Oxfam GB saw income from donations & legacies rise £5.2mn in 2022/23
Melanie May | 20 December 2023 | News
Oxfam GB saw overall revenue for 2022/23 reach £400.6mn, it has reported, with part of that – income from donations and legacies rising £5.2mn on the previous year to reach £143.1mn.
The charity’s income is still below pre-pandemic levels and general reserves fell by £6.5mn in 22/23. The charity also spent over £20 million more on its humanitarian and development programmes than the previous year, with more than £250 million going on its work to tackle poverty and inequality.
Its new annual report also reveals that it supported 9.8 million people in 2022/23, an increase of 1.8 million from the previous year.
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This remains lower than pre-pandemic levels, which Oxfam GB says is a result of its strategic decision to ‘concentrate its effort where it is most needed and can have the most impact’. Supporting local organisations saw it allocate £66 million in grants to almost 450 partners across the world.
Oxfam’s high street shops saw particular growth in sales of women’s clothing thanks to its Secondhand September initiative which won the Charity Retail Association campaign of the year and its third fashion show which opened February’s London Fashion Week.
Its high street shops also saw a rise in book sales. However, increased retail expenditure, driven largely by the steep rise in energy bills, saw net retail income fall to £16 million, £5.5 million less than the previous year.
While income from donations and legacies rose, regular giving fell slightly by £0.5 million to £41.9 million.
Funding from the Disasters Emergency Committee was up by £20 million to £39.1 million, following a number of appeals.
The rise in overall income allowed Oxfam to maintain reserves within the minimum level set by trustees after the charity was forced to draw heavily on its reserves during the COVID pandemic. General reserves for 2022/23 were £38.1 million, a drop from the previous year, when reserves were £44.6 million.
Oxfam CEO Danny Sriskandarajah said:
“Despite the challenge of rising costs, we’ve seen a strong performance across our shops and a rise in overall income. This has enabled us to work with local partners and communities to save or improve millions of lives, while at the same time maintaining the financial resilience of our organisation. It is important that we maintain strong reserves to ensure that Oxfam can weather future financial shocks and that along with our partners can continue to make a positive impact in the years to come.”
A campaigning highlight for Oxfam in 2022/23 was working with the Kenyan climate activist Elizabeth Wathuti to call for world leaders to set up a loss and damage fund. Elizabeth’s call was joined by 141,000 Oxfam supporters and the fund was agreed at COP27.
Oxfam also reports on its work to strengthen its network of safeguarding focal points in all countries where it has a presence as well as supporting partners to implement safeguarding plans and manage allegations. In 2022/23, the annual report says, Oxfam’s Safeguarding Team concluded 41 investigations.
Oxfam recently announced that Halima Begum, currently CEO at ActionAid UK, would take over as CEO from Danny Sriskandarajah next year. Aleema Shivji, Oxfam GB Chief Impact Officer, will be interim Chief Executive until she is in post.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.