The Sixteen

Analysis

The Sixteen is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in London. It was registered in August 1985, 41 years ago. Its declared purposes cover general charitable purposes and arts/culture/heritage/science, which this site groups under arts, culture, heritage and science. Legally it is a charitable company (Companies House number 01930741). It says it provides services.

In the financial year ending October 2025, The Sixteen reported income of £1.7m and spending of £1.8m, spending 101% of its income. Across the 5 years on record, from October 2021 to October 2025, income grew from £1.4m to £1.7m (+28%), an average of +6.4% a year. Over the whole period it spent 103% of the income it received.

Among 17,634 England and Wales charities whose main cause is arts, culture, heritage and science and that reported income, The Sixteen sits at the 97th percentile: it is larger than about 97% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 96th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include The Wye and Usk Foundation (£1.7m), All About Youth (£1.7m) and West Ham Park (£1.7m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from charitable activities 65%, donations and legacies 21% and trading 14%. Charitable activities took 96% of spending and raising funds 3.5%. Reserves of £211k would cover about 1 months of spending at that rate. It employed 8 people.

Data notes from the register: Spending has exceeded income in each of the last three reported years, so the charity has been drawing on reserves or other funds.