Charities in England & Wales 2026
171,642 registered charities from the Charity Commission for England and Wales register, updated 2026-07-28 — search the full register, or start with the leaderboards: the biggest charities by income, the biggest spenders, reserves, employers, grantmakers and investment incomes. Scottish and Northern Irish charities are registered separately and not included.
Registered charities
171,642
Reporting income
162,594
Income £5m+
2,945
Also registered companies
31,538
Find a charity
All 171,642 registered charities · England & Wales
Charity leaderboards
Top 5 of each · register snapshot 2026-07-28
- Biggest charities
The largest charities in England & Wales, ranked by gross income on the register.
- 1 NUFFIELD HEALTH £1.45bn
- 2 THE CHARITIES AID FOUNDATION £1.39bn
- 3 SAVE THE CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL £1.10bn
- 4 THE BRITISH COUNCIL £1.01bn
- 5 THE ARTS COUNCIL OF ENGLAND £843m
- Biggest spenders
The charities spending the most each year, ranked by total expenditure.
- 1 WELLCOME TRUST £1.63bn
- 2 NUFFIELD HEALTH £1.49bn
- 3 THE CHARITIES AID FOUNDATION £1.23bn
- 4 SAVE THE CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL £1.18bn
- 5 THE BRITISH COUNCIL £1.05bn
- Biggest reserves
The charities sitting on the largest reserves, from their annual returns.
- 1 WELLCOME TRUST £33.93bn
- 2 THE LEVERHULME TRUST £4.01bn
- 3 THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR PLACES OF HISTORIC INTEREST OR NATURAL BEAUTY £1.64bn
- 4 LIFEARC £1.61bn
- 5 ESMEE FAIRBAIRN FOUNDATION £1.28bn
- Biggest charity employers
The charities employing the most staff, by headcount in their annual returns.
- 1 NUFFIELD HEALTH 19,361
- 2 SAVE THE CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL 16,153
- 3 United Learning LTD 11,294
- 4 THE HALO TRUST 11,216
- 5 THE BRITISH COUNCIL 9,446
- Biggest grantmakers
The charities giving away the most in grants to institutions each year.
- 1 THE CHARITIES AID FOUNDATION £1.14bn
- 2 WELLCOME TRUST £1.04bn
- 3 THE CHILDREN'S INVESTMENT FUND FOUNDATION (UK) £473m
- 4 CANCER RESEARCH UK £307m
- 5 GREAT ORMOND STREET HOSPITAL CHILDREN'S CHARITY £297m
- Biggest investment incomes
The endowed charities earning the most from their investments each year.
- 1 WELLCOME TRUST £477m
- 2 CHURCH COMMISSIONERS FOR ENGLAND £204m
- 3 GARFIELD WESTON FOUNDATION £165m
- 4 THE LEVERHULME TRUST £104m
- 5 THE CHARITIES AID FOUNDATION £100m
Source: Charity Commission for England and Wales register, 2026-07-28. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Income figures are as reported by each charity in its annual return.