IRONBRIDGE GORGE MUSEUM TRUST LIMITED

Registered charity 503717 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The principal activities of the Trust are the preservation of historic properties and the development and management, as an educational charity, of Museums relating to the industrial, social and economic history of the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site and related areas, with particular reference to the Industrial Revolution.

Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Environment/conservation/heritage · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£9.2m
Latest spending
£9.6m
Registered
1968
Accounts read
FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that the Trust reported an unrestricted surplus of £1,257,992 for the year, though this included transfers from restricted and endowment funds to repay borrowing. Per the trustees' report, free reserves were in deficit by £1,198,900, and the Trust is heavily reliant on visitor income which has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. The Trustees are in advanced discussions to transfer the Trust's operations to a large heritage charity, which has led to a material uncertainty regarding going concern.

Automated summary of the FY2024 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: 6 months of core expenditure or £3m (held: £-1.2m)
“Trustees feel that reserves equivalent to 6 months of core expenditure or £3m is desirable.” — page 15
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Going concern: material uncertainty disclosed
“These events indicate that a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the Trust's ability to continue as a Going Concern.” — page 23
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by WR Partners. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Comparing this charity’s FY2023 and FY2024 accounts as analysed by this site.

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust (matched by registered charity number).

Property (HM Land Registry)

5 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (5 freehold). All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2024)

Total income
£9.2m
Total spending
£9.6m
Cost of raising funds
£2.0m
Reserves (reported)
£3.2m
Employees
247

Reported reserves equal ~4.0 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (32% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 21.4% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 5.2%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Trustees · trustee networks

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Shropshire · Telford & Wrekin

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/12/2024£9.2m£9.6m
31/12/2023£13.4m£9.3m
31/12/2022£10.1m£13.5m
31/12/2021£8.9m£7.7m
31/12/2020£7.3m£6.5m

Common questions

Is IRONBRIDGE GORGE MUSEUM TRUST LIMITED financially healthy?

Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that the Trust reported an unrestricted surplus of £1,257,992 for the year, though this included transfers from restricted and endowment funds to repay borrowing. Per the trustees' report, free reserves were in deficit by £1,198,900, and the Trust is heavily reliant on visitor income which has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. The Trustees are in advanced discussions to transfer the Trust's operations to a large heritage charity, which has led to a material uncertainty regarding going concern. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by WR Partners.

Who funds IRONBRIDGE GORGE MUSEUM TRUST LIMITED?

Funders whose own accounts filings name IRONBRIDGE GORGE MUSEUM TRUST LIMITED as a grant recipient include THE HEADLEY TRUST, THE EDWARD CADBURY CHARITABLE TRUST, THE SACKLER TRUST, THE KIRBY LAING FOUNDATION, THE GEORGE CADBURY TRUST (EDWARD CADBURY SECTION).

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
THE HEADLEY TRUSTFY2025£59kTowards the cost of two Learning Officers and educational materials at Blists Hill Victorian Town.
THE EDWARD CADBURY CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£50kConservation and Environment
THE SACKLER TRUSTFY2024£50k
THE KIRBY LAING FOUNDATIONFY2021£10k
THE GEORGE CADBURY TRUST (EDWARD CADBURY SECTION)FY2023£10kDonations
CHARITY OF CHARLES CLEMENT WALKER (COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE WALKER TRUST)FY2022£8kEducation/Cultural
CHARITY OF CHARLES CLEMENT WALKER (COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE WALKER TRUST)FY2023£8kGrand Piano purchase
CHARITY OF CHARLES CLEMENT WALKER (COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE WALKER TRUST)FY2024£8kSchools & Other Organisations
THE GEORGE CADBURY TRUST (EDWARD CADBURY SECTION)FY2025£7kDonations
THE TOBACCO PIPE MAKERS AND TOBACCO TRADE BENEVOLENT FUNDFY2025£6kheritage
THE ASHWORTH CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2026£6k
THE ASHWORTH CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2024£6k
THE ASHWORTH CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2025£6kOther
THE BRITFORD BRIDGE TRUSTFY2025£5kSecondary
THE SIMON GIBSON CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£5k
LANGDALE TRUSTFY2022£4k
THE GEORGE CADBURY TRUST (EDWARD CADBURY SECTION)FY2022£4kDonations
THE GEORGE CADBURY TRUST (EDWARD CADBURY SECTION)FY2024£4kDonations
THE W E DUNN TRUSTFY2025£2k
The Patricia Routledge FoundationFY2022£1k
LANGDALE TRUSTFY2024£1k
THE ASTOR FOUNDATIONFY2022£1kEducation
THE W E DUNN TRUSTFY2024£1k
THE W E DUNN TRUSTFY2022£1kArts, culture and buildings
The Patricia Routledge FoundationFY2025£1k

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

FunderDateAmountPurpose
UK government01/04/2024£3kReviewing Collection of Nationally Designated Industrial Sites Preserved
UK government01/04/2024£30kNational Capacity Building: Industrial Heritage Support Officer (IHSO)
UK government01/04/2024£2kEveryday Heritage - Celebrating the workers of the Ironbridge Gorge
The National Lottery Heritage Fund27/04/2023£678k"IGMT Building Resilience"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund15/12/2022£250k"Maintaining Ironbridge"
UK government14/03/2022£33kALB-Historic England-Industrial Heritage Support Officer (IHSO)
UK government09/02/2022£1.1mMuseum Estate and Development fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund24/03/2020£100k"Recovering from Ironbridge Flooding"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund22/11/2019£100k"Reinvigorating Ironbridge Gorge Museums"
UK government01/04/2019£736kIronbridge Gorge Museum Trust
UK government01/04/2019£308kWest Midlands Museum Development
UK government01/04/2018£77kWest Midlands Museum Development
UK government01/04/2018£736kIronbridge Gorge Museum Trust
UK government01/04/2018£55kALB-HistoricEngland-Industrial Heritage Support Officer (IHSO)
UK government01/04/2018£184kIronbridge Gorge Museum Trust
UK government01/04/2018£308kWest Midlands Museum Development
UK government08/06/2017£313kNational Portfolio Organisations
UK government08/06/2017£750kNational Portfolio Organisations
The National Lottery Heritage Fund20/03/2017£1.1m"Conserving the Coalbrookdale Landscape"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund22/05/2009£50k"Coalbrookdale 2009 - Lifelong Learning Programme"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund21/06/2005£328k"The Coalbrookdale Literary & Scientific Institute"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund23/03/2004£2.0m"Jackfield Tile Museum & Factory - Phase III"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund17/03/1999£2.0m"Jackfield Tile Museum & Factory"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund17/03/1999£4.0m"Coalbrookdale Project"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund07/05/1997£31k"Coalbrookdale Project: Development Study"

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with SEVERN GORGE COUNTRYSIDE TRUST.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
IRONBRIDGE GORGE MUSEUM TRUST LIMITED£9.2m——unclear—material uncertainty
SEVERN GORGE COUNTRYSIDE TRUST FY2025£412k—0unclear—no doubt
BRYMBO HERITAGE TRUST FY2024£1.5m—0below—no doubt
BRAINTREE DISTRICT MUSEUM TRUST FY2025£451k—0above—no doubt
SS GREAT BRITAIN TRUST FY2025£5.1m£90,001 - £100,0002below—no doubt
THE BLACK COUNTRY LIVING MUSEUM TRUST FY2025£10.8m£110,001 - £120,000—unclear—no doubt

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.