Church Urban Fund

Analysis

Church Urban Fund is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in London. It was registered in September 1987, 39 years ago. Its declared purposes cover general charitable purposes and the prevention or relief of poverty, which this site groups under poverty relief. Legally it is a charitable company (Companies House number 02138994). It says it provides advocacy/advice/information, sponsors or undertakes research and acts as an umbrella or resource body.

In the financial year ending December 2025, Church Urban Fund reported income of £3.0m and spending of £3.8m, spending 125% of what it took in. Across the 5 years on record, from December 2021 to December 2025, income fell from £5.1m to £3.0m (-41%), an average of -12% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to December 2025, when income dropped by 20%. Over the whole period it spent 100% of the income it received.

Among 15,276 England and Wales charities whose main cause is poverty relief and that reported income, Church Urban Fund 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 97th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include Creative Folkestone (£3.0m), B E Perl Charitable Trust (£3.0m) and Fundacao Focus Assistencia Humanitaria Europa (£3.0m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from charitable activities 65%, donations and legacies 25% and investments 3.4%. Gifts in wills alone brought in £242k. Charitable activities took 79% of spending and raising funds 11%. Grants to other organisations totalled £883k. Reserves of £3.4m would cover about 10 months of spending at that rate. It employed 36 people.