Royal Free Charity

Registered charity 1165672 · since 2016royalfreecharity.org·London·Updated 31 October 2026

At a glance

£3.4M

Annual giving, year to 31 March 2025

From filed accounts

£273k

Typical grant (median)

4 published grants

Open to applications

Fixed application deadlines · unsolicited applications welcome

Key takeaways

The charity's grants are aimed at its hospitals, NHS colleagues, patients and researchers, so a project that clearly benefits them fits best, and no geographic focus is stated, so location alone should not rule you out.
Most programmes offer up to £10,000 and patient and public involvement and engagement grants up to £500, so a modest, clearly costed request suits it.
Research grants are open only to a lead applicant employed by Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust or the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University College London, or to an applicant with a co-applicant from one of them where a fellowship or grant pays the lead's salary, and resubmissions are excluded unless invited; application development support grants do not fund a research project, and the charity will not provide a grant where charitable money is available in an SPF.
Each round has its own deadline, with the research, application development support and patient and public involvement and engagement rounds open until September, and applicants must use the bespoke form for the round and read its guidance.
Research applications are judged on alignment with the RFL R&D strategy, the importance of the need, research design and methodology, feasibility, patient impact and value for money, but how competitive the rounds are is not stated.

Overview

Royal Free Charity is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number 1165672).

The Royal Free Charity exists to support its hospitals, its NHS colleagues, its patients and its researchers. It invests millions in grant funding each year and manages over 200 unique funds, each set up for a specific purpose. Its giving runs through several programmes, including research grants for proof-of-concept and early-stage studies, application development support grants for staff building research careers, patient and public involvement and engagement grants, and flexible funding for innovative projects that enhance patients' care, comfort and experience.

What they fund

Priority Areas

The Royal Free Charity supports its hospitals, NHS colleagues, patients and researchers. It invests in innovative, early-stage research, including proof-of-concept studies, pilot data for larger applications and new cross-disciplinary collaborations. Research grants can support biomedical research aligned with the hospitals’ clinical priorities. The charity also offers funding for patient and public involvement and engagement, and backs innovative projects that directly enhance patients’ care, comfort and experience. Its wider charitable work is for patients and their families, hospital staff, and researchers in hospitals and partner institutes. The kinds of work it supports include better patient experience, staff welfare, clinical services and medical equipment, alongside locally led research and development.

Themes

Medical research
Patient experience and care
Staff welfare
Medical equipment
Innovation

Geographic Focus

No geographic focus is stated; the annual report shows grants mainly in London.

What they don't fund

Providing a grant if there is charitable money available in an SPF
Research grants only:
- research that is not relevant biomedical research aligned with the Royal Free London’s clinical priorities
- a lead applicant who is not employed by the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust or the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University College London
- a lead applicant whose salary is funded by a fellowship or grant, unless they have a co-applicant employed by the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust or the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University College London
- resubmission of an unsuccessful application, unless specifically invited
Application development support grants only: a research project

How to apply

For research grant rounds, applicants use the bespoke application form for that round; the charity strongly encourages them to read the accompanying guidance before submitting.

Deadlines: Each grant round has a deadline.

Application windows:

Research grants: The research grant round is open until September.
Application development support grants: The application development support grant round is open until September.
Patient and public involvement and engagement grants (PPIE): The PPIE grant round is open until September.

Who can apply:

Research grants: The lead applicant must be employed by one of these organisations: Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust; Faculty of Medical Sciences, University College London. If a fellowship or grant is funding the lead applicant’s salary, the lead applicant must have a co-applicant employed by one of the two organisations above.

Applying again: Research grants: Resubmission of an unsuccessful application is not permitted unless specifically invited.

Application success factors

What the charity says:

Research applications are assessed for alignment with the RFL R&D strategy.
The charity considers the importance of the research need and the quality of the research design and methodology.
It considers feasibility, potential impact for patients and value for money.
Early career researchers are particularly encouraged to apply for patient and public involvement and engagement grants.
People with lived experience review applications and are represented on the research review panel.

Where they fund

Where its grants have gone

London

Similar funders

Funders supporting work similar to Royal Free Charity.

The Marie Celeste Samaritan SocietyRollingGave £338k King's College Hospital CharityInvitation onlyGave £2.7M St. Bartholomew's Hospital Charitable FundRollingGave £930k University Hospitals of Liverpool CharityRollingGave £1.3M J P Moulton Charitable FoundationRollingGave £333k The John King Brain Tumour FoundationNo public processGave £467k Barts CharityFixed deadlinesGave £19.2M Cheltenham and Gloucester Hospitals CharityInvitation onlyGave £1M Proms at St Jude'sNo public processGave £65,000 Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS CharityInvitation only

Grants

4 published grants analysed · median £273k

The largest grants to organisations in this funder’s latest annual report:

Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
£2,838,000year to 31 March 2025
University College London
£315,000year to 31 March 2025
London Borough of Barnet
£230,000year to 31 March 2025
Rani Rawji Studentship Committee
£9,000year to 31 March 2025

Grant examples taken from the funder’s filed accounts.

Five years of accounts

Financial year	Income	Expenditure	Grants paid	Accounts document
year to 31 March 2021	£8,478,000	£14,554,000	£5,996,000	Accounts for year to 31 March 2021
year to 31 March 2022	£25,347,000	£12,163,000	£4,185,000	Accounts for year to 31 March 2022
year to 31 March 2023	£25,090,000	£22,371,000	£2,910,693	Accounts for year to 31 March 2023
year to 31 March 2024	£14,817,151	£15,663,976	£1,182,000	Accounts for year to 31 March 2024
year to 31 March 2025	£9,388,572	£14,571,877	£3,392,000	Accounts for year to 31 March 2025

Income vs grants paid

IncomeGrants paid

Total value each financial year

YE 2021

£6M grants

YE 2022

£4.2M grants

YE 2023

£2.9M grants

YE 2024

£1.2M grants

YE 2025

£3.4M grants

Grants paid stayed within income across the 5 years shown.

Grants paid, year to 31 March 2021; year to 31 March 2022; year to 31 March 2023; year to 31 March 2024: grants to institutions, as reported on the charity register (Part B).
Grants paid, year to 31 March 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.