Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation awarded over £3m more in grants this financial year, according to recently filed accounts.
The foundation awarded £33m in grants for the financial year ending March 2023, up from £28.8m the previous year.
Direct charitable expenditure also increased by £3.2m to £40.8m for the financial year.
Some £24.2m was spent on its programme to tackle urban health issues, while the remaining £16.2m supported Guy’s, St Thomas’ and Evelina London Children’s hospitals.
The charity recorded maintaining its over £1bn in assets, making it one of the richest charities in England and Wales. It saw a net return of 2.5% on its portfolio for the financial year.
Meanwhile, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation’s total reserves fell. Nonetheless, the charity “remains in a strong financial position in challenging market conditions”, the accounts state.
Staff costs increased by 35%
Total staff costs increased by 35% to £10.7m for the financial year, due to the hiring of more staff to deliver the foundation’s new strategy.
The foundation had an average of 126 monthly employees for the year, an increase in the average headcount of 23.
Other support costs for staff almost doubled, from £3.6m to £6.9m, due to investment in systems and infrastructure to support staff, according to the accounts.
All staff employed before 1 April 2023 were awarded a pay increase of 4.5%, with additional one-off payments of £1,800 or £1,200 for staff whose full-time equivalent salaries were below £50,270 or £100,000.
There were 103 staff members earning between £20,000 to £70,000 for the year.
The highest member of staff earned between £250,001-£260,000 when the previous financial year the highest earner was in the £440,001-£450,000 salary band.
The accounts state that senior leaders and their chief people officer are focusing on improving staff recruitment and team development.
Interim chief executive officer Laurie Lee said in his opening statement that the charity was prioritising “investing in our culture” and its people and embedding its diversity, equity and inclusion strategy throughout the organisation.
Fundraising
The charity received £9.3m from total pledged fundraising efforts, which represented a 33% decrease in new funds secured annually compared with the previous year.
This is because last year’s income included an over £6m pledge for the creation of its Head and Neck Cancer Centre, the accounts state.
Fundraising income from donations and legacies increased from £7.78m to £9.12m for the financial year. However, direct fundraising costs fell slightly from £4.3m to £4.0m.
