The Manchester Guardian Society Charitable Trust

Analysis

The Manchester Guardian Society Charitable Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Bolton. It was registered in July 1984, 42 years ago. Its declared purposes cover general charitable purposes, which this site groups under grant-making and general purposes. Legally it is a charitable trust. It says it makes grants to organisations.

In the financial year ending March 2025, The Manchester Guardian Society Charitable Trust reported income of £142k and spending of £190k, spending 134% of what it took in. Across the 5 years on record, from April 2021 to March 2025, income grew from £88k to £142k (+62%), an average of +13% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to March 2024, when income rose by 64%. Over the whole period it spent 188% of the income it received.

Among 5,976 England and Wales charities whose main cause is grant-making and general purposes and that reported income, The Manchester Guardian Society Charitable Trust sits at the 83rd percentile: it is larger than about 83% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 76th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include The Cyril Flint Volunteer Charity (£141k), Manchester Diocesan Church of England Council for Social Aid (£142k) and Newhaven and Peacehaven U3a (£141k).

Data notes from the register: Spending has exceeded income in each of the last three reported years, so the charity has been drawing on reserves or other funds.