Finance Score: -4

Governance Score: 8

Support Score: 9

Liabilities <10%: +3
Excess reserves: -3
Large legacies income: +1
Multiple Deficits: -2
Fundraising costs high: -3

12+ Trustees: -1
Good trustee age range: +3
Dynamic board: +3
Gender balanced board: +3

Grant maker support: +9

Overall GiG Score: 13

MUSICIANS BENEVOLENT FUND

The Musicians Benevolent Fund relieves need amongst professional musicians and their dependants and advances musical education for young musicians.

Analysis by Giving is Great

Positives:

The charity has received backing from a grant maker
This charity has a robust balance sheet
This charity has received considerable income from legacies in recent years
The Board appears to be well diversified in terms of age and gender and dynamic in terms of composition

Regulatory & Governance issues to consider:

There are 16 trustees whereas the Charities Commission recommends a maximum of 12

Financial issues to consider:

This charity has substantial assets and unrestricted reserves of £36,794,000 available, equivalent to 39 months of spending and so may not be able to utilise additional funding
On several occasions in recent years income has been less than spending
Fundraising costs are high relative to funds raised

Financial Data ?

Income & Spending ?

Sources of Income ?

Y/E		Income £k	Spending £k	Surplus/ Deficit	Fundraising Cost £k	Total Funds £k	Unrestricted Funds £k	Mths Rsrvs	Staff	Volun- teers
31/12/23		£6,512	£11,268	£-4,756	£1,420	£49,140	£36,794	39.2	72	30
31/12/22		£5,636	£11,196	£-5,560	£1,487	£52,917	£41,195	44.2	62	305
31/12/21		£7,131	£12,562	£-5,431	£1,318	£63,738	£46,203	44.1	69	305
31/12/20		£12,615	£22,862	£-10,247	£1,107	£63,134	£48,641	25.5	62	353
31/12/19		£5,614	£8,904	£-3,290	£1,428	£69,718	£58,319	78.6	56	236
31/12/18		£4,269	£9,162	£-4,893	£1,246	£64,913	£55,236	72.3	48	0
31/12/17		£5,923	£7,148	£-1,225	£957	£75,892	£65,132	109.3	41	0
31/12/16		£5,504	£5,550	£-46	£648	£71,571	£61,607	133.2	30	0
31/12/15		£4,781	£4,577	£204	£401	£64,252	£55,227	144.8	23	0
31/12/14		£5,056	£4,307	£749	£359	£64,415	£54,754	152.6	23	0
31/12/13		£4,117	£4,072	£45	£531	£62,399	£51,769	152.6	22	0
31/12/12		£4,317	£3,469	£848	£451	£52,298	£42,974	148.7	21	0
31/12/11		£5,290	£3,210	£2,080	£491	£47,942	£40,260	150.5	21	0
31/12/10		£4,070	£3,909	£161	£629	£49,220	£41,853	128.5	30	0
31/12/09	*	£3,344	£5,416	£-2,072	£707	£45,457	£37,909	84	41	0
31/12/08	*	£4,799	£5,465	£-665	£524	£36,899	£36,022	79.1	55	0
31/12/07		£5,427	£5,927	£-501	£597	£48,708	£44,414	89.9	50	0
31/12/06		£5,633	£5,418	£215	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/12/05		£5,866	£4,696	£1,170	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/12/04		£6,258	£4,291	£1,967	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0

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Financial Ratios

Fundraising Costs/Relevant Income: 28.3%
Fundraising Costs/Total Spending: 13.8%
Senior Staff Costs/Total Spending: 9%
Highest pay band: £130,000-£140,000
Liabilities/Assets: 3%
Liabilities/Income: 21%
Unrestricted Funds/Total Funds: 75%
Reserves/Spending: 39.2 months
Net Current Assets/Spending: 4 months
Quick Ratio: 1.3

Asset Split ?

Established: 62 years
(93 years as a company)

www.helpmusicians.org.uk

secretariat@helpmusicians.org.uk

02072399100

Charity Commission for England and Wales

Tweets

Listed activities

Education/Training
General Charitable Purposes
The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty

GiG Classification

Grant-making foundations

How it operates

Makes Grants to Individuals
Makes Grants to Organisations
Provides services
Sponsors or undertakes research

Where it operates

Northern Ireland, Scotland, Throughout England And Wales,

Who it helps

Other Defined Groups

Who works here?

72 employees
30 volunteers

Who's supporting them? ?

Donations from Grant Makers ?

We have details on the following significant donations. Multi-year donations are allocated to the years for which they are earmarked.

Major supporters in last 5 years

Esmee Fairbairn	£250,000
The Foyle Foundation	£110,000
Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation	£50,000

Specific Donations

Amount	When Months	To be used for
Esmee Fairbairn - Grant to Help Musicians
£250,000	07/07/2021 12	Towards unrestricted core costs for work to empower professional musicians, including creative support, mentoring, signposting, and support to rebuild careers following the Covid-19 pandemic
The Foyle Foundation - Arts
£100,000	11/02/2021	towards the Help Musicians Hardship Funding Phase 3 to support freelance musicians experiencing financial hardship due to the pandemic (awarded grant in response to coronavirus)
The Foyle Foundation - Small Grants
£10,000	28/04/2020	ongoing general hardship funding programmes in response to the Covid 19 crisis (awarded grant in response to coronavirus)
Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation - Grant to Help Musicians
£50,000	21/04/2020 12	Help Musicians Coronavirus Financial Hardship Fund

Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How is it governed?

Trustees (16)

Current Trustees appointed

Gender Split

Age Range of Trustees: 40-66

ANNE MITCHENER Appointed: 2019, Occupation: Consultant

CHARISSE BEAUMONT Appointed: 2018, Occupation: Consultant, Other trusteeship: BLACK LIVES IN MUSIC,

CLIFFORD FLUET Appointed: 2021, Occupation: Solicitor/Adviser

EDWARD KERSHAW Appointed: 2019, Occupation: Commercial Director

ISABEL GARVEY Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Chief Operating Officer

JAMES LEWIS BENNER Appointed: 2022, Occupation: Manager, Other trusteeship: MUSIC MINDS MATTER,

JASON CARTER Appointed: 2018, Occupation: Consultant

JONATHAN PETER HIGGINS Appointed: 2020, Occupation: Company Director

LOUISA MCCANN Appointed: 2024, Occupation: Finance Director

MELANIE ANNETTE GRUNDY Appointed: 2018, Occupation: Doctor, Other trusteeship: JAZZ NORTH-EAST LIMITED,

NICOLA CORNWELL Appointed: 2024, Occupation: Accountant

ROBERT DUNCAN JAMES SHENNAN Appointed: 2021, Occupation: Director, Other trusteeship: THE CORPORATION OF THE HALL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES,

ROGER JAMES BOULTON Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Trustee

SAMUEL DONALD JACKSON Appointed: 2022, Occupation: Record Company Executive

SILVIA MERRYLEES MONTELLO Appointed: 2021, Occupation: Head Of Operations, Other trusteeship: MUSIC MINDS MATTER,

STEPHEN CHRISTOPHER NEIL SWIFT Appointed: 2021, Occupation: Wealth Advisor, Other trusteeship: Britten Pears Arts,

Legal constitution

Charitable company registered in England & Wales on 22/09/1962, number: 228089
Registered at Companies House on 16/12/1930, number: 00252783

Gift Aid

Registered with HMRC for Gift Aid

Event History

Linked charity: AGNES BAKER FUND
Linked charity: SAMARITAN FUND
Linked charity: CONVALESCENT HOME
Linked charity: CONVALESCENT HOME ENDOWMENT FUND INCLUDING THE MANAGEMENT FUND
Linked charity: THE PROFESSOR CHARLES LEGGET FUND
Linked charity: GEOFFREY SHAW MEMORIAL FUND
Linked charity: THE PETER WHITTINGHAM FUND
Linked charity: THE MANOUG PARIKIAN AWARD
Linked charity: HENRY AND LILY DAVIS FUND
Linked charity: CHARITIES ADMINISTERED IN CONNEXION WITH THE BRITISH MUSICIANS SICK AND PENSION SOCIETY
Linked charity: COURTAULD TRUST FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF MUSIC
06/08/2018 - Asset transfer in from THE BIRD CHARITABLE TRUST
28/04/2021 - Asset transfer in from CAMDEN CHAMBER CHOIR
10/05/2021 - Asset transfer in from MARLOW MUSIC FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION
Linked charity: MISS S M TUTTON CHARITABLE TRUST
Linked charity: THE MIRIAM LICETTE SCHOLARSHIP
Linked charity: STANLEY ROGERS WILL TRUST
Linked charity: THE GUILHERMINA SUGGIA GIFT
Linked charity: WILLIS AND GRACE GRANT CHARITABLE TRUST
Linked charity: WILLIS AND GRACE GRANT CHARITABLE TRUST
Linked charity: MUSICIANS BENEVOLENT FUND COMMON INVESTMENT FUND
Linked charity: IVOR NEWTON BEQUEST

Policies in force

Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
Complaints handling
Complaints policy and procedures
Conflicting interests
Engaging external speakers at charity events policy and procedures
Financial reserves policy and procedures
Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
Internal risk management policy and procedures
Investing charity funds policy and procedures
Investment
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

Filing Record

20 returns made; AR09: 254 days late, AR08: 269 days late,

Recent reorganisation events:

Asset transfer in from CAMDEN CHAMBER CHOIR on 28/04/2021
Asset transfer in from MARLOW MUSIC FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION on 10/05/2021

Main office

HELP MUSICIANS
7-11 BRITANNIA STREET
LONDON
WC1X 9JS

Objectives

THE OBJECTS FOR WHICH THE ASSOCIATION IS ESTABLISHED (THE OBJECTS) ARE FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT: (A) TO RELIEVE POVERTY AND FINANCIAL HARDSHIP AND TO ADVANCE EDUCATION AMONG: (1) MUSICIANS; (2) THOSE PERSONS (NOT BEING MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION) WHO WORK OR HAVE WORKED IN PROFESSIONS OR OCCUPATIONS CLOSELY CONNECTED WITH MUSIC AND WHO IN THE OPINION OF THE ASSOCIATION HAVE RENDERED VALUABLE SERVICE TO MUSIC; (3) THE SPOUSES, CHILDREN AND OTHER DEPENDENTS OF THOSE SET OUT IN (1) AND (2) ABOVE; AND (B) TO ADVANCE MUSICAL EDUCATION AMONG MUSICIANS AND ALSO AMONG MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC. NOTHING IN THESE ARTICLES SHALL AUTHORISE AN APPLICATION OF THE ASSOCIATION’S PROPERTY FOR PURPOSES WHICH ARE NOT CHARITABLE IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 7 OF THE CHARITIES AND TRUSTEE INVESTMENT (SCOTLAND) ACT 2005 AND/OR SECTION 2 OF THE CHARITIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 2008.

Defined Area of Benefit:

NATIONAL

Data Sources