Mercy Ships

Registered charity 1053055 · since 1996mercyships.org.uk·Africa·Updated 29 October 2026

At a glance

£8M

Annual giving, year to 31 December 2025

From filed accounts

Key takeaways

Mercy Ships names Africa as its priority, and its work centres on surgical care, healthcare training and strengthening health systems, so a project in those areas is the clearest fit.
Its annual report and website publish no application process, so the sensible first step is to use the contact shown on its website to ask whether it accepts requests and what it needs.
No grant range is stated, so do not assume a size; raise the amount in that first conversation.
Its annual giving of £8,025,424 is substantial, but nothing here shows how open it is to unsolicited requests, so approach it with a clear, specific case rather than expecting a standard grant round.

Overview

Mercy Ships is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number 1053055).

Mercy Ships is a registered charity whose purposes include relieving poverty, sickness and distress throughout the world, advancing education and the Christian religion, and other charitable purposes the directors may determine. It uses hospital ships to deliver free healthcare in some of the poorest countries in the world, and works with host nations to improve healthcare systems by training local medical staff and renovating facilities. Its annual giving was £8,025,424 according to its annual report. All grants made for its international programmes go directly to Mercy Ships International or Mercy Ships Global Association.

What they fund

Priority Areas

The foundation directs grants to international programmes supporting the operation of hospital ships, off-ship training, secondee salaries, and crew and volunteers delivering vital free healthcare. Its UK funding is used for surgical interventions on ships and in onshore facilities, alongside extensive training and capacity building that leave lasting benefits in African communities. Mercy Ships works with host nations to provide direct medical care and surgery, train and mentor local health professionals, and improve healthcare infrastructure. Its work serves people facing desperate need in some of the world’s poorest countries, with a particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa.

Themes

Surgical care
Healthcare training
Health-system strengthening

Geographic Focus

Priority: Africa.

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.

Where they fund

Where it says it funds

Africa

Similar funders

Funders supporting work similar to Mercy Ships.

The ELMA Foundation (UK)Invitation onlyGave £5.2M Tara Getty FoundationRollingGave £686k The Gilbert and Eileen Edgar FoundationNo public processGave £60,000 T. & J. Meyer Family FoundationInvitation onlyGave £763k Peter Stebbings Memorial CharityInvitation onlyGave £475k Clive Richards FoundationMixed deadlinesGave £703k Amref Health Africa UKNo public processGave £3.9M The English Region of the Daughters of Mary and JosephNo public processGave £306k Capricorn Africa TrustNo public process Ghana International FoundationRollingGave £29,191

Five years of accounts

Financial year	Income	Expenditure	Grants paid	Accounts document
year to 31 December 2021	£9,343,363	£8,591,076	—	Accounts for year to 31 December 2021
year to 31 December 2022	£9,928,078	£8,759,044	£4,924,576	Accounts for year to 31 December 2022
year to 31 December 2023	£9,761,220	£9,544,911	£5,164,306	Accounts for year to 31 December 2023
year to 31 December 2024	£9,942,863	£10,985,165	—	Accounts for year to 31 December 2024
year to 31 December 2025	£11,228,360	£13,550,040	£8,025,424	Accounts for year to 31 December 2025

Income vs grants paid

IncomeGrants paid

Total value each financial year

YE 2022

£4.9M grants

YE 2023

£5.2M grants

YE 2025

£8M grants

Grants paid stayed within income across the 3 years shown.

Grants paid, year to 31 December 2022; year to 31 December 2023: 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.

— No grants figure for those years.

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.