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Donate
Vol. I · § The maths only works because…
The maths only works
because people give.
Every pound you donate is loaned, repaid, and loaned again — so across its lifetime each pound supports an average of three households. Donations also fund the non-repayable grants (up to £10,000) we award to people in deepest hardship.
§ I · Suggested amounts
What your donation does —
in plain terms.
These are illustrative figures based on what each amount has, historically, been used for. Of course you can give any amount — every donation enters the same fund.
£10
per month
A regular hand
Sustains our smallest lending fund. Over a year your donation supports two to three short-term loans.
Give £10Most chosen
£25
per month
A winter top-up
Covers an elderly applicant's heating shortfall for a cold January, or a child's school uniform for the year.
Give £25£50
per month
A bridge
Bridges a rent shortfall to prevent an eviction, or contributes to a kinship carer's start-up grant.
Give £50£500
one-off
A founding pledge
Funds a household's emergency loan in full — typically a boiler, a funeral cost or an unexpected travel expense.
Give £500
§ II · Gift Aid
Add 25%
at no cost to you.
If you are a UK taxpayer and tick the Gift Aid box, HMRC adds 25p for every £1 you donate — at no extra cost to you. Last year, Gift Aid contributed an extra £68,000 to our lending fund. It is one of the simplest, highest-impact things you can do.
- · You must be a UK taxpayer (Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax)
- · You must have paid as much tax in this year as we will reclaim on your donations
- · You can give your declaration verbally, on paper, or in our online form
- · One declaration covers all your past, current and future donations to us
If your circumstances change and you stop paying enough tax, let us know — we will stop claiming Gift Aid immediately. Plain English from us, plain English from you.
§ III · How to give
A real conversation,
not a checkout.
We have deliberately not built a card-payment form on this site. Every donor speaks to a named member of the development team — by phone or email — before the first gift. We will send you our bank details, set up a standing order if you'd like one, and answer any questions about Gift Aid or restricted funds.
Most calls last 4–8 minutes. It is the first and only step.
01 — Phone
0808 168 8540
Mon–Fri, 10am–4pm. Free from UK landlines and mobiles.
02 — Email
contact@unity-relief.org
Tell us what you'd like to give and how often — we'll reply with bank details and a Gift Aid declaration, normally inside one working day.
03 — Post
Cheques payable to Unity Relief UK, sent to:
4th Floor, 25 Greville Street, Holborn,
London EC1N 8SQ
We acknowledge every postal donation in writing — signed by hand, never by an automated letter.
§ IV · Other ways to give
Six ways.
All of them count.
01
Bank transfer (BACS / Faster Payments)
The simplest and most cost-effective way to give. We will send you our account details in confidence — call or email and a member of the development team will reply the same day.
02
Standing order
A regular gift you control through your own banking app. Especially useful for monthly giving — change or cancel anytime, no questions asked.
03
Payroll giving
Through your employer's HMRC-approved Payroll Giving scheme. Donations leave your wage before tax — see our Payroll Giving page for setup.
04
Cheque
Made payable to 'Unity Relief UK' and posted to our registered office. We acknowledge every cheque in writing.
05
Legacy in your will
Leaving a gift in your will is the single most transformative donation we receive. See our Legacy page for forms of gift and suggested wording.
06
Trusts, foundations, corporate gifts
Restricted funds, multi-year agreements, named lending pools — please contact our development team for a confidential conversation.
§ V · Where your money goes
Every pound,
accounted for.
Independent auditors confirm these splits each May. Our full annual report and trustees' statement are published on the Charity Commission register.
84p
Of every £1 received goes to direct lending and beneficiary grants.
11p
Funds caseworkers, safeguarding and document verification.
5p
Covers governance, audit, technology and premises.
0p
Spent on commissions, finders' fees, or paid trustees — ever.
§ VI · A pound's journey
Month 1. Your donation enters our pooled lending fund.
Month 1–3. A caseworker matches it to an approved applicant — a boiler repair, a deposit, a tuition top-up. The funds leave our account and arrive in theirs.
Months 6–30. The applicant repays in monthly amounts they have chosen. Each repayment returns to the lending fund at the same value it was lent at — there is no interest extracted along the way.
Month 30 onward. Your original pound is loaned again, to a different household in a different situation. Across the lifetime of a typical fund, each pound supports an average of three different households before it eventually retires (via write-offs, costs of administration, or restricted-fund spend).
Donations that fund our non-repayable grants follow a shorter path — they leave the fund once, in the form of a grant cheque or transfer, to an applicant in deepest hardship.
§ VII · Regulated & accountable
Three regulators.
Public records.
Fundraising Regulator
We are registered with the Fundraising Regulator and follow the Code of Fundraising Practice.
Charity Commission
Registered charity in England & Wales (reg. 1199482) and Scotland (SC051427). Our annual accounts and trustees' report are public.
ICO
Registered as a data controller with the Information Commissioner's Office. We do not sell or share your data.
§ VIII · Major gifts & corporate
Giving more than £5,000?
Let's talk first.
For larger one-off gifts, restricted funds, corporate partnerships and named lending pools, our development team will arrange a confidential conversation. We can structure gifts to support a particular region, a specific kind of hardship, or sit within a multi-year funding agreement.
Every donor — whether you give £5 or £5,000 — receives a written acknowledgement, signed by a named member of our team. We think gratitude should be personal, not automated.