The Great Western Trust

Analysis

The Great Western Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Oxfordshire. It was registered in April 1984, 42 years ago. Its declared purposes cover 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 provides human resources, provides buildings/facilities/open space and provides advocacy/advice/information.

In the financial year ending January 2026, The Great Western Trust reported income of £43k and spending of £27k, leaving 37% of income unspent that year. Across the 5 years on record, from January 2022 to January 2026, income grew from £32k to £43k (+34%), an average of +7.5% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to January 2025, when income rose by 981%. Over the whole period it spent 71% 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 Great Western Trust sits at the 66th percentile: it is larger than about 66% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 58th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include The Russian Ballet Society (£43k), Letchworth Arcadians (£43k) and Bfloc (Blackpool and Fylde Light Opera Company) (£43k).