Manchester City Galleries Trust

Analysis

Manchester City Galleries Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Manchester. It was registered in August 1995, 31 years ago. Its declared purposes cover education/training, arts/culture/heritage/science and environment/conservation/heritage, which this site groups under arts, culture, heritage and science. Legally it is a charitable company (Companies House number 03053689). It says it makes grants to organisations and provides advocacy/advice/information.

In the financial year ending March 2025, Manchester City Galleries Trust reported income of £1.6m and spending of £1.3m, spending 85% of its income. Across the 5 years on record, from March 2021 to March 2025, income grew from £1.4m to £1.6m (+14%), an average of +3.3% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to March 2024, when income rose by 37%. Over the whole period it spent 76% of the income it received.

Among 17,634 England and Wales charities whose main cause is arts, culture, heritage and science and that reported income, Manchester City Galleries 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 95th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain (£1.6m), Set Centre (£1.6m) and The National Museum of Labour History (£1.6m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from trading 63%, charitable activities 21%, donations and legacies 12% and investments 3.7%. Gifts in wills alone brought in £58k. Charitable activities took 26% of spending and raising funds 71%. Grants to other organisations totalled £220k. Reserves of £497k would cover about 4 months of spending at that rate. It employed 34 people.