The Charleston Trust (Bloomsbury in Sussex)

Analysis

The Charleston Trust (Bloomsbury in Sussex) is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Lewes. It was registered in December 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 05212725). It says it provides human resources, provides buildings/facilities/open space and provides services.

In the financial year ending December 2025, The Charleston Trust (Bloomsbury in Sussex) reported income of £4.5m and spending of £4.3m, spending 95% of its income. Across the 5 years on record, from December 2021 to December 2025, income grew from £2.5m to £4.5m (+80%), an average of +16% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to December 2025, when income rose by 66%. Over the whole period it spent 107% 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, The Charleston Trust (Bloomsbury in Sussex) sits at the 98th percentile: it is larger than about 98% 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 Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration (£4.5m), The Royal Drawing School (£4.5m) and The Performing Right Society Foundation (£4.5m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from charitable activities 34%, trading 29% and donations and legacies 16%. Gifts in wills alone brought in £54k. Charitable activities took 61% of spending and raising funds 39%. Reserves of £142k would cover about 0 months of spending at that rate. It employed 88 people.