--- title: "Buckinghamshire Music Trust charity rating | CharityCompare" description: "Is Buckinghamshire Music Trust a legitimate UK charity? Clarity Score 56/100. Accounts 2024: income £2.4m · 100% on charitable activities. Reg 1177780." source: https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/buckinghamshire-music-trust retrieved: 2026-08-18T04:12:06.024Z license: "Charity data © Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0" --- Quick answer ## Is Buckinghamshire Music Trust a good charity? Buckinghamshire Music Trust scores 56/100 (2 stars, Poor) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, calculated from its UK regulator filings. Its latest accounts year is 2024 (£2.4m total income, 100% of spending on charitable activities). This reflects financial transparency and stewardship on paper — not the real-world impact of its programmes. See the full breakdown. Hemel Hempstead · HP21 7ST | Reg [1177780](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/buckinghamshire-music-trust) | Registered charity | [Official website](https://www.bucksmusic.org/) | [Charity Commission register](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/1177780) Donate ## How can you give to BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MUSIC TRUST? You leave CharityCompare to complete a donation on the official BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MUSIC TRUST form. We do not process payments or take commission. Opens their official online donation form. [Donate](https://www.bucksmusic.org/?utm_source=charitycompare&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=donate&utm_content=1177780) ## What does Buckinghamshire Music Trust do? Buckinghamshire Music Trust is a registered charity (no. 1177780) working in arts & culture in Hemel Hempstead · HP21 7ST. Its latest Charity Commission filing directs 100% of spending to charitable activities, though its recent accounts were filed late. Reported income has been broadly stable over recent years. CharityCompare's Clarity Score rates the organisation only from public Charity Commission accounts — accountability, financial health, efficiency and community support — not the quality or impact of its programmes. Summarised from public filings — Buckinghamshire Music Trust hasn't added its own description yet. [Work here? Add it free →](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/claim?charity=buckinghamshire-music-trust) **In short:** BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MUSIC TRUST scores 56 out of 100 (2 stars). 100% average program spend (2-year average, disclosed years only). Review the pillar breakdown below. ## What is Buckinghamshire Music Trust? Buckinghamshire Music Trust has a Clarity Score of 56 out of 100 on CharityCompare (2 stars, Poor). Charity Commission registration number 1177780. Status: Registered. Primary cause area: Arts & culture. Latest accounts year 2024: total income £2.4m, with 100% of expenditure on charitable activities. Accounts filing: late. 2 filing concern(s) noted on this profile. Scores are independent and based on official filings — not a donation recommendation. Data from [Charity Commission register](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/), last updated 17 July 2026. Overall score 56/100 2★ · Poor Cause spend 100% 2-yr avg · charitable activities Accountability 55/100 Finance beacon Income £2.4m Latest year 2024 Reserves — Months of running costs Accounts filing Late Check register Fundraising efficiency not stated · 0% overhead · Website on register · Confidence: medium ## How does BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MUSIC TRUST compare? Clarity Score percentile against similar UK charities — the share of peers BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MUSIC TRUST scores higher than. Income band (£1m–£5m)6thpercentile **Scores higher than 6% of 2,776 charities in its income band** · 56/100 vs 78 peer average (marker). Arts & culture charities8thpercentile **Scores higher than 8% of 624 charities in this cause** · 56/100 vs 76 peer average (marker). ## How reliable is Buckinghamshire Music Trust's data? Source Charity Commission (England & Wales) Accounts year 2024 Filing date 24 June 2026 Profile reviewed 17 July 2026 Medium confidence — some data missing or late Scores reflect the latest annual accounts on the register. Clarity Score measures how clearly the charity accounts for money in those filings — not programme impact. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Sources: [Charity Commission for England and Wales](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/), [Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator](https://www.oscr.org.uk/) and [Charity Commission for Northern Ireland](https://www.charitycommissionni.org.uk/). [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/). ## What is Buckinghamshire Music Trust's Beacon report? Detailed accountability and finance metrics from UK regulator filings — structured for transparency in our four-beacon report. ### Accountability & Transparency Baseline trust from filing discipline, board oversight, and declared governance policies. 55/100 | Metric | Score | Value | | --- | --- | --- | | Filing history (5 years) 100% on-time over five years = 15 pts · one late filing = 5 pts · two or more = 0 pts. | 0% | 0/15 pts | | Trustee oversight Three or more trustees on the register = 15 pts, scaled down for fewer (governance red flag below three). | 100% | 3 trustees · 15/15 pts | | Declared policies Safeguarding (4) · conflict of interest (3) · volunteer management (3) — from Charity Commission annual return. | 70% | 7/10 pts | ### Financial Health Stability and solvency — reserves, revenue trend, and debt from Charity Commission accounts. 43/100 | Metric | Score | Value | | --- | --- | --- | | Reserves (months of cash) 3–24 months = full marks, tapering on both sides · 0 months or 4+ years (hoarding) = 0 pts. | 0% | Not stated · 0/15 pts | | Income stability / growth +20% or more over the window = 10 pts · flat = 5 pts · −20% or worse = 0 pts, scaled between. | 80% | 8/10 pts · 3-year average | | Liabilities to assets 0% liabilities-to-assets = 5 pts, scaling down to 0 pts at 60%+ debt. | 100% | 1% · 5/5 pts | ### Financial Efficiency How efficiently funds reach the cause — program spend and fundraising cost ratios. 100/100 | Metric | Score | Value | | --- | --- | --- | | Program expense ratio 90%+ on charitable activities = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 50% or below. | 100% | 100% · 10/10 pts (3-year average) | | Fundraising efficiency ≤10p to raise £1 = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 40p or above (fundraising cost ÷ income). | 100% | 0p per £1 income · 10/10 pts (3-year average) | ### Community Support Grassroots backing from Charity Commission workforce data — volunteers vs paid staff. 10/100 | Metric | Score | Value | | --- | --- | --- | | Volunteer-to-staff ratio Volunteers at 2x staff or more = full marks · no volunteers = 0 pts, scaled between. | 10% | 15 volunteers / 107 staff · 1/10 pts | [How we calculate beacon scores →](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/methodology) ## What is Buckinghamshire Music Trust's Clarity Score? 56/100 total · Poor · 2 of 5 stars Four pillars (40 + 30 + 20 + 10 points) from Charity Commission filings — see methodology for full weightings. 55/100 Accountability & Transparency 43/100 Financial Health 100/100 Financial Efficiency 10/100 Community Support ### Accountability & Transparency Baseline trust from filing discipline, board oversight, and declared governance policies. 55/100 Filing history (5 years)0/15 pts Trustee oversight3 trustees · 15/15 pts Declared policies7/10 pts ### Financial Health Stability and solvency — reserves, revenue trend, and debt from Charity Commission accounts. 43/100 Reserves (months of cash)Not stated · 0/15 pts Income stability / growth8/10 pts · 3-year average Liabilities to assets1% · 5/5 pts ### Financial Efficiency How efficiently funds reach the cause — program spend and fundraising cost ratios. 100/100 Program expense ratio100% · 10/10 pts (3-year average) Fundraising efficiency0p per £1 income · 10/10 pts (3-year average) ### Community Support Grassroots backing from Charity Commission workforce data — volunteers vs paid staff. 10/100 Volunteer-to-staff ratio15 volunteers / 107 staff · 1/10 pts ## How much does Buckinghamshire Music Trust raise and spend? Latest filed year 2024 · Source: Charity Commission filings | Category | Amount | % of spend | | --- | --- | --- | | Total income | £2.4m | — | | Total expenditure | £2.8m | — | | Charitable activities | £2.8m | 100% | | Governance & admin | £5k | 0% | 100%On charitable activities ## Where does the money go? Latest accounts (2024) · £2.8m spent - Charitable activities100% · £2.8m - Governance0% · £5k ## What trust indicators does Buckinghamshire Music Trust have? Pulled from the Charity Commission register — filing behaviour, board size, and workforce where reported. - — Accounts filed on time Filing status: late - ✓ Trustee board size (3–12) 3 trustees on the Charity Commission register - ✓ Workforce on register 107 employees · 15 volunteers (0:1 volunteer-to-staff) Fundraising Regulator Status not yet checked Separate from our financial scores — shows whether the charity follows the Code of Fundraising Practice. [Check Fundraising Regulator →](https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/members/) Official register Reg 1177780 Full trustee list, accounts, and regulatory history on the Charity Commission. [View on Charity Commission →](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/1177780) ### Trustees & officers - Debra Mansfield-Clark since 2018 - Susan Jane Imbriano since 2021 - Peter Downton since 2021 100 How we score charities +The Clarity Score is a 100-point rating from UK regulator filings (Charity Commission for England and Wales, OSCR and CCNI). Four pillars — Accountability & Transparency (40), Financial Health (30), Financial Efficiency (20), and Community Support (10) — each scored on a continuous scale, not pass/fail cutoffs. A statutory inquiry sets the score to 0 automatically. [Full methodology →](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/methodology) Accountability & Transparency Scored from filings 40 points — filing history (15), trustee oversight (15, scaling up to a board of three or more), declared policies (10). Financial Health Scored from filings 30 points — reserves (15, full marks 3–24 months, tapering on both sides), income stability (10), liabilities to assets (5, scaling down as debt rises). Financial Efficiency Scored from filings 20 points — program expense ratio and fundraising cost, each on a graduated scale (not a single cutoff). Kept at 20% of the total: financial-ratio scoring alone is not a reliable effectiveness signal (see "why not just an overhead ratio?" below). Community Support Scored from filings 10 points — volunteer-to-staff ratio from Charity Commission workforce data, scaling continuously up to a 2:1 ratio. Overall score Sum of all pillar points. Display stars use the same bands as the labels: 90–100 → 5★ Exceptional; 75–89 → 4★ Good; 60–74 → 3★ Needs improvement; 1–59 → 2★ Poor; 0 → not rated. ## How have Buckinghamshire Music Trust's finances changed over five years? - Income - Spending - Cause spend Values in £ thousands · Cause spend plotted only when the filing discloses a split · Source: Charity Commission accounts ## What are the key facts about Buckinghamshire Music Trust? Overall score 56/100 (2★) Income £2.4m Cause spend 100% of expenditure Reg number 1177780 Scope Local (hemel-hempstead) Reserves — Trustees 3 Accounts year 2024 Filing late ## How does BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MUSIC TRUST compare, and where else can you look? [Compare BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MUSIC TRUST with others](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/compare-charities?ids=buckinghamshire-music-trust) [More arts & culture charities](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/browse/arts) [How we score charities](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/methodology) ### Where BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MUSIC TRUST sits The causes this charity is classified under, and other charities working nearby. - [arts charities](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/browse/arts) - [education charities](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/browse/education) - [community charities](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/browse/community) - [children charities](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/browse/children) - [Charities in Hemel Hempstead](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/cities/hemel-hempstead) ### Similar arts & culture charities Top-rated peers by CharityCompare score - [HACKNEY QUEST](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/hackney-quest) 100/100 · £827k - [COMMON WEALTH THEATRE LIMITED](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/common-wealth-theatre-limited) 100/100 · £760k - [PALLANT HOUSE GALLERY](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/pallant-house-gallery) 99/100 · £3.0m - [CREATE (ARTS) LIMITED](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/create-arts-limited) 99/100 · £1.6m ## How can you share Buckinghamshire Music Trust's rating? 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Free to use — a lightweight HTML badge or an embeddable score widget, each linking back to this independent profile and our [methodology](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/methodology). BadgeScore widget [♥ CharityCompare Clarity Score 56/100 ★★★★★](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity/buckinghamshire-music-trust) Lightweight HTML badge (no iframe) — paste anywhere ♥ CharityCompare Clarity Score 56/100 ★★★★★ Copy code ## What red flags does Buckinghamshire Music Trust have? ## Frequently asked questions Common questions about Buckinghamshire Music Trust's rating, finances, and Charity Commission status. Is Buckinghamshire Music Trust a good charity? + Buckinghamshire Music Trust scores 56 out of 100 (2 stars — Poor) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, our independent read of its UK regulator filings. Around 100% of its spending goes to charitable activities and its accounts are late. That reflects how transparent and financially healthy it looks on paper — it does not measure the real-world impact of its work, so treat it as one factor alongside the cause you care about. CharityCompare never tells you where to donate. Is Buckinghamshire Music Trust a legitimate charity? + Yes — Buckinghamshire Music Trust is a legitimate registered charity (charity number 1177780). Verify it on the official register: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/1177780. Registration proves status; Clarity Score then summarises filing transparency on paper, not programme impact. What is Buckinghamshire Music Trust's charity number? + Buckinghamshire Music Trust's charity number is 1177780. Check that number on the official register (Charity Commission, OSCR or CCNI) or this CharityCompare profile before you donate — scammers sometimes reuse real numbers on fake appeals. What is Buckinghamshire Music Trust's charity rating? + Buckinghamshire Music Trust scores 56 out of 100 on CharityCompare (2 stars — Poor). The Clarity Score V1 sums four pillars from UK regulator filings: Accountability & Transparency (40 pts), Financial Health (30), Financial Efficiency (20), and Community Support (10). Stars use the same bands as those labels — 90+ is 5★ Exceptional. It is not an impact ranking. Does Buckinghamshire Music Trust have reviews and complaints? + CharityCompare does not host public user reviews for Buckinghamshire Music Trust. Instead you get a filing-based Clarity Score, cause spend, reserves and red flags such as late accounts (2 filing concern(s) noted on this profile). For formal complaints about a charity, contact the Charity Commission, OSCR, CCNI or the Fundraising Regulator as appropriate. How much of my donation reaches Buckinghamshire Music Trust? + According to its 2024 regulator filing, 100% of Buckinghamshire Music Trust's total spending went to charitable activities (2-yr avg across disclosed years). That is the closest official figure to "how much of your donation reaches the cause" — it is an average across all spending in the filing, not a pound-by-pound breakdown of an individual gift. What are Buckinghamshire Music Trust's overheads? + According to its 2024 regulator filing, combined overheads (fundraising plus governance) were about 0% of total expenditure at Buckinghamshire Music Trust. The filings CharityCompare uses do not publish CEO or senior-staff pay, so we cannot say what Buckinghamshire Music Trust's chief executive is paid — where disclosure rules apply, senior pay appears in the trustees' annual report on the Charity Commission register. How much income does Buckinghamshire Music Trust receive? + Buckinghamshire Music Trust reported £2.4m total income in its 2024 accounts, based on UK regulator filings. Five-year trend: stable. Are Buckinghamshire Music Trust's accounts up to date? + Filing status: late (last filing 2026-06-24). CharityCompare flags late or missing accounts separately from the financial score. Where is Buckinghamshire Music Trust based? + Buckinghamshire Music Trust is listed at Hemel Hempstead · HP21 7ST, focused on arts & culture. How does CharityCompare score Buckinghamshire Music Trust? + We calculate a Clarity Score of 0–100 from four pillars in Buckinghamshire Music Trust's regulator filings: Accountability & Transparency (40 points — filing history, trustees, policies), Financial Health (30 — reserves, income trend, debt), Financial Efficiency (20 — cause spend and fundraising cost, on a graduated scale) and Community Support (10 — volunteer-to-staff ratio). An open statutory inquiry scores 0. The score measures reporting on paper, not programme impact. CharityCompare is free for donors, takes no commission on donations, and scores cannot be bought. How often is this page updated? + This profile was last updated on 17 July 2026 from the latest UK regulator data available to CharityCompare, and Buckinghamshire Music Trust's most recent accounts cover 2024. Scores and figures refresh whenever we re-ingest the register, so the page reflects our latest data pull rather than a one-off review.