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Annual Report 2024-25

Barts Charity is an endowment-backed medical charity dedicated to improving health in East London through funding innovative research and transformational healthcare. With a £506m investment portfolio and a five-year strategy backed by over £150m in planned grants, in 2024-25 it awarded £21.7m across Barts Health NHS Trust, Queen Mary University of London and City St George's. Key investments include a £4.63m tuberculosis centre with global research potential, a new rectal cancer treatment service, and studies into air pollution's impact on children's lung health.

Report snapshot
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About

Grant-making across three funding schemes: Research Project Grants (up to 36 months), Research Seed Grants (early-stage), and Healthcare Small Grants; partners: Barts Health NHS Trust (£5.0m), Queen Mary University of London Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry (£16.6m), City St George's University of London (£0.1m); endowment management; fundraising and communications; Clinical Research Facility development at The Royal London Hospital Custom geography from upload: East London / National / Global

Key Metrics

Key Metric 1 £21.7m granted to healthcare and research projects in 2024-25; investment portfolio valued at £506m at year end; endowment-backed five-year strategy (2022-2027) commits over £150m in planned investment
Key Metric 2 £4.63m awarded to establish a new centre tackling high rates of tuberculosis in East London — with potential global impact on TB diagnosis and treatment; £0.65m to introduce contact x-ray brachytherapy for rectal cancer at Barts Health (treating tumours without surgery)
Key Metric 3 £0.65m to establish a nurse-led alcohol and drug liaison service at Newham Hospital; £0.4m to study impact of air pollution in London school playgrounds on children's lung function and asthma risk; £3.6m of permanent endowment released for Fellowship programme

Key Outcomes

  • Funding split across research and healthcare delivery at five NHS hospitals in East London; Clinical Research Facility at The Royal London Hospital progressing — building start aimed for second half of 2025; refreshed Intellectual Property policy launched
  • Major gift fundraising pivoted following Breast Cancer Centre feasibility challenges; however feasibility work funded by Barts Charity helped clarify cost and risk profile for Barts Health and accelerated service improvements
  • Externally-led recruitment review completed to improve inclusivity and objectivity; first external staff engagement survey delivered with high engagement scores; benefits review led to increased annual leave and employer pension contributions

Geography

Other

Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
Total income £18,180,000 and total expenditure £18,560,000 (year ended 31 December 2024, charity no. 1084958 England/Wales and SC039654 Scotland); in 2024 spent £3.8m on...
Key Metric 2
700+ members supported through in-person visits and support calls in 2025; 697 support grants allocated in 2025 for essential items including specialist clothing, cooling...
Key Metric 3
Largest global investment in EB research to date: multi-million-pound drug repurposing trial provisionally agreed with LifeArc partner at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation...
£34,000 raised in 2025 winter appeal supporting families like Darcie's with specialist items, emotional support and research; 697 support grants delivered in 2025; first Members Connect event in Northern Ireland; EB Priorities Setting Partnership study completed providing global research roadmap
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
22,507 households helped through RBL casework and specialist support services across 66 countries
Key Metric 2
22,600 grants given to those in need, totalling £11.8 million
Key Metric 3
733 beneficiaries represented at tribunals, resulting in £24.5 million in War Pensions awards
1,548 new families living with dementia supported by RBL Admiral Nurses service
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
3,600 blind veterans received support across the UK; 447 new blind veterans started receiving support in 2024/25
Key Metric 2
1,598 referrals to rehabilitation services completed; 313 veterans received assistive technology training
Key Metric 3
997 volunteers donated 26,824 hours of support; befriending service awarded Quality in Befriending Excellence — one of only 11 organisations in the UK to...
1,831 National Creative Wellbeing Project packs issued to help veterans reconnect with creativity and independence
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
349,000+ people completed the Know Your Risk tool to assess their risk of type 2 diabetes in 2024
Key Metric 2
£4 million invested in 17 new research projects; total active grants portfolio worth over £45 million
Key Metric 3
32% of people completing NHS England's Path to Remission programme — which Diabetes UK campaigned for — put their type 2 diabetes into remission
Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge invested over £23 million in 19 projects across 161 experts from 47 institutions in 8 countries since 2022