Red Balloon Educational Trust

Analysis

Red Balloon Educational Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Cambridge. It was registered in May 2005, 21 years ago. Its declared purposes cover education/training, which this site groups under education and training. Legally it is a charitable company (Companies House number 05385341). It says it provides services, provides advocacy/advice/information and other charitable activities.

In the financial year ending August 2025, Red Balloon Educational Trust reported income of £4.2m and spending of £3.6m, spending 85% of its income. Across the 5 years on record, from August 2021 to August 2025, income grew from £3.5m to £4.2m (+21%), an average of +4.8% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to August 2022, when income dropped by 31%. Over the whole period it spent 92% of the income it received.

Among 21,402 England and Wales charities whose main cause is education and training and that reported income, Red Balloon Educational Trust sits at the 97th percentile: it is larger than about 97% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 98th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include Adoption UK Charity (£4.2m), The Students' Union at Bu Ltd (£4.2m) and The Southover Partnership (£4.1m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from charitable activities 84%, donations and legacies 6.4% and investments 3.3%. Charitable activities took 96% of spending and raising funds 3.1%. Reserves of £2.4m would cover about 8 months of spending at that rate. It employed 94 people.