About us

Who we are

Barts and The London Charity is the independent registered charity for the three world-renowned hospitals of Barts and The London NHS Trust – Barts in The City (Britain’s oldest hospital – founded 1123), The Royal London in Whitechapel (founded 1740) and The London Chest in Bethnal Green (founded 1848).

As well as the hospitals themselves, we work closely with their medical, dental and nursing schools – Barts and The London, Queen Mary’s School of Medicine and Dentistry and St Bartholomew School of Nursing and Midwifery at City University.

We also assist Tower Hamlets Primary Care Trust (including Mile End Hospital), Newham Primary Care Trust, City and Hackney Primary Care Trust and East London and The City Mental Health Trust (including St Clement’s Hospital) with the management of their charitable funds.

Why we are here

The main purpose of The Charity is to award grants to help the beneficiaries achieve excellence in health care. We aim to support a world-class infrastructure and outstanding clinicians with state-of-the-art equipment, to improve lives of patients, staff and local communities, and to push back the medical frontiers through innovative research projects.

The funding of health care always struggles to keep pace with the need. Over the centuries, hospital patients and other generous donors have helped to bridge the gap. Their donations are the legacy we inherit today – more than £200 million of net assets generating an annual income of £10–15 million, which makes us the second largest NHS-related charity in the country.

As Trustees, we are responsible for investing these assets to gain the highest possible return – commensurate with a prudent level of risk – in order to provide maximum support to our related beneficiaries. Although funds can be invested for long periods, we still rely on the generosity of donors via contributions or legacies.