Makers of Playing Cards Charity

Analysis

Makers of Playing Cards Charity is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Bicester. It was registered in June 1964, 62 years ago. Its declared purposes cover education/training, the advancement of health or saving of lives, disability and the prevention or relief of poverty, which this site groups under health and saving lives. Legally it is a charitable trust. It says it makes grants to individuals and makes grants to organisations.

In the financial year ending December 2025, Makers of Playing Cards Charity reported income of £74k and spending of £80k, spending 108% of what it took in. Across the 5 years on record, from April 2022 to December 2025, income fell from £104k to £74k (-29%), an average of -8.3% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to December 2025, when income dropped by 35%. Over the whole period it spent 100% of the income it received.

Among 24,651 England and Wales charities whose main cause is health and saving lives and that reported income, Makers of Playing Cards Charity sits at the 58th percentile: it is larger than about 58% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 66th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include The Blackwood Engineering Trust (£74k), The John Charnley Trust (£74k) and The Ifakara Bakery Project (£73k).