Wellcome Trust

Wellcome Trust
Founded1936; 88 years ago (1936)
FounderSir Henry Wellcome
Registration no.210183
FocusBiomedical Research
HeadquartersLondon, NW1
United Kingdom
Location
Coordinates51°31′32.55″N 0°8′6.07″W / 51.5257083°N 0.1350194°W / 51.5257083; -0.1350194
Area served
United Kingdom and overseas
Key people
Disbursements£11 billion (1936–2015)[3]
Endowment£25.9 billion[4]
Employees
2,057[5]
Websitewww.wellcome.org

The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of Burroughs Wellcome, one of the predecessors of GSK plc) to fund research to improve human and animal health. The aim of the Trust is to "support science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone." It had a financial endowment of £29.1 billion in 2020,[4] making it the fourth wealthiest charitable foundation in the world. In 2012, the Wellcome Trust was described by the Financial Times as the United Kingdom's largest provider of non-governmental funding for scientific research, and one of the largest providers in the world.[6] According to their annual report, the Wellcome Trust spent GBP £1.1 billion on charitable activities across their 2019/2020 financial year.[7] According to the OECD, the Wellcome Trust's financing for 2019 development increased by 22% to US$327 million.[8]

  1. ^ "Board of Governors".
  2. ^ Van Noorden, Richard (2013). "Wellcome appoints Dr John-Arne Røttingen as Chief Executive Officer | News". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ "Wellcome Trust aims to increase spend to £5 billion over next 5 years". Archived from the original on 14 May 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Value of Wellcome's investments passes £25 billion". Wellcome Trust. 2018.
  5. ^ "Charity Commission factsheet for the Wellcome Trust". Charity Commission for England and Wales. 17 December 2015.
  6. ^ Jack, Andrew (10 April 2012). "Wellcome challenges science journals". Financial Times. Retrieved 16 April 2012. (registration required)
  7. ^ "Wellcome's 2019/2020 Annual Report | Wellcome". wellcome.org. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  8. ^ "Wellcome Trust | Development Co-operation Profiles – Wellcome Trust | OECD iLibrary".