Three of the UK’s biggest charities managed to grow their voluntary income by at least 33 per cent last year, with one, the British Red Cross, increasing donations by 58 per cent.

The Red Cross, Unicef and Save the Children all bucked the general trend of pessimism permeating the sector, recording decent increases in their overall income fuelled largely by voluntary income growth.

In the year ending 31 December 2010, the Red Cross had total income of £204m, up 13 per cent on the previous year, with voluntary income of £97.8m (up 58 per cent).

Unicef had total income of £80.7m, up 23 per cent, with voluntary donations comprising £52.3m, an increase of 41 per cent on 2009.

And Save the Children’s 33 per cent jump in voluntary income to £64.6m contributed to a 31 per cent rise in total income, to a record £291.5m.

Save the Children recruited 32,000 regular donors during the year and achieved an overall result that was £88.8m ahead of target. CEO Justin Forsyth said: “We are delighted to have done so well in a recession.”

British Red Cross chair James Cochrane (pictured) said: “Our individual supporters donated more than ever before, throughout challenging economic times, with income from regular giving increasing by 22 per cent to £34.6m.”

The figures are all taken from the charities’ annual accounts, recently filed with the Charity Commission and analysed by Charity Finance for the Charity 100 Index.  

The good results reflect a generally positive upturn for Charity 100 Index charities this quarter.  Two-thirds of the 18 charities whose financial year ended on 31 December reported income rises of up to 31 per cent, while the remaining third either maintained their income or saw it drop by no more than 11 per cent. 

Subscribers to Charity Finance or civilsociety.co.uk can read more about the charities’ performance here.