The UK’s top 400 grantmakers gave around £2.53bn in 2007/08, despite seeing around £4bn being wiped off the value of their assets for this period, according to new research from the Directory of Social Change (DSC).

The Guide to the Major Trusts found that the top 400 UK trusts slightly increased their charitable giving from £2.3bn in 2005/06 to £2.53bn in 2007/08, despite a collective reduction in income and around £4bn being wiped of the value of assets following the recession.

Tom Traynor, co-author of the guide, said: “The research shows most trusts are maintaining their level of spending, at least in the short term, and would rather dip into their reserves if necessary to support their beneficiaries who are largely small to medium-sized charities.”

He highlighted the Wellcome Trust which accounted for much of the increase in 2007/08. Its grantmaking nearly doubled from £324.7m in 2005/06 to £598.5m in 2007/08.

Collectively, the top 25 trusts increased their giving from around £959 million in the previous edition to £1.23 billion in the new edition.

These figures are from the start of the economic downturn, so the full picture of how the recession has affected grant making from these funders may not be clear for several years.