News

2025 Annual Impact Report

The Board of Trustees of Elizabeth Gaskell’s House are pleased to share the 2025 Annual Impact Report which can be read in full below.

Highlights

Admissions & Events

• We welcomed 5,921 visitors through the door (up by 16% on 2024)
• We delivered 44 online talks, workshops, discussions, book groups and tours, with over 2,185 participants over the year
• We gave 31 private tours to groups and secondary schools
• We delivered 9 primary school sessions to the House including four sessions for primary schools in the M13 postcode area
• We hosted 19 weddings
• We were awarded the Visit England Hidden Gem Award

Donations

• £78,202 received in donations from individuals, either online or in person at the House (in comparison to £8,928 in 2024)
• £3,485 received via membership of the Friends of Elizabeth Gaskell’s House (in comparison to £2,968 in 2024)

Grants

• £9,900 of funding received from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver 10-Years of Elizabeth Gaskell’s House: The Inaugural Writers Residency. (The full value of the grant was £33,000 – the rest was received in 2024 & 2026)
• £5,197 from Museum Development North to run summer artist/writer workshops for families
• £597 of CPD grants from Museum Development North to cover volunteer and staff training
• £300 from the Oxford Road Corridor for The Cultural Welcome Week
• £13,000 has also been secured from The Pilgrim Trust to cover repair work to the stair carpet and guttering (This grant will be received and used in 2026)

Volunteering & Staffing

• We had a staff team of 3.4 full time equivalents (7 people).
• We have 11 trustees who work on the governance of the House ensuring that it is sustainable, well-run and delivers its charitable outcomes.
• The House has over 40 volunteers who support the organisation in a variety of ways. Volunteers have been actively involved in:

149 open days
31 group tours
19 weddings over 40 shifts
8 school sessions
5 fairs/external events
4 conservation cleaning days
2 collections management sessions
4 trips to other museums
3 volunteer parties
6 peer-to-peer volunteer talks

We thank all our Friends, visitors, supporters and donors for their support during 2025.