The Birmingham Royal Institution for the Blind

Analysis

The Birmingham Royal Institution for the Blind is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Birmingham. It was registered in May 1985, 41 years ago. Its declared purposes cover general charitable purposes, which this site groups under grant-making and general purposes. Legally it is a charitable company (Companies House number 01900123). It says it makes grants to organisations, provides buildings/facilities/open space and provides services.

In the financial year ending March 2025, The Birmingham Royal Institution for the Blind reported income of £1.0m and spending of £1.1m, spending 103% of its income. Across the 5 years on record, from March 2021 to March 2025, income grew from £881k to £1.0m (+19%), an average of +4.4% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to March 2023, when income rose by 18%. Over the whole period it spent 113% of the income it received.

Among 5,976 England and Wales charities whose main cause is grant-making and general purposes and that reported income, The Birmingham Royal Institution for the Blind sits at the 95th percentile: it is larger than about 95% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 94th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include Age UK Bristol (£1.0m), The Segelman Trust (£1.1m) and The Millby Foundation (£1.0m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from charitable activities 93% and investments 6.4%. Charitable activities took 97% of spending and raising funds 1.4%. Grants to other organisations totalled £972k. Reserves of £4.0m would cover about 44 months of spending at that rate.

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.