‘Record year for fundraising’ at Great Ormond Street

01 Nov 2018 News

Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity has said it had a “record year for fundraising” after receiving £26.3m from its legacy programme.

The charity had a total income of £103.1m – the first year it has topped £100m – although this was partly down to a change in the way it accounted for legacies, which led to it recognising legacy income sooner, giving it a one-time boost to its income of £8.6m.

However the charity said that even without this boost, its fundraising income would still have been at record levels.

The charity received £93.9m from donations and legacies this year, a £10m increase in individual giving on the previous year.

The charity now has total assets of £342.1m, up from £307.4m last year, although £276.7m is either held in property used by the hospital, or is designated for redevelopment work.

Free reserves were £39.5m, compared to £32.4m.

John Connolly, chair of trustees at GOSH, said in the foreword to the report that the charity had had a successful year.

“We formally launched our new people strategy in April 2017 and saw positive results of our third employee opinion survey in October, with big increases in particular in our employee engagement scores, development opportunities, and respect and recognition,” he said.

“The past year has also seen some challenging times, particularly during the summer when media attention on the hospital was at its peak. Whilst the hospital and charity staff showed commitment and resolve, our communications, digital engagement and supporter services teams in particular faced an extensive period of pressure and we are grateful to them for their professionalism, resilience and dedication throughout this period. 

“Further media attention around the Presidents Club charitable trust event, and the negative media generated in relation to a number of UK based charities operating overseas, has highlighted the level of attention and scrutiny the sector is under. 

“Whilst this no doubt remains a challenging time for the charity sector, we are very fortunate to have passionate and dedicated people, in terms of staff, volunteers and our many amazing donors, who remain committed to doing the very best to help the children, young people and families who rely on Great Ormond Street Hospital.”

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