The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 30 September 2025.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the The Charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" and the Charities SORP "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)".
The objectives of the charity are the advancement of literary arts and education through the promotion of the works of James Boswell and the advancement of heritage through the restoration and preservation of the James Boswell family aisle and mausoleum in Auchinleck churchyard.
The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the The Charity should undertake.
Volunteers
The charity benefits from the work of volunteers in many areas.
Charitable Activities
Boswell Book Festival
With our fifteenth festival, running from 9th to 11th May 2025 at Dumfries House, our aim, as ever, was to deliver an event of artistic excellence, diversity, inclusivity and originality in a rural location, exploring biography and memoir for all ages to both a live and an online audience.
Lighting up the stage about their lives were Rupert Everett, Dom Joly, Pam Ayres, and Wayne Sleep and Andrew O’Hagan with his keynote address, and at the Children’s Festival all ages enjoyed forest bathing and woodland walks with amazing folklorist Alison Galbraith, workshops on comic writing with Edward Ross and storytelling from acclaimed writer Vivian French. Our theme remains unique in the book festival calendar in an area that is not served by any other major literary festival.
We ran 65 events, an increase of 15% on last year, including writing workshops and a children’s festival engaging the interest of the local community from the outset through our outreach events in the local primary schools and a free Schools’ Day. We were determined to keep our festival ticket prices at a level that would allow local attendance, with the continuing cost of living crisis, with a local Auchinleck postcode discount for the children’s festival.
Once again, we were successful in staging events that relate to the Scottish experience or support Scottish authors and publishers such as artist Juano Diaz on overcoming his difficult Glasgow childhood, new memoirist Katie Goh, publisher of translated works Allan Cameron, and Claire Mitchell KC and Zoe Venditozzi calling for a public apology for Scotland’s witches. Our partnership event with The Cumnock Tryst demonstrated the life-changing power of great music through the newscaster John Suchet’s latest book on Beethoven.
After the success of the online festival talks since 2021, this year we once again live-streamed all main festival events allowing us to reach those who couldn’t physically make it to the festival as well as our growing audience who now follow us from further afield both nationally and internationally. It also allowed us to stream John Vaillant live from Canada with interviewer Cal Flyn onstage with both an online and a live audience.
Additionally tours of Dumfries House were run regularly throughout the weekend, furthering the cultural benefit of the festival and adding clear benefit to the local community and this year there were curated tours of Auchinleck House, the nearby ancestral home of James Boswell, and all tours sold out. Auchinleck House is rarely open to the public so there was a lot of interest from locals as well as from those who came from further afield.
Future Plans
The Boswell Book Festival will be held at Dumfries House in 2026 from 8th to 10th May. Once again, we are planning a stimulating and entertaining programme which was launched in March 2026. This will include a Schools’ Programme, and Family Festival. We remain committed to providing an online alternative so a selected number of events will be available to watch and enjoy on-line.
Reserves Policy
The charity operates both a general and restricted fund.
The General fund is available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the trust. At the year end, there was £81,171 (2024: £82,175) in the general reserves. At the year end, all restricted funds were utilised.
Each year the charity aims to raise funds to meet the costs of their activities during the year and also enough to meet contingencies in the coming year and to provide an element of own resources for matched funding. The Trustees aim to maintain reserves of around 30-35% of annual book festival income. The Trustees believe that the amount in reserves at the year end is appropriate in the circumstances.
Principal funding sources
Our main source of income for the period comprised donations from charitable foundations, individuals and business of £87,250 (2024: £57,500) and grants from Creative Scotland £27,500 (2024: £19,000) and East Ayrshire Council £15,000 (2024: £25,000). Ticket sales from the Boswell Book Festival increased to £50,635 (2024: £50,196) and other income, including gift aid, commission on book sales, friends, patrons, contributions towards admin and advertising income contributed to a further £7,223 (2024: £8,662). Bank interest received in the year amounted to £293 (2024: £nil).
The principal item of expenditure was the Boswell Book Festival, which cost £167,501 (2024: £149,763) and the Children's Book Festival which cost £14,555 (2024: £22,298).
The trustee's have assessed the major risks to which The Charity is exposed, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to major risks.
The charity is controlled by its governing document, its memorandum and articles of association, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
The trustees look to appoint new trustees who are committed to the aims of the Trust, and ideally have an association with James Boswell, Auchinleck and its surrounding area or Scotland more generally. The charity aims to have a balance of skills and experience amongst individual trustees.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of The Boswell Trust (the The Charity) for the year ended 30 September 2025.
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the The Charity are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the The Charity’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act 2011.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
accounting records were not kept in respect of the The Charity as required by section 386 of the Companies Act 2006.
the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 other than any requirement that the financial statements give a true and fair view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
Designated
Designated
Investments
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
The charity is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee as defined by Companies Act 2006 (Registered Number SC380815 (Scotland)). The charity is a registered charity number SC041655. The charity is registered with OSCR the Scottish Charity Regulator. The charity's registered office is Auchendrane, By Ayr, Ayrshire, KA7 4TW.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the The Charity's Articles of Association, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016). The The Charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The The Charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities applying FRS 102 Update Bulletin 1 not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the The Charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors or grantors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Income is recognised when the The Charity is legally entitled to it after any performance conditions have been met, the amounts can be measured reliably, and it is probable that income will be received. Income is the amount derived from grants, donations, book sale commission and Book Festival ticket sales.
Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:
Taxation
The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.
Designated
Designated
Grants
Charitable Income
Charitable Income
Ticket sales
Commission on book sales
Friends and patrons
Contribution towards admin
Administrator's fee and other staff costs
Facility and venue costs
Speaker travel
Speaker fees and expenses
Design, production and publicity
Architect and landscaping fees
Advertising
Commission on ticket sales
Postage and stationery
Bank charges
Speaker hospitality and accommodation
Insurance
Sundries
Caroline Knox received a payment of £20,000 (2024: £20,000) in the period for services to the Trust as an administrator. There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the period ended 30 September 2025 nor for the year ended 30 September 2024.
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
A transfer from restricted funds to designated funds was made to compensate for charitable spending in excess of designated fund availability.
The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2024 - none).