UNICEF UK has seen its income rise to £147m, an 8% increase on the year before and following successive declines.
Total income at UNICEF UK had fallen year-on-year from its peak of £180m in 2022 to £135m in 2024 but the children’s charity recorded an increase in the year to December 2025.
UNICEF UK said the income increase was largely driven by growth in “new and existing major partnerships”.
The charity’s gifts from major supporters, charitable trusts and foundations increased by over a third to £52.3m.
Despite this, the charity said that wider geopolitical pressures continued to cause problems.
It stated: “2025 continued to be a challenging fundraising environment, with the continuation of high costs of living and political and economic uncertainty impacting our donors and supporters, particularly our corporate partners, where we saw a year-on-year decrease.”
Donations from corporate partnerships to the charity fell to £21m from £22.6m the previous year.
In 2025, the children’s charity’s total expenditure also rose to £146m, with the organisation noting in its accounts that 77p of every £1 donated goes to programmes and advocacy, 22p on fundraising and 1p on governance.
Chair Shatish Dasani wrote in the 2025 accounts: “We have raised more than £442m over the three years since the start of our strategic period in 2023.
“We operate in a challenging environment, but it is important to recognise how far we have come.”
Governance overhaul
UNICEF UK’s board completed a structural governance review last year.
Trustee departures included vice chair Alex Connock, Sean Carney, Richard Hawkes and Matt Ferguson.
Meanwhile, treasurer Heather Francis, Chris Merry, Meryl Bagguley, Sheena Amin and Sophie Pender joined the charity’s board.
All its pay gaps were falling with median gender at -0.6% in favour of women.
Earlier this year, the charity reported its socioeconomic pay gap for the first time and that its gender and ethnicity pay gaps had narrowed.
