The Trustees present their report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025. The trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” (FRS 102) in preparing the annual report and financial statements of the charity.
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 Charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006 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) (effective 1 January 2019)".
The Folklore Society was founded in 1878. It was one of the first organisations in the world to be devoted to the study of traditional vernacular culture. Its objectives are to promote research into and the recording of folklore in all parts of the world, and to make available academically and culturally the results of its studies to all persons whether members of the Society or not. With effect from the year 2001, membership of the Society was available both to institutions and individuals through subscription to its journal Folklore. This is on a joint-venture basis with the publisher, Taylor & Francis Plc. From 2003 the publication frequency was increased from twice to three times per year, and this was increased again to four times per year from 2017, an indication of the growing quantity and quality of submissions, a trend that continues. Over the past months, the Society and Taylor & Francis Plc exercised their option to mutually renew the joint venture by entering into a new licence agreement for publication of Folklore for a further five years with effect from 1 January 2027. The new agreement will bring significant changes to the Society, not least retaking control of its own membership list. Individual membership has grown over the last five years, from 433 in 2021 to 499 in 2025.
The Society operates its administrative facilities from 50 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 5BT, a building owned by The Royal Anthropological Institute. The Society’s rights and obligations in respect of its occupancy at 50 Fitzroy Street are reflected in a licence agreement, underwritten by the Director of The Royal Anthropological Institute. Following renegotiation in 2022, the Society paid £ £11,468 in 2025 for its licence, updated annually in line with inflation. The licensee and licensor are required to give twelve months’ notice of termination. The current licence expires on 27 July 2029. Under this licence, Folklore Society members may visit the FLS Office by appointment to consult with the librarians and view the society’s most recent folklore periodicals and the reference books that are kept there.
Most of the Society’s library is retained under a continuing custodial agreement with University College London, which maintains the library on a retrieval basis and insures it at no cost to the Society. The membership of the Society is granted membership of University College London Library at no additional cost in order that they may access and borrow books. The Society’s Rare Books, Archives and Collections are housed at UCL Library Special Collections, currently in temporary quarters at the National Archives at Kew and will eventually move to a new location with UCL Special Collections. They are held and insured by University College London at no cost to the Society. They are accessible with notice and upon request. Artefacts are held on loan at other institutions and museums, and the Canziani paintings are held at UCL Special Collections.
Public Benefit
The Trustees confirm that they have referred to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity’s aims and objectives and in planning future activities.
The Annual General Meeting 2025 was held on 16 September at 50 Fitzroy Street, in-person and on-line. 15 members attended in person, and 18 online. Prof. David Hopkin delivered his Presidential Address 2024: ‘The Soldier’s Tale.’ The lecture was live-streamed, free, to the general public, to an audience of 77. The article is published in our journal Folklore vol.137, 2026.
At the AGM, Prof. David Hopkin continued as President and Trustee. Prof. Owen Davies continued as Vice-President and Trustee. Prof. Richard Jenkins stepped down as a Trustee and was thanked for his many years as Hon. Treasurer. Ms Sophia Kingshill was appointed as Hon. Treasurer, Dr Helen Frisby was appointed as Hon. Secretary, and Dr Kate Smith was appointed as a Trustee and Participation Officer. Dr Julia Bishop continued as a Trustee and President-in-waiting until stepping down from Council in January 2026. Prof. James Grayson and Dr Juliette Wood stepped down from Council, and were thanked for their long service. We welcomed Prof. David Clarke as a new Council member. The following Council members were re-elected for 2025-28: Dr Jessica Hemming; Dr Ceri Houlbrook. Continuing members of Council: Dr Julia Bishop; Prof. Matthew Cheeseman; Dr Paul Cowdell; Prof. Owen Davies; Prof. Stuart Dunn; Ms Holly Elsdon; Dr Helen Frisby; Mr Jeremy Harte; Prof. David Hopkin; Prof. Richard Jenkins; Ms Sophia Kingshill; Mr Nicolas Le Bigre; Prof. Patricia Lysaght; Mr Ross Macfarlane; Mr Mark Norman; Dr Doc Rowe; Dr Kate Smith.
The society’s Katharine Briggs Lecture commemorates the work of this key figure in folklore scholarship. The 2025 Lecture was given by Prof. Terry Gunnell (University of Iceland): ‘Returning the Legends to the Landscape and the Storytellers: The ever-increasing benefits of digitalising the North Atlantic Folk Legend Archive,’ to an audience of 73.
In 2025, the Society made various awards to promote the academic study of folklore. The prestigious Katharine Briggs Award, for the best book in folklore studies of the 37 entered for the 2025 award, was presented after the Katharine Briggs Lecture 2025, to Dr Ann Schmiesing for her book The Brothers Grimm: A Biography, published by Yale University Press. The 2025 Doc Rowe Award, a biennial award for non-print media, was presented to Barbara Santi, for her film King for a Day.
Recognising the importance of supporting the next generation of folklore scholars, the Society awards the Estella Canziani Bursary for Post-Graduate Research (worth up to £1,500). In 2025, three applicants were awarded bursaries for their field work projects: Rawan Alfuraih (University of Oxford): ‘The Epic of Najd: Rebirth of Bodies in the New Environment of Saudi Arabian Urbanisation;’ Maximilian Bowden (University of Essex): ‘Mapping the Deadverse: Worldbuilding and Narrative in the Lyrics of the Grateful Dead;’ Leeya Mor (University College London): ‘The Shifting Hearth: Folklore and Musical Traditions in the Israeli and Jewish Diaspora of London.’
The President’s Prize is an annual award made for an undergraduate student essay. In 2025, the award was raised from £150 to £250, and a second President’s Prize of £300 for a postgraduate essay was introduced thanks to a generous donor. The 2025 President’s Prize (Post-graduate) was awarded to Ailsa Dixon (University of Edinburgh) for her essay ‘Never has the world had so much need of storytelling and its healing powers.’ Storytelling for Wellbeing within the Scottish Public Health Sector;' there were no entries for the undergraduate prize.
We gratefully acknowledge the annual donation towards the President’s Prize of £60 from Professor John Widdowson, former President of the society and founder of the prize.
The Folklore Society holds at least three conferences per year with participation from members and non-members alike, and from UK and international scholars, exploring different areas of folklore studies. On 29 March 2025, we held a one-day online conference ‘Folklore and the Digital,’ which was a well-attended follow-on from our very successful ‘Digital Folklore’ hybrid conference in 2024. The society’s 2025 annual conference ‘Folklore and the Senses’, a hybrid conference was held in collaboration with the Dept of Folklore and Ethnology, at the University of Cork, Ireland, and online. 76 people attended in person, and 42 online, with speakers from many different parts of the world.
The conference ‘Lying in Legend and Tradition: the Nineteenth Legendary Weekend’ was held at Tullie House in Carlisle from 6th to 7th September, with 35 participants. These weekends are for both specialists and non-specialists in folklore and focus on a particular topic and are held in various places outside London.
The Newer Researchers in Folklore workshop day was hosted by the Centre for Folklore at Todmorden on 26 September with over 40 people attending.
The conference ‘Revisiting Oral Narrative: Anthropology, Folklore and History’, the ninth annual joint symposium of The Folklore Society and The Royal Anthropological Institute ‘Anthropology and Folklore in Conversation,’ was held at 50 Fitzroy Street and online on 23 October 2025, attended by 30 in person and c.20 online.
During 2025, The Folklore Society participated in a number of projects with other organisations, either as a partner or a supporter:
AHRC-DTP Collaborative Doctoral Award at the Open University in partnership with The Folklore Society, ‘Healthy Folk: the role of vernacular knowledge in health-related decision-making,’ which started in 2024. Ciara Joyce, the successful applicant for this fully-funded PhD programme, continued her research on 'Pollution, Purity, and Pong: The Connection Between Smell, Vaginal Health, and Sexual Impurity,' jointly supervised by Prof. Richard Jenkins of The Folklore Society Council.
A 10-week ‘History of Folklore’ course, starting January 2025, was organised by The Folklore Society in partnership with the University of Oxford, School of Continuing Education, and taught by Dr Paul Cowdell and Prof. David Hopkin. The course was sold out with 26 students (4 of whom joined the society as a result) and the course has been re-run twice since then.
The Folklore Society continues to support the work of the Folklore without Borders network, which met online numerous times during 2025. The network was set up with AHRC grant funding for 2024 by FLS Council members Prof. Matthew Cheeseman and Dr Paul Cowdell, as an international knowledge exchange exploring how to embed greater equality, diversity and inclusivity in UK folklore. The three 2-day in-person conferences and nine online meetings in 2024 recruited significant numbers to the network, including representatives from the Dept for Culture, Media & Sport (UNESCO ‘Living Heritage’) and generated so much enthusiasm and interest that the organisers decided to keep the network running in 2025 after the end of the AHRC funding.
The Folklore Society, along with The Folklore Library and Archive, and the Folklore Museums Network, is a project partner in the AHRC-UKRI funded ‘National Folklore Survey—England.’ This AHRC-UKRI funded research project, is led by Dr David Clarke and Dr Diane Rodgers of the Centre for Contemporary Legend, Sheffield Hallam University; co-leads are FLS Council members Prof. Owen Davies and Dr Ceri Houlbrook (who both founded the MA in Folklore Studies at the University of Hertfordshire), with Prof. Christopher Bader of Chapman University, California as international lead. The survey aimed to capture an accurate snapshot of the folklore of multicultural England and gain a new understanding of the impact of colonial and empire narratives on previous surveys, notably the 1964 survey by the University of Sheffield.
The Folklore Society participated in The British Academy’s ‘Folklore Reimagined’ programme in the spring of 2025.
A selection of Folklore Society Library and Archives materials were digitised in 2025 as part of a joint contract with University College London Library and British Online Archives to produce a digital archive of Witchcraft and Folklore materials as a subscription collection.
United Agents, who manage the IPR of Katharine Briggs on behalf of The Folklore Society, negotiated with artist Fee Greening and Octopus Publishing to produce a new, illustrated edition of Katharine Briggs’s Dictionary of Fairies, which was published in September 2025.
Trustees and Council Members of The Folklore Society participated in the consultation following the UK ratification of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Our bi-monthly online talks continue to be very popular, with audiences between 45 and over 100 each time, including both FLS members and non-members, from many different parts of the world. FLS members benefit from discounted tickets. The online talks have increased the accessibility of The Folklore Society’s events programme to participants who might struggle to attend in-person events. These talks are given by experts on a wide range of folklore topics. Speakers in 2025 were: Rosalind Kerven, ‘Women in Viking Age Folk Narratives;’ Timothy Tangherlini, ‘They’re Eating the Dogs, They’re Eating the Cats;’ Sophie Parkes-Nield, ‘The Calendar Custom and Contemporary Fiction;’ Eric Huang, ‘Saint Valentine;’ Helen Frisby, ‘Royal Funerals: A History;’ John Clark, ‘Elias Ashmole and the Cottingley Fairies;’ Chris Hare, ‘Lucy Broadwood (1858-1929);’ Will Pooley, ‘Tarot and Cartomancy in France;’ Tommy Kuusela, ‘Scandinavian Changelings;’ Karl Bell, ‘Seafarers and Sea-Fearing;’ Eric Hoenes del Pinal, ‘The Mountain who Stumbled and the Lake who Eats Girls;’ Sarah Covington, ‘Connecting Folklore, History and Theory in the 21st Century;’ David Clarke and Andrew Robinson, ‘Flying Saucery: How UFOs landed in the British Isles;’ Marina Warner, ‘How to Create Sanctuary Now?’ Peter Harrop, ’Violet Alford’s Pyrenean Festivals;’ Roy Vickery, ’50 Years of Plant-Lore Collecting;’ Fee Greening on K. Briggs’s Dictionary of Fairies;’ Juliette Wood, ‘An Appreciation of the Scarecrow;’ Stephen Miller, ‘The Legend, Lore and Spirit of the Water Horse;’ Rosemary Power, ‘On Social Life and Stories;’ James Frost, ‘The Hooden Horse of Kent.’ Many of the online talks were recorded for The Folklore Society’s archive.
We have a full programme of online talks scheduled for 2026, and speakers are now being invited for 2027.
Our new website was launched in September 2025. FLS members continue to have access to a dedicated Members Only area at https://www.folklore-society.com where, among other resources, they can access the entire digital archive of back issues of Folklore and its earlier titles from 1878 onwards via tandfonline.com, selected folklore journals from JStor.org, and pdfs of all back issues of our newsletter FLS News.
Library and Archives: 45 new books were added to The Folklore Society Library, stored at University College London Library, to whom we are grateful for their continued generosity in housing and managing our collections.
The findings of the 2023 Membership Survey were analysed and provided vital information to the Trustees in ensuring the Society’s strategic direction and sustainability, as well as its continued relevance and appeal to members, who were invited to participate in a ‘Town Hall’ online meeting in November 2025.
At the end of 2025, the society had 499 members (including 90 Life members, Honorary members and members of the International Editorial Board).
Over the financial year 2025 there was a net operating income of £134,002 (2024: net expenditure of £43,903). The substantial increase from the 2024 figure is due to a legacy of c £130,000 received from the estate of Doris West. Cash at the bank and in hand at December 31, 2025 was £396,022 (2024: £231,687), and net current assets at that date were £422,043 (2024: £259,904).
At the 2025 AGM, it was proposed that the windfall legacy could be used as a deposit on new office space: this remains feasible in the longer term. In the meantime, it has been agreed by the Trustees that no investment can be made carrying any form of risk, since the money is held in trust for our charitable purposes: accordingly, the reserve funds have been deposited in two fixed-term bonds offering the best available rates of interest. Each account is in the sum of £120,000, being the maximum covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Annual interest on these two accounts should be in the region of £9,888: actual figures cannot yet be given, as the accounts have not been open long enough.
FLS continues to receive modest income from online activities, conference fees, and private donations.
Folklore Enterprises Limited
The principal source of income for the Society and its trading subsidiary Folklore Enterprises Limited continues to be provided by the Folklore journal publishing agreement with Taylor & Francis, a trading arm of Informa UK Ltd. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Informa plc, a company whose shares are quoted on the London International Stock Exchange. Since 1 January 2017, a royalty-based agreement has been in place, based on forty (40) per cent of net sales receipts, with a guaranteed non-returnable annual advance of £30,000 and an annual contribution toward editorial expenses of £16,000, plus a variable additional payment at the end of each year for extra editorial work on Open Access articles. That agreement expires at the end of 2026, and following negotiation with Taylor & Francis, a new 5-year agreement will come into place on 1 January 2027, under which the annual advance is increased to £40,000, and the contribution to editorial expenses is increased to £20,000. The most material difference is that whereas under the previous agreement Taylor & Francis managed individual subscriptions to the journal, under the new agreement individual subscriptions will be the responsibility of the Society, who will receive the entire subscription price, but for each subscription will pay the publisher an annual charge of £22/print subscription and £10/online subscription. It remains to be seen how that affects the Society’s annual income; it will undoubtedly mean extra work for the administrative staff, in recognition of which Taylor & Francis have agreed a one-off contribution of £5,000 inclusive of VAT towards administrative costs.
The increasing importance of open-access publishing within the Taylor & Francis income stream, and indeed across the academic publishing spectrum, has implications for future revenue that cannot be assessed with any certainty, either by the publishers or by the Society. The royalty payment from Taylor & Francis in 2025 was £73,107. For comparison, the figure for 2024 was £64,195, and for 2023 £55,250. It is entirely possible that future royalties will decline rather than increase.
The other principal source of cash income is the revenue paid to FLE Ltd by JSTOR. In 2025, the figure was $15,432.92 (£11,635), a slight decrease from the 2024 figure of $15,493.45 (£11,694).
The surplus profits of FLE Ltd are paid to the Society by way of a gift-aided donation. In 2025, the figure paid to FLS was £66,450 (2024: £70,500).
The Society’s financial strategy is to maintain a day-to-day financial reserve (equivalent to net current assets) sufficient to meet two years of running costs (salaries of administrative staff, licence fee for office accommodation, and other expenses, a total of approximately £94,700 on current levels of expenditure) in order to provide time for restructure should there be drastic reductions in income at any future period. The net current assets position at 31 December 2025 was £422,043 (2024: £259,904), and is more than adequate to satisfy this strategy.
Risk management
In addition to accommodation costs, and unpredictable fluctuations in royalty payments from Taylor & Francis, which the Trustees are managing with prudence, the Charity’s other risks may be categorized into financial dependency, stewardship, and staffing.
Financial dependency
The Society depends on the financial good health of Taylor & Francis and its parent Informa group: these present no current cause for concern, although it should be noted that proposed legislation in the United States relating to the use of federal research grants to support academic publishing may, if passed, have an adverse effect. The Trustees sought to manage risk and future uncertainty in the Society’s commercial arrangements with Taylor & Francis by negotiating the new contract that will come into operation on 1 January 2027. The issues in respect to open access publishing have been discussed.
Stewardship
In common with many charities, the Society is dependent on identifying and securing the services of Trustees, Officers and staff who will take a lead in preserving the Society together with its aims and objective for future generations. The Society’s governance provides for succession plans being in place for the next three-year to five-year period at any point in time, a policy linked to a more general one of openly inviting participation by new and younger members of the Society by a natural process to fill all key roles.
Staffing
In 2025, Dr Caroline Oates, Librarian, Administrator and key individual involved in all decision-making and responsible for the day-to-day management of the charity, was unable to perform her role fully for a period of several months due to health issues. In view of Dr Oates’s long service and value to the Society, the Trustees decided to continue her salary at full rate until her return to work, while recruiting Mr Ross MacFarlane as an additional member of staff to supplement the work of Dr Claire Collins as Acting Administrator. These events highlighted the need for business continuity planning, and a restructuring has consequently been agreed to assign new roles and titles to the three members of the administrative staff, which will come fully into effect in 2026. Great thanks are due to all three for their hard work on the Society’s behalf, and in terms of risk management, it is anticipated that three members of staff will be able to sustain activities in the event of future long term sickness or departure.
The Society continues to develop its programme of increasing and widening its personal membership and outreach, particularly amongst younger people and those who pursue the study of folklore both academically and for personal interest. It is also working to increase its collaboration with cognate societies and received support from other societies at its own events, or contributed to the support of events of similar societies.
The Society is a company limited by guarantee, founded in 1878 and incorporated in the UK under England and Wales (registration number 03685496) and has been granted charitable status (registration number 1074552).
The officers of the Society (President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary and Participation Officer) are directors of the company and trustees of the charity. The officers act as the Management Board and have equal responsibility for the legally mandated affairs of the Society, including annual returns to Companies House and the Charity Commission. Officers also deal with on-going financial matters, staff, accommodation, links with Taylor and Francis who publish Folklore, and whatever other issues arise. The Society has accountants, book-keepers and solicitors to provide professional services as appropriate.
The Council of the Society, of which the officers are part, is responsible for non-mandated matters, such as academic-related activities, including organising and participating in conferences and other events, acting as judges for various annual awards, and as members of ad-hoc working groups.
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 of The Folklore Society are proposed by the Management Board, which consists of the Trustees and the Editor of Folklore, on the basis of any nominations received and seconded in accordance with the articles and memorandum of association. They are elected by votes on a show of hands by the Annual General Meeting. Proxy votes are cast, in accordance with instructions from those absent but entitled to attend, by the President of the Society, who is always a Trustee of the Society. They are elected to serve a term of three years.
The directors of Folklore Enterprises Limited, the wholly owned subsidiary of The Folklore Society, are elected at the meeting of the Trustees of The Folklore Society. They represent the commercial interests of the Society in its trading subsidiary and comprise the Secretary and Treasurer of The Folklore Society.
Pay Policy for Key Management Personnel
The trustees consider the trustees and the senior management team to comprise the key management personnel of the charity in charge of directing and controlling, running and operating the charity on a day-to-day basis. The key management individual who is involved in all decision-making and responsible for the day-to-day management of the charity has for many years been Dr C Oates, Librarian and Administrator. All trustees give of their time freely and no trustee received remuneration in the year. The pay of the senior staff is reviewed annually and from time to time increased in accordance with market rates.
This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions for small companies under Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
The trustees, who are also the directors of The Folklore Society for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the society and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.
In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the society will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the society and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the society and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of The Folklore Society (the society) for the year ended 31 December 2025.
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the society 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 society’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 society as required by section 386 of the Companies Act 2006. or
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.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
The Folklore Society is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales and a registered charity with the Charity Commission in the United Kingdom. The registered office is 50 Fitzroy Street, London, W1 5BT. The nature of the charity's operations and principal activities are detailed in page 1 of these financial statements.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the society'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 society is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The society has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities not to prepare a statement of cash flows.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the society. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, modified to include certain financial items at fair value. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the society has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Designated funds comprise funds which have been set aside at the discretion of the trustees for specific purposes. The purposes and uses of the designated funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the Society has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid is recognised at the time of the donation.
Income from ancillary trading activities (conference fees and royalty and book sales) is recognised when the Charity is legally entitled to it, being the occurrence of the event or the sale of the book.
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, 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 classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Central staff costs are allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges are allocated on the portion of the asset’s use.
Intangible fixed assets relate to the licence of the copyright of the journal Folklore to Taylor & Francis Plc under the terms of the journal publishing agreement. The assets have been valued by the trustees at the present value of projected future cash flows over the minimum expected remaining life of the underlying agreements.
The trustees' follow a capitalisation policy to treat such items with a cost in excess of £250 as capital in nature.
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:
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.
Heritage assets are recognised on the balance sheet and initially measured at cost when purchased. Donated heritage assets are measured at valuation, or not recognised on the balance sheet if a valuation cannot be reasonably obtained. Assets are subsequently stated at valuation where appropriate. Fair values are based on formal independent valuations of the heritage assets.
Heritage assets are deemed to have an indefinite life and are not depreciated. The heritage assets recognised in the accounts are reviewed by the trustees for impairment on an annual basis.
Fixed asset investments are initially measured at transaction price excluding transaction costs, and are subsequently measured at fair value at each reporting date. Changes in fair value are recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year. Transaction costs are expensed as incurred.
A subsidiary is an entity controlled by the society. Control is the power to govern the financial and operating policies of the entity so as to obtain benefits from its activities.
At each reporting end date, the society reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible and intangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less.
The society has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Financial instruments are recognised in the society's balance sheet when the society becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the society’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.
Assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated at the rate of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date. Transactions in foreign currencies are recorded at the rate ruling at the date of the transaction. All exchange differences are taken to the Statement of Financial Activities.
Accounting estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.
The following judgements (apart from those involving estimates) have been made in the process of applying the above accounting policies that have the most significant effect on amounts recognised in the financial statements:
Heritage assets
The useful economic lives and residual values of heritage assets are reassessed annually for any impairment. They are amended when necessary to reflect current estimates, based on technological advancement, future investments, economic utilisation and the physical condition of the assets. See note 16 for the carrying amount of the charity's library, paintings, artefacts and archives.
There are no undisclosed key assumptions concerning the future or other key sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year.
Donations and gifts includes £66,450 (2024: £70,500) of trading surplus paid to the charity in the year. This includes £43,445 (2024: £37,098) unpaid from the year ended 31 December 2024.
None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits from the Society during the year, but 2 of them were reimbursed a total of £313 travelling expenses (2024 - 3 were reimbursed £389).
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The trustees consider that they, together with the charity's Senior Librarian, comprise the key management personnel of the charity who are jointly in charge of directing and controlling, running and operating the charity on a day to day basis. The Senior Librarian's salary cost was £27,139 (2024: £25,847).
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
Impairment tests have been carried out where appropriate and the following impairment losses have been recognised in profit or loss:
More information on the impairment arising in the year is given in note 13.
Intangible fixed assets relate to the licence of the copyright of the journal Folklore to Taylor & Francis Plc under the terms of the journal publishing agreements. The assets have been valued by the trustees at the present value of projected future cash flows over the minimum expected remaining life of the underlying agreements.
The heritage assets recognised in the accounts include a library, paintings, artefacts and archives.
Heritage assets where recognised are included in the accounts at valuation. The library is formally revalued every five years. Other heritage assets recognised in the accounts are reviewed by the trustees for impairment on an annual basis.
The paintings and artefacts were last formally valued during the year ended 31 December 1997, with the archives last formally valued in the year ended 31 December 2015.
The most recent formal valuation of the Library was undertaken by Mr M Banwell in May 2022 to value the books donated to that date and for insurance purposes. Mr M Banwell also valued the addition of 205 titles to the Library in the prior year. Mr M Banwell is a specialist in Folklore material.
The charity also owns the Mary Young Collection and the Cambridge Anthropology Collection, these items have not yet been professionally valued and are not included in these accounts.
The society operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the society in an independently administered fund.
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.
Copyright licence fund - this fund holds the licences and copyright of the journal Folklore to Taylor & Francis Plc and JSTOR under the terms of the respective journal publishing and royalty agreements.
Heritage asset fund - this fund holds the heritage assets of the Charity. They are not held to generate income, but to maintain and preserve the archives and manuscript collections.
Investment fund - this fund holds the trading subsidiary, and is invested to maximise total return and generate income.
At the reporting end date the society had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:
At 31 December 2025 the charity had an operating lease commitment with The Royal Anthropological Institute under the terms of a license agreement to occupy space at 50 Fitzroy Street, London, W1T 5BT. The total commitment covers the remaining period of occupancy by the Charity expected to end on 27 July 2029.
The amount of the rent paid under this agreement in the year to 31 December 2025 was £11,468 (2024: £11,237).
The Charity's wholly owned trading subsidiary, Folklore Enterprises Limited, conducts the commercial activities of its parent charity and donates under gift aid any trading surplus to the parent charity each financial year. For the year ended 31 December 2025 the amount donated was £66,450 (2024: £70,500).
At 31 December 2025 £1,880 (2024: £nil) was owed from the charity to Folklore Enterprises Limited.
During the year the charity received donations without conditions and conference fees from the trustees totalling £426 (2024: £nil).
These financial statements are separate Society financial statements for The Folklore Society.
The Society is a parent company subject to the small companies' regime. The Society and its subsidiary comprise a small group and the Society has taken advantage of the exemption provided by the Statement of Recommended Practice 'Accounting and Reporting Charities' not to prepare group accounts. As a result, these accounts give information about the company as an individual undertaking and not about the group.
Details of the society's subsidiaries at 31 December 2025 are as follows: