipient include UNIVERSAL MUSIC UK SOUND FOUNDATION, THE LINDER FOUNDATION, HUMPHREY RICHARDSON TAYLOR CHARITABLE TRUST, THE CECIL KING MEMORIAL FOUNDATION, THE ASSOCIATED BOARD OF THE ROYAL SCHOOLS OF MUSIC.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
UNIVERSAL MUSIC UK SOUND FOUNDATION	FY2022	£65k	Bursaries
UNIVERSAL MUSIC UK SOUND FOUNDATION	FY2024	£65k	Bursaries
THE LINDER FOUNDATION	FY2021	£60k	General Charitable Cause
HUMPHREY RICHARDSON TAYLOR CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£38k	Bursaries/Scholarships
THE CECIL KING MEMORIAL FOUNDATION	FY2025	£25k	Promotion and Performance of the Arts
THE CECIL KING MEMORIAL FOUNDATION	FY2023	£25k	Promotion and Performance of the Arts
THE ASSOCIATED BOARD OF THE ROYAL SCHOOLS OF MUSIC	FY2026	£25k	Sponsorship
THE LINDER FOUNDATION	FY2022	£20k	General Charitable Causes
THE KIRBY LAING FOUNDATION	FY2022	£20k	Culture and the environment
THE LINDER FOUNDATION	FY2023	£20k	General Charitable Causes
THE LINDER FOUNDATION	FY2022	£20k	General Charitable Causes
THE HARRISON-FRANK FAMILY FOUNDATION (UK) LIMITED	FY2025	£18k
THE LINDER FOUNDATION	FY2024	£17k	General Charitable Causes
THE LINDER FOUNDATION	FY2021	£10k	General Charitable Cause
THE CECIL KING MEMORIAL FOUNDATION	FY2024	£9k	Promotion and Performance of the Arts
COLWINSTON CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£6k	Support 5 young musicians from Wales.
THE CECIL KING MEMORIAL FOUNDATION	FY2021	£6k	Promotion and Performance of the Arts
COLWINSTON CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£5k	Subsidise places of four young musicians from Wales
The Patricia Routledge Foundation	FY2024	£5k
HUMPHREY RICHARDSON TAYLOR CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£4k	Bursaries/Scholarships
MISSES BARRIE CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2026	£3k
MISSES BARRIE CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£3k
MISSES BARRIE CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£3k
MISSES BARRIE CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£3k
THE MARY ROBERTSON TRUST	FY2022	£2k
THE GOLSONCOTT FOUNDATION	FY2024	£2k
HUMPHREY RICHARDSON TAYLOR CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£2k	Bursaries/Scholarships
THE GOLSONCOTT FOUNDATION	FY2023	£1k
THE GOLSONCOTT FOUNDATION	FY2025	£1k
THE GOLSONCOTT FOUNDATION	FY2022	£500
THE ASSOCIATED BOARD OF THE ROYAL SCHOOLS OF MUSIC	FY2025	Unverified read£10	Music Education / Sponsorship
UNIVERSAL MUSIC UK SOUND FOUNDATION	FY2021	amount not stated	Bursary

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.

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
THE OFENHEIM CHARITABLE TRUST	2	£80k
DR RADCLIFFE'S TRUST	2	£8k
THE GUYLL-LENG CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£455k
PETER SOWERBY FOUNDATION	1	£150k
THE REED FOUNDATION	1	£65k
KARIN BRASS MEMORIAL FUND	1	£55k
THE LAWSON TRUST CIO	1	£43k
THE JOHN R. MURRAY CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£20k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA OF GREAT BRITAIN.

THE NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA OF GREAT BRITAIN income £5.2m
NATIONAL CHILDREN'S CHOIR OF GREAT BRITAIN income £333k
ENGLISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA CHARITABLE TRUST income £51k
NOTTINGHAM PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA LTD income £51k
THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHOIRS income £42k
CONGLETON CHORAL SOCIETY income £42k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
NATIONAL CHILDREN'S ORCHESTRAS OF GREAT BRITAIN	£1.7m	—	—	above	—	no doubt
THE NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA OF GREAT BRITAIN FY2025	£5.2m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
NATIONAL CHILDREN'S CHOIR OF GREAT BRITAIN FY2025	£333k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
ENGLISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA CHARITABLE TRUST FY2025	£51k	—	0	unclear	—	noted
NOTTINGHAM PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA LTD FY2025	£51k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHOIRS FY2025	£42k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt

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