Macmillan Cancer Support increased its income last year by nearly £29m to more than £218m, according to its accounts published for the year ending 31 December 2014.

The charity’s annual accounts for 2014, filed last week on Companies House, show that the major increase in income came from a £25.6m increase in voluntary income from the same period the previous year - £10.2m of that coming from fundraising events.

Macmillan’s charitable spending also rose by £30m from the previous year, meaning that the charity spent £221.5m in 2014 and operated at a net loss of £3.1m.

56 employees received a salary of over £60,000 in 2014, up from 43 the previous year. The highest earner at the charity – who is not named in the accounts – earned between £180,001 and £190,000.

The average number of full-time equivalent staff also increased to 1,384, up from 1,228 in 2013. This lead to an increase in salary spending of £7.5m to £57.9m for the year.

Investment income for the charity halved, however, down from £2.4m in 2013 to £1.2m last year.

Lynda Thomas, Macmillan’s former director of fundraising, was promoted to chief executive in March.