Activities

As described by the charity on the register

Cancer Research UK is dedicated to saving lives through research. Our mission is to prevent, control and cure cancer through our ground-breaking research and in the last 40 years our work has helped double survival rates. But there is more work to be done. The only charity fighting over 200 types of cancer, we rely on every pound donated to help get us closer to beating cancer.

Latest income

£735m

Expenditure

£715m

Financial year end

2025-03-31

Income & spending history

As reported to the Charity Commission, by financial year end

Year end Income Expenditure income spend
2021-03-31 £582m £571m
2022-03-31 £668m £666m
2023-03-31 £719m £641m
2024-03-31 £684m £692m
2025-03-31 £735m £715m

Latest detailed return

Year end 2025-03-31 · consolidated (group) figures

Income mix

Donations & legacies £530m
Charitable activities £59.0m
Trading £135m
Investment income £8.1m
Total income £735m

Spending

Charitable spend £453m
Raising funds £130m
Grants to institutions £307m
Governance £6.4m
Total expenditure £715m

Balance sheet

Reserves £363m
Total funds £363m
— restricted £54.8m
— unrestricted £309m
— endowment £0
Total assets £363m
Cash £24.9m

People

Employees 5,169

Classification

The charity's own register classification

What it does

  • Education/training
  • The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives

Who it helps

  • The General Public/mankind

How it works

  • Makes Grants To Individuals
  • Makes Grants To Organisations
  • Provides Services
  • Provides Advocacy/advice/information
  • Sponsors Or Undertakes Research

Source: Charity Commission for England and Wales register, 2026-07-28. Detailed figures as filed in the charity's annual return. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.