The History of the Kidney Fund

The Kidney Fund is a patient driven charity dedicated to funding research to improve diagnosis and care of patients with kidney disease and hopefully contribute to finding cures for chronic kidney disease. The Kidney Fund also believes in education at all levels; introducing teenagers to the science of the kidney and kidney disease right up to providing post-graduate training for healthcare professionals to improve the understanding, quality of care and quality of research for patients with kidney disease.

Established in 1989, The Kidney Fund (formerly known as the South West Thames Kidney Fund), represents the interests of kidney patients from Croydon to Camberley and Carshalton to Crawley, covering Surrey and South West London with a population of over 2 million people. In 1998 Lord Rogers of Riverside opened the South West Thames Institute for Renal Research (SWTIRR), a dedicated research institute funded by the Kidney Fund. The Fund continues to support the Institute and to fund research fellows to carry out the lifesaving research.

The Kidney Fund is a patient driven charity that relies on the kindness and generosity of kidney patients, their families and their friends to look for ways to prevent, treat and in some cases, hopefully, to cure kidney disease which could otherwise lead to deaths of many in communities across the UK and across the world. We spend less than 20% of our income on fundraising and administration, leaning heavily on our band of resolute volunteers. We have already achieved the incredible feat of opening a purpose-built independent research institute, unique in the UK. The Institute carries out world class research and currently has a board of directors boasting the former Chair of the UK Renal Association, Professors from Kings College London and St George’s University London, doctors and most importantly, patients and their relatives.