Supporting refugee doctors back into medicine and financial aid for medical professionals in crisis are among the projects backed by this year’s BMA Giving awards.

The funds, which total £75,000, have been awarded to 10 UK-registered health charities selected by the BMA Giving members committee, whose missions align with the association’s values and wider objectives.

Announced today, the 2025 BMA Giving award programme saw more than 40 charities and voluntary organisations submit bids for funding.

Among those nominated for this year’s awards was Breaking Barriers – a specialist refugee employment charity which aims to help those who have sought asylum in the UK back into work.

Awarded a grant of £10,000, the funding will help to support the charity’s Language and Reaccreditation Programme, which sees staff work with refugee doctors to help them get back into medical practice in the UK.

The awards also provided £8,850 to the BMA Charities Trust Fund to help individual refugee and asylum-seeking doctors partaking in programmes designed to assist them in securing their GMC registration.

This year’s awards also sought to recognise the enormous challenges facing doctors struggling with employment or experiencing financially difficulty owing to disability or ill health, with grants to two physician advocacy groups.

Meanwhile a total of £5,000 was given to the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund and £8,000 to the Cameron Fund, who seek to support working age GPs facing financial hardship.

Tasked with assessing applications for grants on behalf of the association’s finance committee, the BMA Giving committee is chaired by Professor Martin McKee.

Commenting on this year’s awards, Prof McKee paid tribute to the successful recipients and to all those who had applied to the BMA for funding.

He said: ‘With so many worthy and important organisations seeking support, it is always an immense challenge to assess and determine how the association’s funds can be best put to use.

‘I would like to offer my and the wider committee’s congratulations to this year’s successful applicants and to all those who applied to this year’s awards.’

Training support

Several organisations have enjoyed long-standing support from the BMA including the David Nott Foundation, which works to provide emergency trauma surgery skills to doctors working in regions affected by war or natural disasters.

This year saw the charity receive £9,950 to enable five surgeons from low and middle-income countries to attend the foundation’s Hostile Environment Surgical Training.

Other long-time funding recipient Doctors of the World UK was awarded £8,000 towards their efforts to support primary care clinicians in navigating the complexities of delivering healthcare to refugees and asylum seekers living in Home Office accommodation.

This year’s awards also saw first-time awards to several organisations including a £3,000 grant to the AKAYA Foundation, a community-driven project which aims to support women living in Ghana’s Northern region in managing their health and wellbeing.

The 2025 awards also saw the charity Beyond Words receive a £7,500 award to support that organisation’s campaign to ensure people with Learning Disabilities are supported during pregnancy and childbirth.

The full list of successful applicants to this year’s awards:

• AKAYA Foundation £3,000
• Beyond Words £7,500
• BMA Charities Trust Fund £8,550
• Book Aid International £5,000
• Breaking Barriers £10,00
• David Nott Foundation £9,950
• Doctors of the World UK £8,000
• Royal Medical Benevolent Fund £5,000
• Second Sight £10,000
• The Cameron Fund £8,000