2025 post Year-end review.
- Jan 31
- 2 min read
As we enter 2026, the Trust passed another financial Year End on the 31st December. Copies of the final accounts will be circulated to members later this year, but it’s worthwhile taking a few moments to update members and reflect on the past twelve months.
Historically, the Trust has always had three sources of income; membership subscriptions, other income from share dividends and donations, and fund raising through a variety of activities.
For many years subscriptions were always the primary source of income, with the number of members typically around the 500 mark each year, and annual subscription income around the £5,000 pa mark. 2025 was no different to the recent preceding years, and, although we typically lose a few members each year, the new joiners have usually made up for any lapsed memberships, keeping the overall total membership numbers virtually static recently.
That’s a testament to the Trust’s enduring nature, and our concerted efforts to be at the forefront of regular dialogue with the Club across a whole spectrum of the fan issues – without our members, the Trust is nothing.
Other income has taken something of a hit recently. The Club hasn’t paid out any dividends on its A-preference and B-preference shares since 2023 – it can’t do so under Company law, because of the lack of distributable reserves on its balance sheet.
To compensate for this loss, about three years ago, the Trust signed up to Easy Fundraising. It’s free to join, it’s open to absolutely anyone - you don’t even have to be a member to sign up, so all family and friends can join, too. Once you’ve signed up to Easy Fundraising, and nominated the Canaries Trust as the cause you support, every time you shop online, Easy Fundraising will make a donation to the Trust. The costs of any online purchases remain unchanged – the donations come from the retailers themselves. We would urge you to join, and here’s a link:
The biggest change over the past year has been our involvement with the Community Sports Foundation’s Healthy Fans initiative. We made a £6,500 donation to the cause during 2025, as we’ve refocussed upon our fund-raising activities, with our 100 Club being rebranded as On The Draw City. The last quarter of the year saw a significant uptick in the Draw, and we’d encourage others to join in, as we target a £10,000 donation for the current year.
As always, fan engagement with the Club, both for members, and the wider fanbase, will always be our first priority, and we take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing support over the past year.
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