WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF UK

Registered charity 1141613 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The Charity's objects are to relieve the needs of people living in poverty anywhere in the world including in particular, but without limitation, by the provision of bicycles to enable them to access education, employment, healthcare and other essentials of life.

Causes: General Charitable Purposes · The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives · The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Overseas Aid/famine Relief · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£2.2m
Latest spending
£1.9m
Registered
2011
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that unrestricted reserves stood at £415,221, significantly exceeding the stated policy target of £80,000. The charity reported a total income of £2,188,892 and confirmed it is a going concern with no material uncertainties identified by the auditors.

Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £70,001 - £80,000 — above the median for charities its size (£70k)
“1 employee received benefits between £70,000 and £80,000 in the year (2024: none).” — page 38
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Employees paid over £60,000: 1
“1 employee received benefits between £70,000 and £80,000 in the year (2024: none). No employee received benefits between £80,000 and £90,000 (2024: 1). No other employees received benefits of above £60,000 (2024: 1).” — page 38
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Largest income source: Another Star (68% of income)
“Most of the income can be attributed to Another Star, formerly known as citizenM., which extended its support to include Uganda.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves policy: three months of operating costs (£80,000) (held: £415k)
“During 2025, the Board had a policy of holding 3 months of operating costs, which was £80,000.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Affiliate fee charged by parent/subsidiary
“In addition to the above programmes, during the year World Bicycle Relief Africa Funding charged an affiliate fee of £72,250 (2024: £69,013). At 31 December 2025 a balance totalling £181,480 (2024: £nil) was owed from World Bicycle Relief Africa Funding to the charity.” — page 40
“In the year Handspark Charitable Trust, a charity with a common Trustee to the charity, donated £10,000 (2024: £20,000) to the charity.” — page 40
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Donation from related charity
“In addition to the above programmes, during the year World Bicycle Relief Africa Funding charged an affiliate fee of £72,250 (2024: £69,013). At 31 December 2025 a balance totalling £181,480 (2024: £nil) was owed from World Bicycle Relief Africa Funding to the charity.” — page 40
“In the year Handspark Charitable Trust, a charity with a common Trustee to the charity, donated £10,000 (2024: £20,000) to the charity.” — page 40
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Recharge of employee costs to parent
“In addition to the above programmes, during the year World Bicycle Relief Africa Funding charged an affiliate fee of £72,250 (2024: £69,013). At 31 December 2025 a balance totalling £181,480 (2024: £nil) was owed from World Bicycle Relief Africa Funding to the charity.” — page 40
“In the year Handspark Charitable Trust, a charity with a common Trustee to the charity, donated £10,000 (2024: £20,000) to the charity.” — page 40
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Income from parent
“In addition to the above programmes, during the year World Bicycle Relief Africa Funding charged an affiliate fee of £72,250 (2024: £69,013). At 31 December 2025 a balance totalling £181,480 (2024: £nil) was owed from World Bicycle Relief Africa Funding to the charity.” — page 40
“In the year Handspark Charitable Trust, a charity with a common Trustee to the charity, donated £10,000 (2024: £20,000) to the charity.” — page 40
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Saffery LLP. Discloses 6 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Comparing this charity’s FY2024 and FY2025 accounts as analysed by this site.

Corporate structure

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — World Bicycle Relief (matched by registered charity number).

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Listed on the charity’s own website when we last crawled it; roles may have changed. Pay-band disclosures above are anonymous statutory disclosures and are not attributed to any named individual.

Funders the charity credits

Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).

Company officers (Companies House)

Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.

Official officers record.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2025)

Total income
£2.2m
Total spending
£1.9m
Cost of raising funds
£396k
Reserves (reported)
£415k
Employees
4

Reported reserves equal ~2.6 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (100% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 18.1% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Colombia · Ghana · Indonesia · Kenya · Malawi · Mozambique · Philippines · South Africa · Tanzania · Thailand · Uganda · Zambia

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/12/2025£2.2m£1.9m
31/12/2024£2.1m£2.1m
31/12/2023£1.6m£1.7m
31/12/2022£1.2m£1.6m
31/12/2021£860k£729k

Common questions

Is WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF UK financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that unrestricted reserves stood at £415,221, significantly exceeding the stated policy target of £80,000. The charity reported a total income of £2,188,892 and confirmed it is a going concern with no material uncertainties identified by the auditors. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Saffery LLP.

What does the highest-paid employee of WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF UK earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £70,001 - £80,000 band, and 1 employees earned over £60,000.

Who funds WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF UK?

Funders whose own accounts filings name WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF UK as a grant recipient include HANDSPARK CHARITABLE TRUST, THE FORRESTER FAMILY TRUST, ALLAN AND NESTA FERGUSON CHARITABLE SETTLEMENT, THE GIBBS CHARITABLE TRUSTS, THE OAKDALE TRUST.

Shared trustees with funders

Register facts shown side by side: a person serves as trustee of both this charity and a funder whose accounts record grants to it. Shared trusteeship is lawful and common; well-run charities manage it through declared-interest procedures.

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
HANDSPARK CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2025£50k
THE FORRESTER FAMILY TRUSTFY2022£25kTERM FUNDING
THE FORRESTER FAMILY TRUSTFY2024£25kTerm Funding
THE FORRESTER FAMILY TRUSTFY2023£25kTerm Funding
HANDSPARK CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£20k
ALLAN AND NESTA FERGUSON CHARITABLE SETTLEMENTFY2024£10kOverseas education
THE GIBBS CHARITABLE TRUSTSFY2024£3kInternational
THE OAKDALE TRUSTFY2025£2k

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with QHUBEKA UK.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF UK£2.2m£70,001 - £80,0001unclear—no doubt
QHUBEKA UK FY2025£104k—0within—no doubt
STREETBIKES FY2025£197k—0unclear—no doubt
THE BIKE PROJECT FY2025£1.4m——unclear—no doubt
CYCLISTS FIGHTING CANCER FY2025£1.2m—0above—no doubt
MISSIONARIES OF CHARITY OF MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA TRUST FY2024£1.0m—0unclear—no doubt

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.