The Mid-Norfolk Railway Preservation Trust

Analysis

The Mid-Norfolk Railway Preservation Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Dereham. It was registered in June 1995, 31 years ago. Its declared purposes cover education/training, environment/conservation/heritage and economic/community development/employment, which this site groups under environment and conservation. Legally it is a charitable company (Companies House number 03037014). It says it provides buildings/facilities/open space.

In the financial year ending December 2025, The Mid-Norfolk Railway Preservation Trust reported income of £2.4m and spending of £2.6m, spending 110% of what it took in. Across the 5 years on record, from December 2021 to December 2025, income grew from £2.2m to £2.4m (+12%), an average of +2.8% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to December 2024, when income rose by 59%. Over the whole period it spent 80% of the income it received.

Among 4,574 England and Wales charities whose main cause is environment and conservation and that reported income, The Mid-Norfolk Railway Preservation Trust sits at the 96th percentile: it is larger than about 96% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 97th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include The Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (£2.4m), The DRW Foundation (£2.4m) and Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (£2.4m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from charitable activities 89%, trading 8.7% and donations and legacies 1.4%. Charitable activities took 93% of spending and raising funds 7.2%. Reserves of £623k would cover about 3 months of spending at that rate. It employed 16 people.