THE OXFORD PLAYHOUSE TRUST

Registered charity 900039 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as OXFORD PLAYHOUSE

Oxford Playhouse is a 600 seat presenting and producing theatre. The high quality programme includes drama, new writing, children's theatre, comedy, music, local student and amateur work, lectures, poetry and talks. The Playhouse manages the Burton Taylor Studio featuring student and professional shows. The theatre runs an extensive learning and participation programme in the local community.

Objects

THE PROMOTION AND ADVANCEMENT OF THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC AND IN PARTICULAR, BUT NOT SO AS TO LIMIT THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, TO RAISE THE GENERAL STANDARD OF DRAMATIC PRODUCTION IN THE UK, TO EDUCATE PUBLIC TASTE, TO ENCOURAGE THE ARTS OF DRAMA AND MUSIC, AND TO STIMULATE PUBLIC AWARENESS AND APPRECIATION OF THE VISUAL ARTS.

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: Oxford, South East, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity generated a surplus of £502,123 for the year ended 31 March 2025, with free reserves standing at £665,418. This exceeds the trustees' stated policy target of three months' core operating expenditure (£487,500). The auditors confirmed that the use of the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate and identified no material uncertainties regarding the charity's ability to continue operations.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Wenn Townsend. 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.

• 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
• 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
• Volunteer management

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 02397373
• Trading subsidiary: OXFORD PLAYHOUSE PRODUCTIONS LIMITED Companies House 03921914 · Financial health read from its filings

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — The Oxford Playhouse Trust (matched by registered charity number).

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.

• RENTON, David John Charles — director, appointed 23/06/2025on trustee list
• BAKER, Deborah Jane — director, appointed 20/02/2024on trustee list
• BHOGAL, Jaskiran Kaur, Dr — director, appointed 20/02/2024on trustee list
• CLAUGHTON, Eleanor — director, appointed 20/02/2024on trustee list
• AITKEN, Gill — director, appointed 20/02/2024not on trustee list
• KNIGHT, Adam — director, appointed 20/02/2024on trustee list
• RAY, Albert Edward — director, appointed 20/02/2024on trustee list
• TUCKWELL, Micaela — director, appointed 20/02/2024on trustee list
• ROSE, Gillian Cathryn — director, appointed 01/09/2023on trustee list
• PILLMAN, Joseph Charles — director, appointed 06/02/2023on trustee list
• BUONFINO, Alessandra, Dr — director, appointed 06/02/2023on trustee list
• DANCE, Deborah Jane — director, appointed 24/09/2015on trustee list
• ELTIS, Sos Ann, Dr — director, appointed 16/10/1999on trustee list

Official officers record.

Property (HM Land Registry)

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

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~1.4 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 6.2% of total income — above the median for charities its size (5.3%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• Adam Boughton Knight · trustee of 2 other charities
• Albert Edward Ray · trustee of 1 other charity
• DAVID JOHN CHARLES RENTON · trustee of 1 other charity
• Deborah Baker
• Deborah Jane Dance · trustee of 1 other charity
• Dr Alessandra Buonfino
• Dr Jaskiran Kaur Bhogal
• Eleanor Claughton
• Gillian Aitken
• JOSEPH CHARLES PILLMAN · trustee of 1 other charity
• Micaela Tuckwell · trustee of 1 other charity
• Professor Gillian Cathryn Rose
• SOS ANN ELTIS

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

Operates in: Throughout England

Income and spending

Common questions

Shared trustees with funders

Register facts shown side by side: a person serves as trustee of both this charity and a funder whose accounts record grants to it. Shared trusteeship is lawful and common; well-run charities manage it through declared-interest procedures.

• Adam Boughton Knight — trustee here and at THE THEATRES TRUST CHARITABLE FUND

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 OXFORD THEATRE GUILD.

• OXFORD THEATRE GUILD income £71k
• THE OXFORD SCHOOL OF DRAMA TRUST income £1.7m
• THE PLAY HOUSE (B'HAM) LTD income £167k
• THE PLAYGROUND THEATRE COMPANY LIMITED income £212k
• STUDIO THEATRE income £67k
• THE PLAYHOUSE BACKWELL income £46k

Side by side with its peers

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