The Marcela Trust

Analysis

The Marcela Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Colchester. It was registered in January 2009, 17 years ago. Its declared purposes cover general charitable purposes, which this site groups under children and youth development. Legally it is a charitable trust. It says it makes grants to organisations and sponsors or undertakes research.

In the financial year ending July 2025, The Marcela Trust reported income of £8.3m and spending of £6.1m, leaving 27% of income unspent that year. Across the 5 years on record, from July 2021 to July 2025, income grew from £4.5m to £8.3m (+83%), an average of +16% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to July 2022, when income rose by 53%. Over the whole period it spent 79% of the income it received.

Among 5,641 England and Wales charities whose main cause is children and youth development and that reported income, The Marcela Trust sits at the 100th percentile: it is one of the largest 1% in its cause. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 99th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include The Christopher Laing Foundation (£8.1m), HG Foundation (£8.8m) and Localgiving Foundation (£8.0m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from trading 96% and investments 3.8%. Charitable activities took 6.7% of spending and raising funds 93%. Reserves of £5.7m would cover about 11 months of spending at that rate. It employed 98 people.