British Red Cross vs Shelter
British Red Cross grades higher: B+ against B-.
Registered charity #220949
A large, competent emergency-response charity that spent more than it raised last year and asks you to fund overhead as well as outcomes.
Read the full receiptRegistered charity #263710
A credible housing and homelessness charity that mixes frontline advice with heavy campaigning, currently running a deficit and carrying a fundraising load almost as large as its direct service spend.
Read the full receiptThe numbers
Side by side, from the accounts
British Red Cross
Shelter
Dec 2025
Year ended
Mar 2025
£294m
Income
£77m
£305m
Spending
£80m
4,186
Staff
1,226
9,800
Volunteers
2,652
12
Trustees
11
None
Flags raised
1 red, 0 amber
Each column shows the latest year that charity has filed, so the periods can differ. Spend ratios appear only where both charities disclose them at that level of detail. See methodology.