Norfolk and Norwich Festival Trust

Analysis

Norfolk and Norwich Festival Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Norwich. It was registered in November 2015, 11 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 incorporated organisation (CIO). It says it makes grants to organisations and acts as an umbrella or resource body.

In the financial year ending December 2025, Norfolk and Norwich Festival Trust reported income of £2.0m and spending of £1.9m, spending 92% of its income. Across the 5 years on record, from December 2021 to December 2025, income fell from £2.4m to £2.0m (-15%), an average of -3.9% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to December 2023, when income dropped by 17%. Over the whole period it spent 102% 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, Norfolk and Norwich Festival Trust sits at the 97th percentile: it is larger than about 97% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 96th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include The Factory of Creativity (£2.0m), Stockton Arts Centre (£2.0m) and The Birmingham Botanical and Horticultural Society Limited (£2.0m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from donations and legacies 75%, charitable activities 18% and trading 6.1%. Charitable activities took 87% of spending and raising funds 12%. Reserves of £250k would cover about 2 months of spending at that rate. It employed 20 people.