Sainsbury Research Unit for the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas

Analysis

Sainsbury Research Unit for the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in London. It was registered in February 1987, 39 years ago. Its declared purposes cover education/training and arts/culture/heritage/science, which this site groups under arts, culture, heritage and science. Legally it is a charitable trust. It says it makes grants to organisations.

In the financial year ending July 2025, Sainsbury Research Unit for the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas reported income of £372k and spending of £412k, spending 111% of what it took in. Across the 5 years on record, from July 2021 to July 2025, income grew from £302k to £372k (+23%), an average of +5.4% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to July 2022, when income rose by 18%. Over the whole period it spent 109% of the income it received.

Among 17,634 England and Wales charities whose main cause is arts, culture, heritage and science and that reported income, Sainsbury Research Unit for the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas sits at the 90th percentile: it is larger than about 90% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 87th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include The James & Shirley Sherwood Foundation (£372k), Heads Together Productions Limited (£372k) and The Museum of Music History (£372k).

Data notes from the register: Spending has exceeded income in each of the last three reported years, so the charity has been drawing on reserves or other funds.