Income at Age UK edged higher last year despite the charity receiving £10m less through fundraising.
According to its recently filed accounts for the year ending March 2022, the charity’s finances were boosted by an increase in legacy income and its retail chain reopening after Covid-related lockdowns the year before.
Age UK’s income increased to £73.5m from £71.8 in 2020-21, with charity shops bringing in £32.8 compared with £11.4m the year prior.
The accounts state: “This was an unexpectedly good performance, thanks to the committed hard work of our retail staff and recovery from the lockdowns of the pandemic.”
Expenditure was £62.8m compared with £69.3m the year prior, and broadly in line with 2020.
As the charity continued to see the impact of Covid-19 on beneficiaries, the accounts also state that the cost-of-living crisis has been “the greatest concern of all” for older people, such as the scale of the energy crisis.
Nonetheless, Age UK looks to have navigated the impact of the pandemic. The accounts read: “The financial recovery plan we developed in the early days of the pandemic has stood us in good stead and kept us firmly on track.
“We’ve seen strong performance this year from legacies and our retail network and a £17.4m increase in net resources.”
Fundraising down after Covid-19 appeal
In 2021-22, 61% of the charity’s gross income came from fundraising activities and in total raised over £77m.
“Fundraising continues to be Age UK’s most vital and significant source of income, powering all that we do to help older people most in need,” state the accounts.
Nonetheless, fundraising in the previous financial year was “notably higher” at £87m, which the charity says was largely due to the fundraising success of its Covid-19 emergency appeal.
In the year to March 2022 income from legacies totalled £30m, which was up from £23.7m the year prior – this “helped to offset some of the reduction in donations and grants”.
Age UK received 329 complaints about its fundraising, and of those 70% were made about lottery and raffle.
The previous year it received 618 complaints about its fundraising, which the accounts say was mainly driven by an increase in the number of donors as a result of the emergency appeal.
Employee numbers decline
Paul Farmer, the former chief executive of Mind mental health charity, joined Age UK as chief executive in October 2022.
Total redundancy costs for 2021-22 were £716,082 for the group and £227,666 for the charity. In 2020-21 they were around £2.8m and £330,000 respectively.
The average number of employees was 1,481 in 2021-22 down from 1,645 in 2020-21. The highest paid received between £240,000 and £250,000.
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