Rother Valley Railway Heritage Trust

Analysis

Rother Valley Railway Heritage Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Robertsbridge. It was registered in September 2001, 25 years ago. Its declared purposes cover education/training and environment/conservation/heritage, which this site groups under environment and conservation. It says it provides buildings/facilities/open space.

In the financial year ending December 2025, Rother Valley Railway Heritage Trust reported income of £524k and spending of £455k, spending 87% of its income. Across the 5 years on record, from December 2021 to December 2025, income fell from £940k to £524k (-44%), an average of -14% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to December 2023, when income rose by 7351%. Over the whole period it spent 18% of the income it received.

Among 4,574 England and Wales charities whose main cause is environment and conservation and that reported income, Rother Valley Railway Heritage Trust sits at the 91st percentile: it is larger than about 91% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 90th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include The Institute of Refrigeration (£523k), Future Trees Trust CIO (£526k) and Cynnal Cymru - Sustain Wales (£520k).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from donations and legacies 79%, investments 13% and trading 8.0%. Charitable activities took 90% of spending and raising funds 5.9%. Reserves of £2.0m would cover about 50 months of spending at that rate.