The Underwood Trust

Analysis

The Underwood Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in London. It was registered in August 1973, 53 years ago. Its declared purposes cover general charitable purposes, which this site groups under grant-making and general purposes. Legally it is a charitable trust. It says it makes grants to organisations.

In the financial year ending April 2026, The Underwood Trust reported income of £12.4m and spending of £945k, leaving 92% of income unspent that year. Across the 5 years on record, from April 2022 to April 2026, income fell from £17.7m to £12.4m (-30%), an average of -8.4% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to April 2026, when income rose by 791%. Over the whole period it spent 18% 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 Underwood Trust sits at the 100th percentile: it is one of the largest 1% in its cause. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 99th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include KKL Charity Accounts (£11.8m), The Big Give Trust (£13.3m) and The Launan Charitable Trust (£10.9m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from investments 100%. Charitable activities took 99% of spending and raising funds 0.2%. Grants to other organisations totalled £920k.