Postal Heritage Trust

Analysis

Postal Heritage Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in London. It was registered in February 2004, 22 years ago. Its declared purposes cover general charitable purposes, 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 04896056). It says it provides human resources, provides buildings/facilities/open space and provides services.

In the financial year ending March 2025, Postal Heritage Trust reported income of £6.3m and spending of £6.6m, spending 104% of its income. Across the 5 years on record, from December 2020 to March 2025, income grew from £4.7m to £6.3m (+35%), an average of +7.8% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to March 2025, when income rose by 25%. Over the whole period it spent 117% 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, Postal Heritage Trust sits at the 99th percentile: it is larger than about 99% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 98th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include The London Library (£6.3m), Royal Aeronautical Society (£6.3m) and Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery Trust (£6.2m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from donations and legacies 45%, charitable activities 29% and trading 26%. Gifts in wills alone brought in £14k. Charitable activities took 61% of spending and raising funds 38%. Reserves of £295k would cover about 1 months of spending at that rate. It employed 97 people.

Data notes from the register: Spending has exceeded income in each of the last three reported years, so the charity has been drawing on reserves or other funds.