The Manifold Charitable Trust

Analysis

The Manifold Charitable Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Esher. It was registered in September 1963, 63 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 trust. It says it makes grants to organisations.

In the financial year ending December 2025, The Manifold Charitable Trust reported income of £735k and spending of £364k, leaving 51% of income unspent that year. Across the 5 years on record, from December 2021 to December 2025, income grew from £640k to £735k (+15%), an average of +3.5% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to December 2024, when income rose by 23%. Over the whole period it spent 61% 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 Manifold Charitable Trust sits at the 94th percentile: it is larger than about 94% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 92nd percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include The Leeds Library (£735k), The Learned Society of Wales (£736k) and Royal Institute of Navigation (£734k).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from investments 95% and donations and legacies 5.4%. Gifts in wills alone brought in £40k. Charitable activities took 94% of spending and raising funds 1.3%. Grants to other organisations totalled £342k. Reserves of £15.0m would cover about 475 months of spending at that rate. It employed 1 people.