The McLain Foundation Limited

Analysis

The McLain Foundation Limited is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in London. It was registered in January 2011, 15 years ago. Its declared purposes cover general charitable purposes, which this site groups under grant-making and general purposes. Legally it is a charitable company (Companies House number 07463093). It says it makes grants to organisations.

In the financial year ending December 2025, The McLain Foundation Limited reported income of £2.5m and spending of £1.0m, leaving 59% of income unspent that year. Across the 5 years on record, from December 2021 to December 2025, income fell from £5.8m to £2.5m (-57%), an average of -19% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to December 2024, when income rose by 137%. Over the whole period it spent 40% of the income it received.

Among 5,976 England and Wales charities whose main cause is grant-making and general purposes and that reported income, The McLain Foundation Limited sits at the 98th percentile: it is larger than about 98% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 97th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include The Katherine Martin Charitable Trust (£2.5m), Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services (£2.6m) and The Cyril Taylor Charitable Foundation (£2.5m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from donations and legacies 87% and investments 13%. Charitable activities took 94% of spending and raising funds 5.2%. Grants to other organisations totalled £904k. Reserves of £27.8m would cover about 317 months of spending at that rate.