The richest charities in England and Wales are now worth more than £50bn between them, according to a new analysis of Charity Commission data.
Civil Society News and Charity Finance magazine used data on long-term investment assets from the commission register to analyse the country’s wealthiest charities.
The charity sector’s total investment assets are £113.7bn, of which £50.1bn is held by the top ten charities, and £74.2bn by the top 100.
The richest charity in the UK remains the Wellcome Trust, with total assets of £20.6bn. Most are of the largest charities are primarily grant-giving organisations. Exceptions are the Church Commissioners, which funds the work of the Church of England, Trinity College Cambridge and the National Trust, which qualifies due to its extensive property portfolio.
Total spending by these charities was around £2.2bn, of which more than half came from the Wellcome Trust. The trust spent £1.19bn, including £951m on charitable activities.
The wealth of the largest charities is growing rapidly. Total assets have increased by just under £4bn since this time last year.
The top charities are:
- £20.63bn – Wellcome Trust
- £12.72bn – Garfield Weston Foundation
- £6.33bn – Church Commissioners for England
- £2.82bn – Children’s Investment Fund Foundation
- £2.49bn – Leverhulme Trust
- £1.15bn – Trinity College (Cambridge)
- £1.14bn – City Bridge Trust
- £1.01bn - National Trust
- £908m – Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
- £865m – Henry Smith Charity
A longer analysis will appear in the next issue of Charity Finance magazine. Find out more about receiving the magazine here.
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