Local NHS charity leaders call for a giving revolution to future-proof healthcare

Their call-to-action coincides with the 2025 edition of the Giving and Impact Summit taking place at the London Stock Exchange (8 July). The summit aims to celebrate philanthropy and explore how major private donors can address urgent challenges. 

In a powerful op-ed published in the Health Service Journal, RFC chief executive Jon Spiers argued that while recent government spending announcements are welcome, they are not enough to meet the scale of demand facing the NHS. He calls for philanthropy to be recognised not as a substitute for public funding, but as a strategic tool to unlock innovation, fund critical research and support frontline services. 

Jon said: ​“The generosity of donors large and small is fundamental to the future success of our beloved local NHS, here in north London and across the country. Every day, the support of our local communities helps the NHS go further, faster, for all. 

“From small acts of kindness, like the care packs the charity provides when people are unexpectedly admitted to hospital, to major leaps forward in care, like the Quadra PET-CT scanner our donors helped buy which provides whole body scans in a fraction of the time, it’s philanthropy which is making the difference at the Royal Free Hospital and our other hospitals in north London. The ambitions in the new NHS Ten Year Plan can only be realised if we are bold about the opportunity to put donations alongside exchequer funding.” 

Meanwhile, RFC chair Judy Dewinter has co-signed a letter published in The Telegraph calling on wealth holders and the government to do more to unlock the UK’s philanthropic potential. The letter highlights the £15 billion given to UK charities last year and urges policymakers to back initiatives such as matched funding, simplified Gift Aid and philanthropy education within the wealth management sector. 

Judy said: ​“The government has a role to play in fostering philanthropic giving, from simplifying Gift Aid to using match funding to encourage large scale donations. These are simple changes with wide scale potential. The Giving and Impact Summit today is a call-to-action. Hampstead has always given boldly – now we need the government to back giving with smart policy. 

“Many of the major breakthroughs at the Royal Free London – from innovative research to improved patient care – have been made possible thanks to philanthropic gifts from individuals right here in north London. 

Both leaders point to Hampstead as a shining example of what philanthropy can achieve. Donors to the RFC helped fund the Pears Building in Hampstead – home to a globally recognised immunology research institute – as well as state-of-the-art surgical equipment and facilities that dramatically improve patient care. 

The Royal Free Hospital itself was founded in the 19th century through philanthropic action by William Marsden, who believed in providing care regardless of a person’s ability to pay – a vision that helped lay the foundations for universal healthcare in the UK. 

Jon said: ​“This isn’t a new idea: philanthropy played a pivotal role in the birth of universal healthcare in the UK. In 1828, a young surgeon named William Marsden found a woman dying on the steps of a London church who had been turned away from hospitals because she had no money. He didn’t wait for a government solution: he acted. He founded what would become the Royal Free Hospital, a place where medical care was available regardless of a patient’s ability to pay. 

“Marsden’s legacy was not an alternative to public healthcare; it was the foundation upon which it was built. The NHS has never been funded by taxation alone: philanthropy has always been there, in the research institutes, the specialist equipment and the facilities that make world-class care possible. Philanthropy isn’t a substitute for government investment. It provides resources that would not otherwise be available – accelerating research, improving patient outcomes and enabling hospitals to invest in the future.” 

As the NHS faces record demand and structural reform, Royal Free Charity leaders are urging policymakers and philanthropists alike to be ambitious in their response.