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EnglishWhat is the Register of Charities website?
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The Register of Charities (register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk) is the public, searchable record of charities registered in England and Wales, run by the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Use it when you want to check whether an organisation is a registered charity and to see its stated purposes, trustees, and financial information, plus any enforcement action the Commission has taken against it. It covers registered charities in England and Wales only, so it is not a register of charities based in Scotland or Northern Ireland, and it does not list unregistered organisations.
What you can find on the register
For each registered charity, the register is designed to show:
- What the charity does – its purposes and activities.
- Trustees – who is responsible for running it.
- Finance information – such as income and expenditure.
- Regulatory action – any actions the Charity Commission has taken against the charity.
This makes the register useful for donors, volunteers, journalists, researchers, and anyone verifying an organisation before giving money or time.
Ways to search
The site offers more than one route into the data, depending on what you already know:
| Search route | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Search the register of charities | You have a charity name or want general information on a specific charity |
| Register of merged charities | You want charities that have notified the Commission they merged or transferred their assets to another charity |
| Search by constituency | You want charities linked to a parliamentary constituency, local authority area, or the postcode of a named contact |
| Advanced search | You want major national charities, international charities, or those providing key services |
The constituency search works by matching the postcode, parliamentary constituency, or local authority area of a charity's named contact. The Commission notes that many charities operate in small local areas and their contact often lives in or near that area, so this search can help surface small local charities. It also warns that this method will not identify all charities operating in your area — for national, international, or key-service charities, use the main advanced search page instead.
Datasets and bulk data
If you need information on all charities rather than one at a time, the register provides downloadable data:
- View the dataset – download all publicly available data on the Register of Charities. You can export up to 10,000 records.
- Top 10 list – view the top 10 charities by income, expenditure, or other criteria.
- Sector data – a graphical representation of data about the charity sector.
These are aimed at researchers or anyone wanting to analyse the register as a whole.
API access
The Charity Commission for England and Wales API lets you retrieve information about charities programmatically. According to the site, the data returned is live and real-time, and is described as simple to use and understand. It is offered as a Beta API service, so treat it as a developing product rather than a fully settled one.
Practical points before you rely on it
- Jurisdiction: England and Wales only.
- Export limit: up to 10,000 records when exporting.
- Constituency search is partial: it is a discovery aid, not a complete local charity list.
- Some services require login: the site includes a "Log in to online services" option, so not every function is necessarily available without an account.
- Licensing: all content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated, with Crown copyright.