Who funds Welsh charities

Every funder we have found giving money to charities in Wales: how much it has given, and the themes and places it funds.

Looking for funders for your charity? Find funders that have funded charities like yours. See which funders are giving more or less. See where grant money is spent in Wales.

From 2021 to now, 1,193 funders have given at least £1.8 billion to 2,738 charities in Wales. The largest are Welsh Government, Higher Education Funding Council for Wales and The National Lottery Community Fund.

What the money goes to

Money given to charities working on each theme, as charities describe themselves on the register. Many charities list several themes, so these overlap and do not add up to the total.

Money given to Welsh charities by theme, from 2021 to now
Theme	Given	Share of all money given	Charities funded
Education and training	£1.4 billion	74%	969
Arts, culture, heritage and science	£652.5 million	35%	482
Environment, conservation and heritage	£521.6 million	28%	311
General charitable purposes	£425.7 million	23%	719
Economic and community development, and employment	£346.4 million	19%	461
Preventing or relieving poverty	£319 million	17%	402
Health and saving lives	£311.3 million	17%	369
Disability	£239.6 million	13%	486
Accommodation and housing	£194.9 million	11%	89
Other charitable purposes	£140.5 million	8%	197

By kind of funder

Funders of Welsh charities by kind, with money given from 2021 to now
Kind	Funders	Given
Welsh Government	1	£708.5 million
UK government	32	£58.8 million
Council	202	£149.3 million
National Lottery	65	£186.8 million
NHS	81	£104.3 million
Other public body	10	£359.4 million
Trust or foundation	508	£187.3 million
Other	294	£94.3 million

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508 funders match. Select a column heading to sort the table.

Funders of Welsh charities. Select a column heading to sort.
Funder	Kind	Given	Charities funded	Main themes	Latest
The National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux	Trust or foundation	£21,878,797	18	Preventing or relieving povertyEducation and training	31 March 2026
Garfield Weston Foundation	Trust or foundation	£12,268,076	379	Education and trainingGeneral charitable purposes	18 June 2026
Cardiff University	Trust or foundation	£9,334,398	13	Education and trainingAmateur sport	31 December 2025
The Henry Smith Charity	Trust or foundation	£7,050,755	89	Education and trainingPreventing or relieving poverty	17 July 2025
Esmee Fairbairn Foundation	Trust or foundation	£6,956,873	78	Education and trainingEnvironment, conservation and heritage	18 May 2026

Where these figures come from

Given comes from two places. For each charity, we use whichever shows more: what the charity's own accounts say the funder gave it, or what the funder published to 360Giving. We never add the two, because they often record the same grant. Every figure counts money from 2021 to now and is an at-least figure: a funder appears only when a charity's accounts name it or it publishes its grants, and OpenEconomy has not yet read every charity's accounts.
Charities' accounts: read from the accounts they filed with the Charity Commission by Claude, an AI model, in OpenEconomy's accounts reader, up to 2 November 2026. AI can misread a table, so check a charity's accounts before relying on a figure.
360Giving: grants funders published to 360Giving, loaded by OpenEconomy on 5 November 2026. Only some funders publish there.

What the money goes to

Money given to charities working on each theme, as charities describe themselves on the register. Many charities list several themes, so these overlap and do not add up to the total.

Theme

Given

Share of all money given

Charities funded

Education and training

£1.4 billion

74%

969

Arts, culture, heritage and science

£652.5 million

35%

482

Environment, conservation and heritage

£521.6 million

28%

311

General charitable purposes

£425.7 million

23%

719

Economic and community development, and employment

£346.4 million

19%

461

Preventing or relieving poverty

£319 million

17%

402

Health and saving lives

£311.3 million

17%

369

Disability

£239.6 million

13%

486

Accommodation and housing

£194.9 million

11%

Other charitable purposes

£140.5 million

197

By kind of funder

Funders of Welsh charities by kind, with money given from 2021 to now
Kind	Funders	Given
Welsh Government	1	£708.5 million
UK government	32	£58.8 million
Council	202	£149.3 million
National Lottery	65	£186.8 million
NHS	81	£104.3 million
Other public body	10	£359.4 million
Trust or foundation	508	£187.3 million
Other	294	£94.3 million

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