Castle finances
Keeping the lights on
The fixed overheads of running Hay Castle are between £400,000 and £500,000.
Assisting the Trustees and the Director is a small group of staff who administer the Castle on a day-to-day basis. Aside from that payroll expense, the biggest component of cost relates to the property itself. These costs include lighting, heat, maintenance, IT, communicatons, cleaning etc..
Visitors to the Castle will see a host of activities, including our shop, historic tours and exhibitions. The heritage and learning centre is very busy and from time to time the Castle will facilitate private functions and other events.
All of the above serve to make a financial contribution to the burden of the Castle's fixed overheads and that covers just over 30% of the costs. In addition, the Castle cafe (which is operated and managed independently of the Castle Trust) also makes an important contribution.
Income
In 2023 the Castle adopted a policy of charging for admission. This has been sensitively rolled out with many concessions, in particular to local residents.
The Castle also has a programme of donations from benefactors - Friends, Patrons and Keepers.
However, the completion of the Castle's refurbishment has meant that the Castle can no longer rely on grants and lottery funding. It needs to be self financing and to balance its books.
Funding gap
We estimate that upwards of £100,000 needs to be raised each year from partners and sponsors to enable the Castle to continue and expand its comprehensive programme of activities.
Capital expenses
Amongst other things, planning is underway for the further development of retail units for independent traders in the cobbled area adjacent to the Castle.