Shaftesbury Arts Centre

Analysis

Shaftesbury Arts Centre is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Shaftesbury. It was registered in June 2005, 21 years ago. Its declared purposes cover education/training and arts/culture/heritage/science, which this site groups under arts, culture, heritage and science. Legally it is a charitable company (Companies House number 05336078). It says it provides buildings/facilities/open space, provides services and acts as an umbrella or resource body.

In the financial year ending August 2025, Shaftesbury Arts Centre reported income of £287k and spending of £326k, spending 113% of what it took in. Across the 5 years on record, from August 2021 to August 2025, income fell from £301k to £287k (-4.6%), an average of -1.2% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to August 2024, when income rose by 84%. Over the whole period it spent 66% 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, Shaftesbury Arts Centre sits at the 88th percentile: it is larger than about 88% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 85th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include The William Delafield Charitable Trust (£287k), Collective Encounters (£287k) and Abberton Rural Training (£287k).