Artichoke Trust

Analysis

Artichoke Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in London. It was registered in January 2006, 20 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 05429030). It says it other charitable activities.

In the financial year ending March 2026, Artichoke Trust reported income of £2.9m and spending of £3.4m, spending 117% of what it took in. Across the 5 years on record, from March 2022 to March 2026, income fell from £5.2m to £2.9m (-43%), an average of -13% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to March 2024, when income rose by 212%. Over the whole period it spent 123% 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, Artichoke Trust 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 97th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include The Park Theatre (£2.9m), Lakeland Arts (£2.9m) and Trinity Community Arts (£2.9m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from charitable activities 74%, donations and legacies 24% and investments 1.8%. Gifts in wills alone brought in £50k. Charitable activities took 87% of spending and raising funds 12%. Reserves of £2.1m would cover about 7 months of spending at that rate. It employed 18 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.