University of Cape Town Trust

Analysis

University of Cape Town Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Surrey. It was registered in March 1990, 36 years ago. Its declared purposes cover education/training and overseas aid/famine relief, which this site groups under overseas aid and international. Legally it is a charitable trust. It says it makes grants to organisations.

In the financial year ending December 2025, University of Cape Town Trust reported income of £1.8m and spending of £1.5m, spending 86% of its income. Across the 5 years on record, from December 2021 to December 2025, income grew from £650k to £1.8m (+172%), an average of +28% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to December 2025, when income rose by 150%. Over the whole period it spent 94% of the income it received.

Among 1,223 England and Wales charities whose main cause is overseas aid and international and that reported income, University of Cape Town Trust 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 96th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include Pratham UK (£1.7m), Educaid Sierra Leone (£2.0m) and Lakshmi-Narayana Trust (£1.7m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from donations and legacies 92%, charitable activities 6.0% and investments 1.5%. Gifts in wills alone brought in £1.1m. Charitable activities took 93% of spending and raising funds 7.3%. Grants to other organisations totalled £1.4m. Reserves of £474k would cover about 4 months of spending at that rate.