Kidney Care UK

What Kidney Care UK does

Kidney Care UK, legally the British Kidney Patient Association, is a UK registered charity founded in 1975 and headquartered in Alton. It is the country's leading kidney patient support charity, serving people living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) at all stages — from early-stage diagnosis through dialysis and transplant — along with their families, caregivers, and the healthcare professionals who treat them. The organization employs 51-100 staff and operates across the UK, registered as a charity in England and Wales (270288) and Scotland (SC048198), and structured as a company limited by guarantee.

The charity's core offerings span practical, emotional, and financial support: free downloadable patient information booklets, the Kidney Kitchen recipe resource (developed with renal dietitians), the Kidney Matters quarterly magazine, the Diary of a Kidney Warrior podcast, specialist counselling, advocacy and patient support services, an online patient community, and the Young Adult Kidney Group. Financial support is delivered through hardship and holiday respite grants, while awareness and early-detection work is anchored by the Bloody Amazing Kidneys national campaign and the Kidney Health Checker online assessment tool (351,954+ completions). Content is co-produced with the UK Kidney Association and validated through PIF Tick accreditation.

Kidney Care UK is funded entirely through donations, fundraising, lottery, legacy gifts, and corporate sponsorship — with no fees charged to patients. Recent commercial partnerships span AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novo Nordisk, and Alexion/AstraZeneca Rare Disease, alongside distribution partnerships with NHS Blood and Transplant, Kidney Wales, the London Kidney Network, the National Pharmacy Association, and the British Association for Paediatric Nephrology. Distribution is multi-channel: website, telephone support line, NHS renal unit referrals, regional awareness campaigns (Wales, North East and North Cumbria), podcasts, webinars, and challenge events including the London Marathon.

Name

Kidney Care UK

Legal name

British Kidney Patient Association

Website

https://kidneycareuk.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1975

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Kidney Care UK is the UK's leading kidney patient support charity, founded 1975, providing free information, counselling, advocacy, financial grants, and awareness campaigns to people with chronic kidney disease, their families, and healthcare professionals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Kidney Patient Support Services

NAICS

Voluntary Health Organizations (813212), Social Assistance (624)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Renal Nutrition & Kidney Dietetics Services (HLAKAHAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Home Dialysis Support & Training Providers (HLAFAEAG)

Keywords

• Kidney patient support
• Chronic kidney disease
• Patient advocacy services
• Health information resources
• Patient financial grants

Headquarters

HQ city

Alton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: The charity raises funds through individual donations, regular giving, legacy gifts in wills, event participation (challenge events, lottery), and corporate partnerships. These donations support patient grants, counselling services, and operational costs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Kidney Care UK is a registered charity (operating as the British Kidney Patient Association) that provides free practical, emotional, and financial support services to people living with chronic kidney disease and their families across the UK. Core offerings include patient grants, specialist counselling, advocacy services, free patient information booklets, the Kidney Kitchen recipe resource, Kidney Matters magazine, Diary of a Kidney Warrior podcast, a telephone support line, an online patient community, the Kidney Health Checker assessment tool, and the Young Adult Kidney Group.

Product overview

Kidney Care UK operates as a patient support charity offering a unified portfolio of free information, emotional support, and financial assistance services to kidney patients and their families across the UK. The core offerings include free patient information booklets (available as PDFs and printed copies), the Kidney Kitchen recipe resource developed with dietitians, the Kidney Matters magazine, and the Diary of a Kidney Warrior Podcast. Financial support is provided through patient grants and holiday respite grants, while emotional support includes counselling services, the Patient Support and Advocacy Service, and an online community. Additional services include the Young Adult Kidney Group, the Kidney Health Checker online tool, the Bloody Amazing Kidneys awareness campaign, and a telephone support line. Resources for health professionals include CPD materials and hospital grants. Together, these services address the practical, emotional, and financial challenges faced by people living with chronic kidney disease.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Kidney Kitchen: A resource providing kidney-friendly recipes developed with dietitians for people living with chronic kidney disease
• #BloodyAmazingKidneys
• Kidney Patient Involvement Network (KPIN)
• Young Adult Kidney Group (YAKG)
• Diary of a Kidney Warrior Podcast
• Kidney Matters
• Kidney Care UK Lottery

Products and services

• Kidney Kitchen

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 7 million people in the UK affected by CKD supported through information and awareness
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Health Innovations North East and North CumbriacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2026Partnership to bring #BloodyAmazingKidneys campaign to the North East region, with posters on buses and Tyne & Wear Metro during June, July and August 2026.
• Kidney WalescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2026Joint partnership to roll out nationwide awareness campaign to reach people at risk of developing CKD in Wales - the first widespread pan-Wales kidney disease awareness campaign of its kind.
• AstraZeneca UK LimitedmajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 March 2026Patient Advocacy Group Partnership for kidney health awareness. AstraZeneca contributed funding to the Bloody Amazing Kidneys campaign and Kidney Health Checker tool. AstraZeneca had no editorial input or control over content which is independently owned by Kidney Care UK.
• London Kidney NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Co-hosting patient information events and webinars about CKD stages 1-3 for kidney patients.
• UK Kidney Association (UKKA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partnership producing patient information booklets and resources on behalf of and with the kidney community. UKKA is the professional body for kidney health professionals in the UK.
• National Pharmacy AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Collaboration on awareness campaign about ibuprofen and kidney health risks, working with pharmacists to educate patients.
• Alport UKminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2024Collaboration for sharing experiences and support resources for Alport syndrome patients.
• British Association for Paediatric NephrologyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partnership to create infoKID, an information resource about kidney conditions in babies, children and young people.
• NHS Blood and TransplantcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on organ donation awareness campaigns and supporting patients on transplant waiting lists.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Diabetes UK: UK charity supporting people with diabetes through information, advocacy, and community. Comparable as a large UK chronic-disease patient charity with similar multi-channel awareness and fundraising approach.
• Macmillan Cancer Support: UK charity providing financial grants, information, and support line services to patients with serious illness. Strongly comparable operating model as a UK patient-support charity with helpline and grant programs.
• National Kidney Foundation: The largest US kidney disease nonprofit, offering patient education, advocacy, and research funding. Highly comparable mission and service mix, serving as the US analog of Kidney Care UK.

Direct peers

• British Liver Trust: UK charity for liver disease patients offering information, support, and advocacy. Highly comparable as a UK specialist chronic-disease patient support charity of similar scale.
• Kidney Research UK: The UK's leading kidney research charity; directly comparable as a UK kidney-focused nonprofit with overlapping donor base, although Kidney Research UK's mandate is research funding rather than patient support.
• American Kidney Fund: US-based kidney patient assistance nonprofit providing financial grants, education, and advocacy. Closely mirrors Kidney Care UK's grant-based patient support model.
• Cystic Fibrosis Trust: UK charity supporting people with cystic fibrosis through research, information, and patient grants. Comparable mission and operational footprint to Kidney Care UK.

Others

• NHS Blood and Transplant: UK public body managing organ donation and transplantation — a core Kidney Care UK partner and adjacent in the kidney patient pathway, though not a charity peer in the fundraising sense.

Regional players

• Kidney Wales: Wales-specific kidney patient charity that is a direct Kidney Care UK partner. Smaller and Wales-focused, but comparable mission and patient-support services.

Emerging players

• Alport UK: UK charity specifically supporting patients with Alport syndrome, a rare genetic kidney disease. Comparable as a kidney-specific UK patient charity and an active Kidney Care UK partner.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/KidneyCareUK
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC8Wjs_8V3cMV-p0l4i1pB3Q
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kidneycareuk
• Instagraminstagram.com/kidneycareuk

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kidney Care UK