Church charitable expenditure statistics show how differently large church charities can report their spending. In the Charity Commission for England and Wales register, total expenditure for the selected cathedrals ranged from £1,424,929 at Portsmouth for the year ending 31 December 2024 to £9,794,441 at Exeter for the same reporting year. St Albans is measured on a different period: the financial year ending 30 November 2025.
Contents
- Total expenditure reported
- Expenditure on charitable activities
- Fundraising and other expenditure
- Donations and legacies
- Income from charitable activities
- Trading income
- Investment income
Total expenditure reported
The register records total expenditure as an overall financial measure for each charity. These figures should be read as reported totals for the named financial year, not as a standardized estimate for every church or cathedral in England.
| Cathedral | Reporting period | Total expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth | Year ending 31 December 2024 | £1,424,929 |
| Bristol | Year ending 31 December 2024 | £3,410,724 |
| Coventry | Year ending 31 December 2024 | £1,944,215 |
| St Albans | Year ending 30 November 2025 | £3,596,000 |
| Exeter | Year ending 31 December 2024 | £9,794,441 |
| Southwark | Year ending 31 December 2024 | £3,226,724 |
| Truro | Year ending 31 December 2024 | £1,668,281 |
| Rochester | Year ending 31 December 2024 | £2,501,000 |
Portsmouth Cathedral reported total expenditure of £1,424,929 for the financial year ending 31 December 2024. The source is the Charity Commission register entry for Portsmouth Cathedral, titled “Register of Charities - The Charity Commission CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST THOMAS OF CANTERBURY PORTSMOUTH.”
Bristol Cathedral reported £3,410,724 for the financial year ending 31 December 2024, according to the Charity Commission register entry for Bristol Cathedral. Coventry Cathedral reported £1,944,215 for the same financial year in the Charity Commission register entry for the Cathedral Church of St Michael Coventry.
For the year ending 30 November 2025, St Albans Cathedral reported total expenditure of £3,596,000. That figure comes from the Charity Commission register entry for the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban. Because the measurement period differs from the other figures, it should not be treated as a like-for-like calendar-year comparison.
Exeter Cathedral reported £9,794,441 for the financial year ending 31 December 2024, as shown in the Charity Commission register entry for Exeter Cathedral. Southwark Cathedral reported £3,226,724 for that period in the Charity Commission register entry for Southwark. Truro Cathedral reported £1,668,281 in its Charity Commission register entry, while Rochester Cathedral reported £2,501,000 in its Charity Commission register entry.
Expenditure on charitable activities
The register separately reports expenditure on charitable activities. For the year ending 31 December 2024, Portsmouth recorded £1.05 million, Bristol £3.33 million, Coventry £1.42 million, Exeter £8.17 million, Southwark £2.11 million, Truro £1.31 million, and Rochester £1.16 million. St Albans recorded £334,000 for the year ending 30 November 2025.
The Portsmouth figure is reported by the Charity Commission register. Bristol’s figure is reported in the Bristol Cathedral register entry, and Coventry’s appears in the Coventry Cathedral register entry.
For the other records, the reported amounts are £334,000 for St Albans in the year ending 30 November 2025, £8.17 million for Exeter, £2.11 million for Southwark, £1.31 million for Truro, and £1.16 million for Rochester. Their sources are the St Albans, Exeter, Southwark, Truro, and Rochester register entries.
These are expenditure categories. They describe money recorded as spent on charitable activities and should not be confused with income from those activities.
The comparison is most useful when each line is kept tied to its own reporting period. Seven of the selected records cover a financial year ending 31 December 2024, while the St Albans record covers a year ending 30 November 2025. The register also displays some amounts in pounds, some in thousands, and some in millions. Those displayed units are retained here, so a figure such as £376.97 thousand is presented as reported rather than converted into a newly calculated amount.
The total-expenditure figures and charitable-activities figures also answer different questions. Total expenditure is the overall reported spending measure in the record. Expenditure on charitable activities is a particular category within that reporting structure. A reader comparing the two should therefore avoid treating the category as a replacement for the total or assuming that every difference represents a single unexplained cost.
Fundraising and other expenditure
Expenditure on raising funds was also reported separately. Portsmouth recorded £376.97 thousand for the year ending 31 December 2024. Bristol recorded £83.62 thousand, Coventry £520.10 thousand, Exeter £1.62 million, Southwark £1.12 million, Truro £354.91 thousand, and Rochester £959.00 thousand for the same period. St Albans recorded £53.00 thousand for the year ending 30 November 2025.
The figures come from the same Charity Commission records: Portsmouth, Bristol, Coventry, St Albans, Exeter, Southwark, Truro, and Rochester.
This category gives context to total spending, but the figures do not by themselves explain the activities or fundraising methods behind the reported amounts. They are best used as labeled financial lines rather than as a measure of fundraising efficiency.
Donations and legacies
The income side of the accounts includes donations and legacies. Portsmouth reported £1.35 million from donations and legacies for the year ending 31 December 2024. Bristol reported £1.32 million, Coventry £966.42 thousand, Exeter £534.16 thousand, Southwark £1.86 million, Truro £1.15 million, and Rochester £716.00 thousand for that same period. St Albans reported £1.26 million for the year ending 30 November 2025.
The source labels are the Charity Commission register entries for Portsmouth, Bristol, Coventry, St Albans, Exeter, Southwark, Truro, and Rochester.
Donations and legacies are income figures, not expenditure figures. Keeping those categories separate matters when reading church charitable expenditure statistics: a reported donation amount indicates funding received in the stated period, while a charitable-activities amount indicates spending recorded in that category.
Income from charitable activities
Income from charitable activities varied substantially across the records. Portsmouth reported £57.19 thousand for the year ending 31 December 2024. Bristol reported £128.62 thousand, Coventry £37.88 thousand, Southwark £233.72 thousand, Truro £217.44 thousand, and Rochester £701.00 thousand for that period.
Exeter reported £8.30 million from charitable activities for the year ending 31 December 2024. St Albans reported £265.00 thousand for the year ending 30 November 2025. These amounts are recorded in the Portsmouth, Bristol, Coventry, St Albans, Exeter, Southwark, Truro, and Rochester entries.
The high Exeter amount appears alongside £8.17 million of expenditure on charitable activities in the same reporting year. That pairing is reported by the register; it is not an independently calculated surplus, margin, or performance measure.
Trading income
Other trading activities were reported alongside expenditure. Portsmouth recorded £223.24 thousand for the year ending 31 December 2024. Bristol recorded £118.50 thousand, Coventry £637.12 thousand, Exeter £1.96 million, Southwark £1.20 million, Truro £73.07 thousand, and Rochester £586.00 thousand for the same period. St Albans recorded £1.11 million for the year ending 30 November 2025.
The relevant register sources are Portsmouth, Bristol, Coventry, St Albans, Exeter, Southwark, Truro, and Rochester.
Trading income is another funding-context line. It should not be added to expenditure, and the supplied figures do not support a standardized comparison of trading performance across the cathedrals.
Investment income
Investment income was reported for each charity as well. Portsmouth recorded £40.66 thousand for the year ending 31 December 2024. Bristol recorded £367.75 thousand, Coventry £172.24 thousand, Exeter £283.40 thousand, Southwark £264.80 thousand, Truro £83.30 thousand, and Rochester £183.00 thousand for that period. St Albans recorded £498.00 thousand for the year ending 30 November 2025.
These figures are listed in the Charity Commission records for Portsmouth, Bristol, Coventry, St Albans, Exeter, Southwark, Truro, and Rochester.
Taken together, these records show the range of financial lines used to describe church charity activity: total expenditure, charitable-activities expenditure, fundraising expenditure, and several forms of income. The periods and categories remain important qualifications when comparing the reported statistics.