Oxfam GB’s annual income is up by £12m, taking it over £400m for the first time, according to its latest annual report and accounts.
The accounts for the year ending 31 March 2015, which were filed today, reveal that the charity’s total income rose to £401.4m.
This was despite a decline of 2.5 per cent in the charity’s shop income, which reduced the charity's income by £2.4m.
Mark Goldring, Oxfam GB’s chief executive, said: “Oxfam has been stretched responding to natural disasters, the terrifying Ebola epidemic and people left vulnerable by conflicts. The amazing generosity of the British public made it possible for us to help over 8 million people during times of disaster last year.
“The earthquake in Nepal and a surge in fighting in Yemen show that this year could be just as challenging. Increasing food prices, the impact of climate change and ongoing conflicts continue to threaten the lives of poor people the world over. Oxfam campaigns for change and works on the ground, putting in place long-term, sustainable solutions to improve opportunities for the world's most vulnerable communities.
“Public support is vital to enable us to continue this work. We are still a long way from being able to respond to all the needs and demands we come across."
Income from Oxfam’s shop network was down slightly by 2.5 percent to £22.9m, which it puts down as a shortage of high-quality donated goods and an unseasonably warm autumn which “ate into sales”, especially of adult clothing.
Andrew Horton, Oxfam’s trading director. said: "The pressure people have felt on their household incomes means people are buying fewer new clothes and other items, which has a knock-on effect on the quantity and quality of donations to our shops. We need people to donate any unwanted clothes, books and home wares to Oxfam.
“Although income from our shops fell slightly despite the great work from our 23,000 volunteers, we’ve reduced our trading costs over the last year so an even greater proportion of the money raised by the sale of donated items goes to support our work saving lives in emergencies and helping people to escape poverty.”
Fundraising income increased by 4 per cent on last year, or £11.9m, bringing it up to £299.9m. However, income from regular giving and legacies declined slightly.
Oxfam’s total charitable expenditure for the year was up by £30m, to £298.4m. Of these, £162.1m was spent on development, £116m was spent on humanitarian aid and £20.3m was spent on campaigning and advocacy.
The charity said it reduced its fundraising and administration costs last year, meaning 84 pence in every pound donated went to emergency, development and campaigning work.
Goldring earned £122,638 in the year ending in March 2015, which included a pension contribution of £12,320. This was up by £1,244 on the year before.
A total of 70 staff earned over £60,000, up from 60 the previous year.
The equivalent full-time number of employees was up by 12, to 865 employees.
The accounts also reveal that the charity supported 8.1 million people across 39 humanitarian disasters over the year, and made 1,191 grants to 775 partner organisations. Around 405,000 people in the UK made a regular donation to Oxfam last year.
