£2.18m From Government: What Refugee Action's Accounts Show
September 26, 2026 · Frisian News
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Charity Commission accounts show Refugee Action received £1.77 million in government contracts and £405,000 in government grants in the year to March 2025, nearly a third of its total income of £6.855 million.
Nearly a third of Refugee Action's income in the year to March 2025 came from government money, according to Charity Commission records. The charity, registered in England since December 1981 and based in London, received £1.77 million from three government contracts and £405,000 from four government grants, out of total income of £6.855 million.
The organisation does not only deliver welfare. Its own Charity Commission entry states that it raises awareness of refugee issues, influences policy, and campaigns for refugee rights. Its website lists active campaigns calling for asylum seekers to be allowed to work under the banner #LiftTheBan, alongside a racial justice programme and a push for not-for-profit asylum housing. In July 2026, Refugee Action published a post addressed to "Britain's next Prime Minister" urging the incoming leader to "listen to people seeking safety." The following month, the Asylum Housing Alliance published an open letter to the Prime Minister that appeared on Refugee Action's site. In September 2026, the charity delivered what it called a "housewarming card" to Andy Burnham in Westminster.
The 2024-25 government total is a sharp drop from the preceding two years. State money that year accounted for just under half the charity's entire revenue.
In 2022-23 the pattern was similar. The government-funded share came to roughly 41 percent of everything the charity raised that year.
Across the five years from 2020-21 to 2024-25, Charity Commission financial records show government contracts and grants combining to a considerable aggregate total. No financial year in that period recorded zero from the state: even in 2020-21, contracts and grants combined exceeded £2 million.
The charity spent more than it earned in 2024-25. Total expenditure reached £8.107 million against income of £6.855 million, leaving a deficit. Of that outgoing, £6.17 million went on charitable activities and £1.94 million on raising funds. Refugee Action employs 95 people and uses 200 volunteers.
The same Charity Commission entry lists a "campaigns and political activity policy" among the charity's formal governance documents. Influencing government policy is part of Refugee Action's stated charitable purpose. Refugee Action receives government contracts and lobbies the same government to change course on asylum.
Published September 26, 2026 · Frisian News