Save the Children UK (STCUK) has reported a £42.3m decrease in income in its latest accounts, driven by cuts to foreign aid budgets and declines in donations and emergency response funding.
The international development charity’s annual income dropped to £262m in the financial year ending 31 December 2025, down from £304m in 2024.
In the annual report, trustees said that the NGO had “faced significant financial challenges in 2025 from global aid cuts, continued pressure on unrestricted income, and cost inflation”.
However, they added that they had taken “measured action” to address the difficulties and as a result had “finished the year in a sound financial position”.
In 2025, STCUK received £59m in performance-related government grants, down from £81m the year before.
The decline was driven by a £7m drop in UK central government grants and a £12m decrease in money from other administrations.
Trustees attributed this to the impact of US aid budgets on funding from institutional partners including the UN, as well as decreased income from other national governments, including Germany and France.
However, the decline was offset by an increase in grants from multilateral organisations, from £63m in 2024 to £81m in 2025.
Money from the Disasters Emergency Committee declined by £11.6m to £13.1m in 2025.
Meanwhile, legacy income fell by £8m year-on-year to £18m in 2025, although the trustees wrote that the previous year had been “exceptionally high” for gifts in wills.
Income from individuals and communities decreased by £2m to £43m, which trustees attributed to “a continuing decline in regular givers”.
Donations from corporates, major donors and trusts decreased by £3m, which was attributed to lower emergency appeal income than in 2024, as well as the conclusion of several grants.
£2.68m on redundancies
STCUK recorded a £33m drop in expenditure to £275m, leaving the charity with an operating deficit for a second successive year.
It spent £46m less on “rapid-onset emergencies”, which it partly attributed to fewer emergency appeals during the year, while its staff costs rose slightly, which it attributed to cost-of-living pay increases.
The charity also spent £2.68m on redundancies, which came as part of a restructure announced in February last year.
This “one-off cost” was a “necessary response to changing external conditions”, the charity said, predicting that the changes will deliver annualised gross savings of £9m.
STCUK also lowered its premises costs as the charity negotiated a dilapidations cap for its head office building.
