The Sharpham Trust

Analysis

The Sharpham Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Totnes. It was registered in November 1982, 44 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 company (Companies House number 01659601). It says it provides buildings/facilities/open space and acts as an umbrella or resource body.

In the financial year ending March 2025, The Sharpham Trust reported income of £2.2m and spending of £2.1m, spending 94% of its income. Across the 5 years on record, from March 2021 to March 2025, income grew from £971k to £2.2m (+126%), an average of +23% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to March 2022, when income rose by 63%. Over the whole period it spent 90% 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 Sharpham 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 Old Meeting House Trust (£2.2m), The Wordsworth Trust (£2.2m) and Marina Theatre Trust (£2.2m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from charitable activities 75%, donations and legacies 16%, investments 6.0% and trading 3.3%. Charitable activities took 97% of spending and raising funds 2.3%. Reserves of £1.2m would cover about 7 months of spending at that rate. It employed 30 people.