ActionAid UK
At a glance
Key takeaways
- Most of its grants are large: in the annual report, about 8 in 10 of the 42 grants to organisations fall between £78,000 – £1,250,000, with a median of about £405,000, so a small charity should expect a request of that scale to fit better than a modest one, although that band is typical rather than a ceiling.
- The funder publishes no application process, so the contact shown in the annual report, its register entry or its website is the sensible first step.
- Its stated focus covers poverty, inequality and injustice, including climate justice, women's economic justice, gender-based violence and humanitarian response, and TRANSFORM partners with registered and non-registered groups and prioritises women-led organisations representing marginalised communities, including Dalit, queer and Indigenous women.
- Much of its giving goes through ActionAid International and its Federation, and it selects charities itself, so an approach that explains how your work links to those themes or partners is likely to be more useful than a generic request.
Overview
ActionAid UK is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number 274467).
ActionAid UK is a registered charity whose stated mission is to achieve social justice, gender equality and poverty eradication by working alongside communities, women's rights organisations, activists, social movements, funding partners and supporters. Its annual giving was £29,315,000 in its latest annual report. Its programmes include TRANSFORM, which backs feminist movements and organisations through the Building Power Fund and the Rapid Response Fund, and the Emergencies Action Fund, which exists to ensure the charity is ready to respond in emergencies. It also grants funds to ActionAid International for wider disbursement to the Federation's country programmes and their partners, and grants directly to other Federation members.
What they fund
Priority Areas
ActionAid directs grants chiefly through ActionAid International to Federation country programmes and partners, and bilaterally to other Federation members; it also grants to carefully selected charities when that is the most effective means of delivery. Its charitable work tackles poverty, inequality and injustice, enabling people living in poverty to hold governments and companies to account on climate justice, women’s economic justice, fair public services, humanitarian response, peace and security, and ending gender-based violence. Through TRANSFORM it supports feminist movements and women’s rights organisations, particularly those most affected by injustice, including racialised, queer, disabled and Indigenous women. Its approach is rooted in local leadership and trust: it provides flexible, long-term core funding for organisations to allocate themselves, alongside support such as mentoring, digital security, legal assistance and networking.
Themes
- Women's and girls' rights
- Climate justice
- Women's economic justice
- Fair public services
- Humanitarian response
- Peace and security
- Gender-based violence
Geographic Focus
The world.
How to apply
No application process is published in the charity's annual report, its register entry or its website. The contact shown is for getting in touch.
Who can apply:
- TRANSFORM: TRANSFORM partners with both registered and non-registered groups.
Application success factors
What the charity says:
- TRANSFORM prioritises women-led organisations representing marginalised communities, including Dalit, queer and Indigenous women.
Where they fund
Where it says it funds
- International
Similar funders
Funders supporting work similar to ActionAid UK.
Grants
How much do they typically give?
Share of 42 grants in year to 31 December 2025 by size
Median £418k (year to 31 December 2025)
The largest grants to organisations in this funder’s latest annual report:
- ActionAid International (cash grants)£7,001,000year to 31 December 2025
- ActionAid International - projects involving more than one country£2,046,000year to 31 December 2025
- Afghanistan£1,588,000year to 31 December 2025
- Somaliland£1,454,000year to 31 December 2025
- Democratic Republic of Congo£1,216,000year to 31 December 2025
- Contract payments to Country programmes (ALM-FGM)£991,000year to 31 December 2025
- Palestine£925,000year to 31 December 2025
- Kenya£870,000year to 31 December 2025
Grant examples taken from the funder’s filed accounts. Not included above: 2 with no named recipient; 1 line covering other, unnamed recipients (£1,000); 1 with no amount stated.
Five years of accounts
| Financial year | Income | Expenditure | Grants paid | Accounts document |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| year to 31 December 2021 | £49,553,788 | £47,575,818 | £28,444,189 | Accounts for year to 31 December 2021 |
| year to 31 December 2022 | £59,635,375 | £58,063,490 | £38,253,859 | Accounts for year to 31 December 2022 |
| year to 31 December 2023 | £53,297,357 | £54,666,101 | £36,317,862 | Accounts for year to 31 December 2023 |
| year to 31 December 2024 | £46,083,300 | £48,747,290 | £29,429,730 | Accounts for year to 31 December 2024 |
| year to 31 December 2025 | £47,630,000 | £48,289,000 | £29,315,000 | Accounts for year to 31 December 2025 |
Income vs grants paid
IncomeGrants paid
Total value each financial year
Grants paid stayed within income across the 5 years shown.
- Grants paid, year to 31 December 2021; year to 31 December 2022; year to 31 December 2023; year to 31 December 2024: grants to institutions, as reported on the charity register (Part B).
- Grants paid, year to 31 December 2025: the accounts do not say whether this is grants awarded or paid.
Figures from the charity’s filed accounts and its register entry. The document icon links to the charity’s entry on the Charity Commission register, where its filed accounts can be found.
Sources
Registers and filings
Other sources
- actionaid.org.uk
- actionaid.org.uk/about-us/transform · read on 23 October 2026
- actionaid.org.uk/take-action/philanthropy-and-partnerships · read on 23 October 2026
- actionaid.org.uk/get-involved/trusts-foundations · read on 23 October 2026
- Annual report (year to 31 December 2025)
This profile draws on the funder’s own website as well as its filed accounts.
Sources last checked on 23 October 2026.
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At a glance
Applying to ActionAid UK?
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Applying to ActionAid UK?
Hinchilla drafts your answers around this funder's priorities, using your organisation's own documents.
No credit card required