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2020-12-31-accounts

The Macular Disease Society operating under the name The Macular Society Report and Accounts 31 December 2020

Macular Society Report and Accounts for year ended 31 December 2020

Contents Patrons and Advisers 3-4
Report of the Trustees 5
Report of the Auditors 44
Statement of Financial Activities 52
Balance Sheet 53
Statement of Cash Flows 54
Notes to the Accounts 55
Appendix A – Research Committee 71

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Macular Society Report and Accounts for year ended 31 December 2020

Patrons

Henry Blofeld OBE *

Gemma Craven *

Gwyneth Dickinson MBE *

Patricia Greene *

Vince Hill*

Maggie Norden

Zac Shaw *

The symbol * indicates visual impairment.

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Macular Society Report and Accounts for year ended 31 December 2020

Auditors Clifford Fry & Co, St. Mary’s House, Netherhampton, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP2 8PU

Bankers

Barclays Bank Plc, South West London Corporate Banking, 1 The Causeway, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 0HB

Legal Advisers

Furley Page LLP, Admiral’s Offices Main Gate Road, The Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent ME4 4TZ

Investment Rathbone Investment Management Ltd, Managers 8 Finsbury Circus, Finsbury, London EC2M 7AZ

Registered Crown Chambers, South Street, Andover, Hampshire SP10 2BN Office (and actual office address)

Contact information

Tel 01264 350 551 – Office

Tel 0300 3030 111 – Advice & Information Email info@macularsociety.org

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Macular Society Report and Accounts for year ended 31 December 2020

The Directors of the Macular Disease Society submit their annual report and audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2020. The Directors of the Company are also Trustees of the Society and are known collectively as the Council. This report includes as separate statements, the Directors’ Report and the Directors’ Strategic Report, as required by the Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report and Directors’ Report) Regulations 2013, given in their capacities as Directors/Trustees. The term Trustee is used throughout this report.

History and Objectives

The Society was founded as a membership body in 1987 by a group of patients and medical professionals.

The objectives of the Society are to support medical research to find a cure for macular disease, and to provide information, advice and other services to improve the lives of people living with macular disease. We summarise these aims in this way:

Beating Macular Disease

Our vision:

An end to macular disease.

Our mission:

Beating macular disease with world class research and the best advice and support.

Our strategic aims:

n Finding a cure

n Providing the best advice and support n Educating the public that ‘vision matters’.

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Macular Society Report and Accounts for year ended 31 December 2020

Structure, Governance and Management

The Society is a Company Limited by Guarantee, without Share Capital, incorporated on 13 October 1987 and registered as a Charity on 10 December 1990.

At the end of 2020, the Society had 13,452 members – 13,244 voting members and 1,194 six months free trial members.

There were 430 peer support groups at the start of 2020. The majority, 381, operate under the Society’s charity number. Forty nine groups are ‘affiliated’, operating under the auspices of other organisations such as local societies for visually impaired people.

Each group that operates under our charity number is required to submit an annual financial return at the year-end. These returns are combined into the Society’s own financial statements.

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, no groups have met face to face since March 2020. As a result, we are not able to ascertain reliably how many non-voting members continued to be members of the group network. In 2019, that number was c. 4,000.

The majority of groups have used teleconferencing facilities provided by the Society to keep in touch with their members or have done so on a one-to-one basis. Only around 36 groups have not operated in any way during the pandemic. It is not clear how many groups will restart face-to-face in 2021.

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Macular Society Report and Accounts for year ended 31 December 2020

The Society is granted exemption from Income Tax under s.505 ICTA 1988 and exemption from Capital Gains Tax under s.256 TCGA 1992. The Charity and Company number are shown on the back page of this document.

The Company was established under a Memorandum of Association which confirmed the objects and powers of the Company and is governed under its Articles of Association.

Under the Articles, the Trustees are appointed by the Council to serve a maximum period of six years, with a reappointment requirement after three years. The exception to this is the Hon. Treasurer who may serve up to three consecutive three-year terms.

Vacancies for Trustees are advertised widely in Sideview (the Society’s quarterly magazine) and elsewhere.

Applications are reviewed by the Governance and Appointments Panel. Selected candidates are invited to a meeting with the Chief Executive for a briefing on the Society and discussion of the role and responsibilities of Trustees. Trustee training takes place by means of the initial briefing and study workshops. We were delighted to welcome six new Trustees during 2020 and a new Chair from the last quarter of the year.

The Council of Trustees meets four times a year. In addition to the top-level decision making undertaken by Council, preparatory work takes place in committees comprising a combination of Trustees, Society members, salaried staff, and external advisers, as required.

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Macular Society Report and Accounts for year ended 31 December 2020

These committees are:

Reviews the annual budget, monitors financial and fundraising performance and provides risk management oversight.

Oversees governance and appoints Trustees and key employees. Sets the remuneration of key management personnel.

• Ethics Committee

Reviews the Society’s policies and activities to make sure the organisation operates to the highest ethical standards.

In all its activities, the Macular Society Trustees and staff pay due regard to the Charity Governance Code.

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Trustees’ Report for year ended 31 December 2020

The Trustees present their report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2020.

Trustees’ Responsibilities Statement

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Strategic report, the Trustees report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the Trustees have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’. Under company law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company and of the profit or loss of the Company for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

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Trustees’ Report for year ended 31 December 2020

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Results and Dividends

The profit for the year, after taxation, amounted to £134k (2019 - £283k) .

Trustees

The Trustees who served during the year were:

John Dunston MA, CF, FRSA, ACIL – Chair (resigned 12 September 2020)

Cecilia Bufton BSc (Hons) MBA, – Chair (from 12 September 2020)

Paul Ryb BA(Hons) * – Vice Chair

Alison Guthrie MCOptom – Vice Chair

Richard Piller FCA, CTA – Honorary Treasurer

William Best BSc (Hons) *

Timothy ffytche LVO, FRCS, FRCOphth

Anna Fletcher LLB *

Sheena George, FRCOphth Robin Hamilton, FRCOphth Frances Luff BA (Hons)

Anthony MacQuarrie M Ed, B Phil, DASEC, Cert Ed (appointed 12 May 2020)

Patrick McGeough Eng MIIE (Mech), RAF Rtd (appointed 17 November 2020)

Margaret Packham BSc (Hons), MCIPD (resigned 17 November 2020)

James Potter LLM (appointed 17 November 2020)

Amanda Rowland LLB (appointed 1 September 2020)

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Trustees’ Report for year ended 31 December 2020

Sobha Sivaprasad, FRCOphth Christopher Strutt (appointed 12 May 2020) Stephen Stacey MA, DPhil Catherine Yelf – Chief Elaine Latham (appointed Executive and Company 1 September 2020) Secretary

Future Developments

Future developments are set out in detail on pages 12 to 43 in the Trustees’ Strategic Report. There are no going concern issues, which may affect the Company’s ability to continue its activities for the foreseeable future.

Disclosure of information to auditors

Each of the persons who are Trustees at the time when this Trustees’ report is approved has confirmed that:

so far as the Trustee is aware, there is no relevant information of which the Company’s auditors are unaware, and

the Trustee has taken all the steps that ought to have been taken as a Trustee in order to be aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the Company’s auditors are aware of that information.

Post balance sheet events

The impact of COVID-19 and Brexit has been considered by the Trustees within their Strategic Report.

Auditors

The auditors, Clifford Fry & Co LLP, will be proposed for reappointment in accordance with section 485 of the Companies Act 2006.

This report was approved by the Council on and signed on its behalf.

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Trustees’ Strategic Report for year ended 31 December 2020

Responsibilities of Trustees

Trustees responsibilities are set out in the Code of Conduct (‘The Code’) for Trustees. The principal duties are these:

Trustees must, with the help of the Chief Executive, formulate and review regularly the Society’s vision, values, and strategy as well as policies for their fulfilment.

With the assistance of the Chief Executive and appropriate professional advisers, Trustees must make sure that the Society complies with all regulatory and statutory requirements and must exercise overall control over the Society’s financial affairs. In addition to compliance with statutory requirements, Trustees should have a commitment to the development and implementation of good practice in charity operations and in good governance.

Trustees must make sure there is a clear understanding of the scope of authority delegated to the Chief Executive.

The Code also sets out the relationship between the staff and Trustees. It is the role of the Chief Executive to implement the Society’s vision, values and strategy through a combination of salaried staff and volunteers.

Assessment of Public Benefit

The Trustees have complied with the duty in Part 1 Chapter 1 s4 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Commission. The Trustees have had regard for the guidelines when reviewing the Society’s aims and objectives and in planning for future activities. The public benefit of the charity is in finding a

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cure for macular disease, providing best advice and support for those living with the conditions and educating the public that ‘vision matters’.

The Trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set with the executive team. The Trustees consider that the Macular Disease Society satisfies the public benefit test.

The day-to-day management of the Macular Society is led by the Chief Executive on agreed authority delegated by the Council of Trustees.

Financial Review

The financial statements show a surplus for the year of £134k (2019: £283k). Total funds at the year-end were £3,780k (2019: £3,646k). We set a deficit budget for 2020. The pandemic had a significant impact on our plans both for 2020 and subsequent years. The following income streams were affected very badly:

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Such was the concern in the first half of the year that we took action to reduce our costs. The measures we took were:

We endeavoured to protect our income by seeking emergency grants from bodies such as the National Lottery and corporate partners. These measures taken together were successful in helping to produce a largely balanced budget. This helps provide protection for the Society in 2021 as the pandemic continues to have an impact on our ability to fundraise.

Reserves Policy

Unrestricted reserves at the year-end amounted to £2,946k (2019: £2,584k). Each year the Trustees consider the financial and other risks associated with our income and expenditure streams. Our policy is to hold unrestricted reserves representing a minimum of four months of our costs budgeted for 2021. This amounts to £1,503k for 2021 and represents the costs of executing an orderly winding up of the Society if such were required. In addition, we aim to hold a level of reserves necessary to protect the Society from variances outside our immediate control.

The impact of COVID-19 will continue into 2021 for a number of reasons:

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For these reasons we have designated £1m extra as a further reserve against the exceptionally unpredictable circumstances, especially in respect of legacy and trust income.

Investment Policy

We invest funds not required in the short term with Rathbone Investment Management Ltd (Rathbones). The Portfolio performance is reviewed regularly by the Finance Committee, which reports to Council. Rathbones are instructed not to invest in tobacco stocks owing to the strong evidential link between smoking and macular disease. There is a strong Environmental, Social and Governance thread to the investments in the Portfolio, in line with Rathbones’ own approach in these areas.

The total fund started the year at £1,315k and ended the year at £1,410k. During the year COVID-19 had an impact on capital growth and investment returns, especially in quarter two. Performance finished strongly delivering investment income of £28k. Overall, this result was in with the investment objectives set when Rathbones was employed as Investment Managers in 2019.

The Society’s policy is to invest remaining cash reserves in bank deposits or similar instruments.

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Of the £3,581k at the year-end (excluding cash held by local groups), £321k was on deposit with Nationwide, and £401k with NatWest. The remaining cash is held with Barclays. Interest income for the year amounted to £3k (2020: £9k).

Research Grants

Research grants are awarded by Trustees on the recommendations of the Research Committee which is chaired by an independent chair. The current Chair is James Bainbridge, Professor of Retinal Studies at University College London and Consultant Ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital. The Committee invites applications for funding of research projects within research area priorities set by the Trustees.

Applications are independently peer-reviewed and assessed by the Committee. Selected projects are formally approved by Council. The progress of projects (which may last up to three years) is monitored by the Research Committee with periodic reports to Council.

Executive Team

The executive team comprises:

Catherine Yelf , Chief Executive

Emma Malcolm , Director of Fundraising and Marketing Tessa Barrett , Director of Services (to 31 July 2020) Stephen Scowcroft , Director of Services (joins May 2021) Karen Noble , Head of Finance

Rebecca Ward , HR Manager (maternity leave from February 2020) Zaga Makhecha , HR Manager (maternity cover from March 2020) John McKay , Head of IT and Data Insight

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Their pay is reviewed annually by the Governance and Appointments Panel and is set having regard to market information in respect of charities of equivalent size with head office operations located outside London.

Risk Assessment

The Trustees have reviewed the major risks that the Society faces and believe the Society has sufficient resources to cope with any foreseeable adverse conditions. The major risks that might impact the Society have been assessed and we are satisfied with the actions taken to mitigate exposure to these risks.

The most significant of these risks are:

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Our Approach to Fundraising

Everyone who supports us may be assured that we comply with the regulatory standards for fundraising. We are registered with the Fundraising Regulator and are committed to the Fundraising Promise and adherence to the Code of Fundraising Practice. Several members of the fundraising team, including the Director, are Institute of Fundraising members.

It has cost us £3,845k to provide our services and fund our research programme, all of which came from fundraised income.

Our fundraising includes our membership programme, encouraging donations and gifts in Wills, running events working with trusts and corporates and operating a lottery and raffle. (All profits from the weekly lottery go to the Macular Society. Of ticket sales from January to December 2020, 20% was spent on expenses, 20% on prizes and 60% was used to fund our important work). We have an annual Groups’ Research Appeal. Via this Appeal, we invite groups to undertake fundraising and to secure donations for a specific research project.

We monitor and evaluate the impact of internal and external factors on fundraising performance against our strategy and our wider aims and objectives. We review and adapt/amend timescales, expenditure and income targets and the content of fundraising plans designed to achieve our objectives. We seek a wide range of feedback and also benchmark against the market and our key performance indicators.

During 2020, the number of individual donations showed a

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small increase. However, due to delays with HM Courts and Tribunals legacy income received was reduced.

We work with carefully selected third parties to raise money to Beat Macular Disease, including professional fundraisers. We work closely with all our third party suppliers to make sure they deliver a high quality experience for our supporters through training, monitoring and contractual arrangements. We also carry out mystery shopping and have robust systems in place for receiving and addressing feedback, which we are always pleased to receive.

Our website carries our complaints policy for the public and explains clearly how an individual may complain. We received nine complaints in 2020 (2019: five) from 3.3million fundraising contact points.

We responded to all complaints within five days. Complaints are dealt with in line with our fundraising complaints policy. The most serious complaints are escalated to our Chief Executive and Trustees so they may review our activities in the light of the complaint. We report the number of complaints we have received to the Fundraising Regulator.

We are registered with the Fundraising Preference Service so that individuals are able to opt out from receiving fundraising communications from us. We actioned 17 requests from this Service in 2020.

In addition to our general fundraising policy, we have an agreed operating procedure to protect vulnerable people. Our fundraisers (both staff and agents) are familiarised with the procedure to make sure that it is applied properly. The procedure is published on our website.

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Beating Macular Disease by finding a cure

2020

Our Key Evaluation Question:

How effectively is the Macular Society supporting research and progressing us towards cures for macular disease?

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The following medical research grants were awarded in 2020:

Professor Chris Dickinson, University of Manchester £81,449

Creating a virtual personal assistant to support those with visual impairment.

This project aims to provide an interactive chat-bot for people with visual impairment which can give information and advice. The researchers will test whether technology can answer a range of questions, and how visually impaired people perceive and use the technology.

Dr Ruth Hogg, Queen’s University Belfast £113,860 Looking for factors associated with increased risk of developing AMD.

Finding gene, chemical and physiological associations that may be linked to an increased risk of developing AMD, and understanding which associations are more strongly linked with developing AMD.

Professor Majlinda Lako, Newcastle University £199,882 Producing a blood test to find markers of early AMD, and how these biochemical changes are associated with AMD.

It has been reported that people with AMD have changes in their exosomes, which remove waste from cells. This project aims to test whether these changes can be detected in the blood, and how these changes are associated with AMD.

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Dr Jacqueline van der Spuy, UCL £200,000 Testing a new form of gene therapy to treat juvenile macular dystrophy

The project aims to produce a model of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) using cells from patients with Doyne honeycomb dystrophy, a macular dystrophy. The researchers will test whether a new type of gene therapy can stop or slow the progression of the disease.

Dr Arjuna Ratnayaka, University of Southampton £100,000 Stopping the build-up of toxic waste in dry AMD.

In dry AMD and other macular conditions, toxic molecules build up in the RPE causing cell death and vision loss. This project aims to understand why such build up occurs and tests whether the RPE may be saved by increasing the removal of this waste.

Professor Jane Sowden, UCL £100,000 Improving the integration of stem cell derived photoreceptor transplants in the retina.

The project aims to identify molecules that promote photoreceptors creating new connections with neighbouring cells. These would allow better integration of stem cell derived photoreceptor transplants, which would replace dead cells and restore vision.

Dr Ashley Wood, Cardiff University £99,858 Can IRD be used as a testing for early stages of AMD? A new technology called Imaging Retinal Densitometry (IRD) measures the ability of the retina to adapt to the

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dark, an early sign of AMD or macular degeneration. The researchers are testing whether this technique can be used to diagnose early AMD before other key markers, and to understand what causes loss of dark adaptation in AMD.

Professor Robert MacLaren, £119,610 University of Oxford (Joint funded with Retina UK)

Development of a gene therapy for Stargardt disease

Stargardt disease is the most common macular dystrophy affecting children and adolescents. It is caused by having two copies of a faulty gene called ABCA4. Prof MacLaren and his team are working to edit the gene code that leads to the ABCA4 creating a faulty protein. By fixing the gene code, the cells can produce some healthy ABCA4 protein. This can stop the damage to the cells which cause vision loss.

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Trustees’ Strategic Report for year ended 31 December 2020

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Trustees’ Strategic Report for year ended 31 December 2020

This includes the setting up of five Clinical Study Groups to co-ordinate and develop clinical eye research. The funding will provide three years of support for a post within NIHR to co-ordinate the work of the strategy. Our Research Manager, Geraldine Hoad, sits on the Executive Board and on the Retina Clinical Study Group.

• Our CEO, Cathy Yelf has been re-elected for a second term of office as a Trustee of AMRC on whose Nominations Committee she sits. She is also a member of the Steering Committee of the UK Spine, a Government-funded initiative to accelerate research across UK universities into diseases of ageing. She is a member the Roche Pharmaceuticals Global Patient Advisory Panel.

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Beating Macular Disease by finding a cure 2021 targets

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Trustees’ Strategic Report for year ended 31 December 2020

Beating Macular Disease with the best advice and support 2020

All our services were affected by the pandemic, especially those we normally deliver face-to-face. The staff worked with great professionalism to stay in touch with, and motivate, our volunteers and provide more services to as many people as possible.

Eighteen groups are specifically for working age people and are mainly attended by people with an inherited macular condition which appear in younger people. However, most support groups have older members who are in the category most at risk from COVID-19. Very quickly after the first lockdown, head office and regional staff set up and encouraged the use of telephone conferencing for groups. The majority of our groups made use of this facility. A few, mainly those groups for

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younger people, also used video conferencing. Many group leaders were quick to take up these methods of keeping in touch with their group members.

Although these platforms can be difficult for older people, especially those with hearing problems or lacking the equipment, the members who were able to join calls and video conferences greatly appreciated this approach to keeping in touch with friends in their group. Some people were able to ‘re-join’ groups they left because they could no longer get to meetings.

From March to December we hosted more than 3,000 calls that had a combined attendance of more than 20,000 participants.

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Trustees’ Strategic Report for year ended 31 December 2020

macular disease, to facilitate self-learning. This will launch in 2021.

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who felt especially isolated during the pandemic. We have supported 320 people this year compared with 218 in 2019.

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Trustees’ Strategic Report for year ended 31 December 2020

to his target groups such as myopic maculopathy and PXE. From August, the CEO held monthly webinars for people interested in AMD. Topics included AMD clinics during the pandemic, prospects of new treatments for dry AMD, Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS), and nutrition and eye health.

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The 300 people surveyed were a mix of group members, advice and information callers, befriending and Skills for Seeing clients. The results were very encouraging:

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Trustees’ Strategic Report for year ended 31 December 2020

Beating Macular Disease with the best advice and support

2021 targets

The months ahead are very unpredictable. It is likely that the effects of the pandemic will be felt for some time to come. Our aim is to double the number of people we reach between 2018 and 2023. Although we will expand our face-to-face and telephone services, much of the increased reach will be by developing digital services. COVID-19 has accelerated the progress of this work.

• We will re-start face-to-face services and events when it is safe to do so, and when the responsibility for COVID-19 security is not too onerous for our volunteers to manage. We can expect some groups not to reopen and some volunteers to fall away. We will have a reduced cohort of regional managers in England until our income is secure enough to consider further restructuring for the way our

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regional managers operate. It is possible we may not be able to run groups where there are no volunteers or some very small groups that need a great deal of support. All to be considered as part of our revised approach to groups.

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Vision matters – Beating Macular Disease by improving eye health 2020

This area of our work was also overtaken and dominated by the COVID-19 crisis.

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Trustees’ Strategic Report for year ended 31 December 2020

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In 2016, spontaneous awareness of macular degeneration was 50% compared with 61% in 2020. Of those who were not aware of macular degeneration, 12% were aware when prompted in 2016. This figure rose to 22% in 2020. Awareness of us has remained static between 2016 and 2020 at 10%.

There have been no statistically relevant changes over this time. It is always difficult to ascribe causes of these trends, but we will use these data alongside those of our reach, levels of engagement etc. to provide a broader and more informed picture of our impact.

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Vision matters – Beating Macular Disease by improving eye health 2021 targets

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Approved by the Council of Trustees on 11 May 2021

Cecilia Bufton, Chair of the Council, Macular Society

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Trustees’ Strategic Report for year ended 31 December 2020

Finding Best advice a cure and support

Improving eye health

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Independent Auditors’ Report

to the Members of the Macular Disease Society

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of The Macular Disease Society (the ‘Company’) for the year ended 31 December 2020, which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account), the Balance sheet, the Statement of cash flows and the related notes, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’ (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditors’ responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the United Kingdom, including

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the Financial Reporting Council’s Ethical Standard and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusion relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Trustees use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report other than the financial statements and our Auditors’ report thereon. The Trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the Annual Report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the

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Independent Auditors’ Report

to the Members of the Macular Disease Society

extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinion on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

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Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Strategic report or the Trustees’ report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 9, the Trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustees determine is

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Independent Auditors’ Report

to the Members of the Macular Disease Society

necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to liquidate the Company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditors’ responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an Auditors’ report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of

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irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

We gained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework applicable to the company and the industry in which it operates, including obtaining details on how they identify and comply with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any non-compliance, how they detect and respond to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud and finally the controls they have in order to mitigate risks of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations.

We designed audit procedures to respond to the risk, recognising that the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, intentional misrepresentations.

As a result of these procedures, we considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the organisation for fraud and identified the greatest potential for fraud in the following area: revenue and profit recognition.

We focussed on laws and regulations which could give rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements, including, but not limited to, the Companies Act 2006, Charities SORP (FRS102) and UK tax legislation.

Macular Society 49

Independent Auditors Report

to the Members of the Macular Disease Society

Our tests included agreeing the financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation, performing analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud, reviewing minutes of meetings and enquiries with management.

We did not identify any key audit matters relating to irregularities, including fraud. As in all our audits, we also addressed the risk of management override of internal controls, including testing journals and evaluating whether there was evidence of bias by the Trustees that represented a risk of material misstatement due to fraud.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditors responsibilities . This description forms part of our Auditors’ report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the Company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditors’ report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Company and the

50 Macular Society

Independent Auditors Report to the Members of the Macular Disease Society

Company’s members, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

S M Allenby FCA (Senior statutory auditor)

for and on behalf of Clifford Fry & Co LLP

St Mary’s House Netherhampton Salisbury Wiltshire SP2 8PU

8 June 2021

Macular Society 51

Statement of Financial Activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account). For the year ended 31 December 2020

£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Unrestricted Restricted Total Total
Funds Funds 2020 2019
Notes
Income from:
Donations and legacies 2(1) 3,166 1,016 4,182 4,522
Charitable activities 2(2) - 996 996 516
Other trading activities 2(3) 64 48 112 267
Investment income & interest 2(4) 31
 - 31 17
Total income 3,261 2,060 5,321
 5,322
Expenditure on:
Raising funds 3(1) 1,422
 - 1,422 1,049
Charitable activities 3(2) 1,557 2,288 3,845 4,034
Total expenditure 2,979 2,288 5,267 5,083
Net income before Gains/(losses)
on investments 282 (228) 54 239
Net gains/(losses) on
investments 8 80 - 80 44
Net income/(expenditure)
& net movement in funds 362 (228) 134 283
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward 2,584 1,062 3,646 3,363
Total funds carried forward 2,946 834
 3,780 3,646

There are no recognised gains or losses other than those disclosed above. All income and expenditure derives from continuing activities.

52 Macular Society

Balance Sheet

As of 31 December 2020

Notes
Fixed assets:
Tangible assets
7
Investments
8
Current assets:
Stocks
9
Debtors
10
Cash and bank balances
Cash held by local groups
Current liabilities:
Creditors: amounts falling
due within one year
11
Net current assets
Total assets less current
liabilities
Creditors: amounts due
after more than one year 12
Net assets
16
Funds
Unrestricted funds
15
Designated funds
15
Restricted funds
14
Total funds
 £’000
6
317
3,581
365
4,269
1,449
2020		 £’000
£’000
32
1,410
1,442
7
439
2,840
354
3,640
1,012
2,820
4,262
482
3,780
1,946
1,000

834
3,780
2019		 £’000
46
1,315
1,361
2,628
3,989
343
3,646
2,584
-
1,062
3,646

The notes on pages 55 to 71 form part of these accounts.

The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Council of Trustees and were signed on its behalf on 11 May 2021.

Cecilia Bufton, Council Chair Richard Piller FCA, CTA, Hon. Treasurer

[The Macular Disease company registered number: 2177039]

Macular Society 53

For the year ended 31 December 2020

Statement of Cash Flows


Cash flows from operating activities
Net income for the year
(including interest received and investment income}

Adjustments for:
Depreciation of fixed assets

(Gain)/loss on disposals of investments
Decrease/(increase) in receivables

Decrease/(increase) in stock

Increase/(decrease) in payables

Net cash from operating activities

Cash flows from investing activities
Proceeds from sale of investments

Purchases of investments
Purchases of fixed assets
Net cash from investing activities
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year
Analysis of cash and cash equivalents
Cash in hand
Total cash and cash equivalents		 2020
2019
£’000 £’000
134
283
34
29
(80) (44)
122 52
1 1
572 193
783 514
333 818
(344) (1,158)
(20) (39)
(31) (379)
752 135
3,194 3, 059
3,946 3,194
3,946 3,194
3,946 3,194

54 Macular Society

Notes to the accounts

For the year ended 31 December 2020

1. Accounting policies

The Macular Disease Society is a private charitable company, limited by guarantee and incorporated in England, which is a public benefit entity under FRS102.

a reasonable expectation that the Company has adequate resources to continue its activities for the foreseeable future. The Company, therefore, continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing its financial statements.

Macular Society 55

Notes to the accounts

For the year ended 31 December 2020

(h) Debtors – Debtors are measured at amortised cost less any impairment.

at amortised cost comprise bank loans and overdrafts, trade and other creditors. Investments, including bonds, held as part of an investment portfolio are held at fair value at the Balance Sheet date, with gains and losses being recognised within income and expenditure.

56 Macular Society

Notes to the accounts

For the year ended 31 December 2020

specified by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is applied to the related Fund.

Macular Society 57

Notes to the accounts For the year ended 31 December 2020

2020
£’000
2. Analysis of incoming resources
(1) Donations and legacies
Donations, appeals and unrestricted grants
1,968
Membership subscriptions
270
Fundraising events
513
Legacies (Note 18)
1,431
4,182
£3,488k of the 2019 income was unrestricted and £1,034k restricted.
(2) Income from charitable activities
Grants for specified charitable activities
911
Job Retention Scheme Grant
36
Other – donated services
49
996
The income for 2019 was all restricted.
(3) Income from other activities
Local group income (restricted)
48
Trading income (unrestricted)
64
112

(4) Income from Investments and Interest
Interest received
3
Investment Income
28
31
The income for 2019 was all unrestricted.		 2019
£’000
1,205
280
571
2,466
4,522
463
-
53
516
196
71
267
9
8
17

58 Macular Society

For the year ended 31 December 2020

Notes to the accounts


3. Analysis of resources expended
(1) Costs of raising funds (unrestricted)
Employee remuneration (Note 5)
Support costs (Note 4)
Direct costs
Trading costs
Investment management costs		 2020
2019
£’000
£’000
593
503
161
103
625
395
33
40
10
8
1,422
1,049
(2) Charitable activities
Publications
Educational information
Advice & Infomation
& Counselling
Groups & Volunteers
Low Vision
Conferences
Research
Support to professionals
Local group activities		 2020
£’000
Direct
costs
£’000
Staff
costs
£’000
(Note 5)
Support
costs
£’000
(Note 4)
77
10
2
89
205
135
22
362
190
169
26
385
46
1,001
156
1,203
25
200
31
256
6
22
3
31
1,036
384
20
1,440
5
31
6
42
37
-
-
37
1,627
1,952
266
3,845		 2019
£’000
137
458
324
1,353
278
37
1,211
65
171
4,034

2019 charitable expenditure was charged as to £1,737k to restricted reserves and £2,297k to unrestricted.

Macular Society 59

Notes to the accounts For the year ended 31 December 2020

4. Support costs
Rent and rates
Postage and office supplies
Telephone and IT
Depreciation
Recruitment
Bank charges
Governance
Other expenses		 2020
£’000
86
36
133
34
10
27
22
79
427		 2019
£’000
77
57
93
29
23
14
26
181
500

The support costs allocated to charitable activities have been allocated pro rata to the apportionment of staff costs allocated to those activities. The resulting allocation is shown in Note 3(2). Governance costs include the audit fee and taxation return fee totalling £8,500 (2019: £7,200).

5. Employee remuneration

The average number of full and part-time employees in the year was 73 (2019:69). The average number of employees calculated on a full-time equivalent basis, analysed by function was:

full-time equivalent basis, analysed by function was:
Management, governance and administration
Customer care and membership administration
Fundraising
Group development & volunteer coordination
Advice & Information and treatment advocacy
Low vision
Research
Education and awareness
Sideview and Digest		 2020
6
4
17
15
5
5
2
8
1
63		 2019
6
6
15
14
5
5
2
7
1
61

60 Macular Society

Notes to the accounts

For the year ended 31 December 2020

2020
 2019
£’000
 £’000
Salaries 2,213 2,087
National insurance 210 198
Pension costs 122 108
2,545 2,393

The number of employees whose emoluments*, as defined for taxation purposes amounted to over £60,000 in the year and to whom retirement benefits are accruing under money purchase pension schemes are:

2020 2019
Number Number
£60,000-£70,000 1 1
£70,000-£80,000 2 1
£80,000-£90,000 - 1
3 3

The total emoluments paid to the three key managers amounted to £234,000 (2019: 3 key managers £222,000)

*Emoluments for these purposes exclude pension contributions

The cost of staff that are involved in specific activities has been allocated to those activities; the balance of the payroll has then been allocated pro rata to the direct cost allocation. The central finance raising payroll costs have been allocated to specific activities pro rata to the funds raised for those activities.

Cost of fundraising
Cost of charitable activities
The payroll costs allocated to individual charitable
activities is as set out in Note 3(2).		 2020
£’000
593
1,952
2,545		 2019
£’000
503
1,890
2,393

Included here are Restructuring and Redundancy costs 2020 of £101,159

Macular Society 61

Notes to the accounts For the year ended 31 December 2020

6. Pension scheme

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The pension charge for the year £122k (2019: £108k) represents contributions payable by the Company to the scheme. These costs are allocated on the basis of head-count of staff within each category of expenditure. Contributions totalling £21,246 (2019: £17,330) were payable to schemes at the year-end and are included in Creditors.

7. Tangible fixed assets

7. Tangible fixed assets
IT & flm
equipment		 Offce
equipment		 Total
£’000 £’000 £’000
Cost:
As at 1 January 2020 120 29 149
Additions 20 - 20
Disposals -
 - --)
As at 31 December 2020 140 29 169
Depreciation:
As at 1 January 2020 85 18 103
Charge for year 30 4 34
Disposals -
 -
 -
As at 31 December 2020 115 22 137
Net book amounts:
As at 31 December 2020 25 7 32
As at 31 December 2019 35 11 46

62 Macular Society

For the year ended 31 December 2020

Notes to the accounts

8. Investments
Market value as at 1 January 2020
Acquisitions at cost*

Disposals at carrying value

Net realised gains (losses) on disposals

Net unrealised gains

Total investments at market value at 31 December 2020
Cash held for investment
Total investments
Total investments at market value
Total investments at historical cost
Revaluation unrealised gain
Investments are further analysed as follows:
Listed equities (UK £451k, Overseas £390k)

Listed fixed interest and index linked
Investments (UK £316k, Overseas £48k)

Other investments

Cash held for investments

 2020
£’000
1,066

530

(333)

36

44

1,343

67

1,410

1,410

1,316

94
841
364
138
67
1,410		 2019
£’000
834
1,006
(818)
(14)
58
1,066
249
1,315
1,315
1,236
79
504
358
204
249
1,315

*Acquisitions include an additional cash injection into the portfolio of £Nil (2019:£343)

Macular Society 63

Notes to the accounts For the year ended 31 December 2020

9. Stockscomprise diaries & cards for sale
10. Debtors & prepayments
Legacies (Note 17)
Gift aid
Prepayments
Other debtors
11. Creditors & accruals: amounts falling due within one year
Research grants committed not yet paid
Trade creditors
Accruals & other payables
Taxation and Social Security
12. Creditors: amounts falling due
after more than one year
Research grants committed not yet paid

Accruals and other payables

 6
207
41
69
-
317
1,163
107
111
68

1,449
412

70

482

2020
£’000		 7
333
38
65
3
439
760
102
150
-
1,012
283
60
343
2019
£’000

64 Macular Society

Notes to the accounts For the year ended 31 December 2020

13. Analysis of research grants

Grant payments have been made or accrued during the year for the following research projects, all of which are with universities and other medical institutions:

Macular Society 65

For the year ended 31 December 2020

Notes to the accounts

13. Analysis of research grants (continued)

Charged to reserves
Restricted
£’000
Unrestricted
£’000
University of Manchester
91
Queen’s University Belfast
114
Newcastle University
200
University College London
200
University of Southampton
100
University College London
100
Cardiff University
100
Joint PhD Studentship
60
AAAMD
22
NIHR
71
Salary, support and other costs
382
Total charge to reserves
1,440
Total research expenditure – Note 3(2)
1,440
£’000
Research grants committed but not yet paid
b/f 1 January 2020
1,043
Grants directly paid in the year to institutions
1,058*
Research grants committed but not yet paid
c/f 31 December 2020
(526)
1,575		 Charged to reserves
Restricted
£’000
Unrestricted
£’000
University of Manchester
91
Queen’s University Belfast
114
Newcastle University
200
University College London
200
University of Southampton
100
University College London
100
Cardiff University
100
Joint PhD Studentship
60
AAAMD
22
NIHR
71
Salary, support and other costs
382
Total charge to reserves
1,440
Total research expenditure – Note 3(2)
1,440
£’000
Research grants committed but not yet paid
b/f 1 January 2020
1,043
Grants directly paid in the year to institutions
1,058*
Research grants committed but not yet paid
c/f 31 December 2020
(526)
1,575		 Charged to reserves
Restricted
£’000
Unrestricted
£’000
University of Manchester
91
Queen’s University Belfast
114
Newcastle University
200
University College London
200
University of Southampton
100
University College London
100
Cardiff University
100
Joint PhD Studentship
60
AAAMD
22
NIHR
71
Salary, support and other costs
382
Total charge to reserves
1,440
Total research expenditure – Note 3(2)
1,440
£’000
Research grants committed but not yet paid
b/f 1 January 2020
1,043
Grants directly paid in the year to institutions
1,058*
Research grants committed but not yet paid
c/f 31 December 2020
(526)
1,575
1,440





1,440
£’000
1,043
1,058*
(526)
1,575

14. Restricted funds

The Society’s Restricted funds, into which are paid amounts received with a specific request that the income should be used to fund specified activities, comprise:

66 Macular Society

For the year ended 31 December 2020

Notes to the accounts

14. Restricted funds (continued)

As at Movement in year Movement in year As at
1 Jan 2020 Income Expenses 31 Dec 2020
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Research 648 1,197 (1,440) 405
National Lottery Community Fund
– People & Communities		 - 120 (86) 34
Groups & Volunteers - 601 (601) -
Counselling 60 38 (68) 30
Local Groups 354 48 (37) 365
National Lottery Community Fund
– Improving Lives in Scotland		 - 56 (56) -
1,062 2,060 (2,288) 834

Restricted income includes:

Macular Society 67

Notes to the accounts For the year ended 31 December 2020

15. Unrestricted and designated funds

As at
1 Jan 2020
£’000
Inccome
£’000
Expenses
£’000
Transfer
£’000
31
Unrestricted
2,584
3,341
2,979
(1,000)

Designated
-
-
-
1,000

2,584
3,341
2,979
1,000
 As at
Dec 2020
£’000
1,946
1,000
2,946

The Company has transferred £1,000k from its Unrestricted funds to a new Designated fund, to create a COVID-19 Recovery Fund in anticipation of any exceptional and unpredictable circumstances from COVID-19 particularly in relation to Legacy and Trust income.

16. Analysis of net assets between funds

Unrestricted Designated Restricted Total
funds funds funds funds
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Fixed assets & Investments 1,442 - - 1,442
Net assets 504 1,000 834 2,338
1,946 1,000 834 3,780

17. Trustee remuneration

The Trustees received no remuneration during the year (2019: nil).

During the year 3 Trustees (2019: 8) were reimbursed for travel and out of pocket expenses amounting to £445 (2019: £3,439).

68 Macular Society

Notes to the accounts For the year ended 31 December 2020

18. Legacies

Legacies of an estimated £892,700 (2019: £890,200) have been

excluded from income as the criteria for recognition had not been met.

19. Commitments

As at 31 December 2020 the Society had the following annual office rent commitments under non-cancellable operating leases:

Payable within one year
Payable from one year to five years
Payable after five years		 2020
£’000
66
127
0
193		 2019
£’000
60
175
0
235

20. Analysis of changes in net debt


Cash and cash equivalents
Cash

Borrowings
Debts due in under 1 year

Debts due after 1 year


Total
 As at
1 Jan 2020
£’000
Cash
fows
£’000
As at
31 Dec 2020
£’000
3,194
752
3,946
(1,012)
(437)
(1,449)
(343)
(139)
(482)
(1,355)
(576)
(1,931)
1,839
176
2,015

Macular Society 69

Notes to the accounts For the year ended 31 December 2020

21. Share capital and members’ guarantees

The Company is limited by guarantee and has no share capital. Each member, whilst a member or within 12 months of ceasing membership, undertakes to contribute on a winding up such amount, not exceeding £1, as may be required.

22. Ultimate controlling party

The Society was controlled throughout the current and previous year by the Board of Trustees.

23. Financial Instruments

At the balance sheet date the Company held financial assets at fair value of £3,946k (2019: £3,194k).

24. Related Party Transactions

During the year a grant payment was made to Action Against AMD amounting to £22,000 (2019: £91,000).

The Macular Society and Action Against AMD are related by virtue of Catherine Yelf (CEO) being a Trustee of Action Against AMD, together with the CEOs of the other founding charities plus three independent Trustees. No balance was owing to AAAMD at the year end.

During the year it was agreed in principle to make a small grant of £5k to Professor Sobha Sivaprasad and others to fund a study of the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of medical retina patients. This grant will be paid in 2021. Professor Sivaprasad is a Trustee/Director of the Company.

There are nine members of our Research Committee: eight are distinguished academics from UK universities and two are lay members, both Directors/ Trustees. The Committee is supported in its work by the Society’s Research Manager and a Research Officer. Grant applications for projects falling within research priorities set by the Trustees are invited annually and are reviewed by members of the Committee using specific assessment criteria. In a second stage those applications that have been selected are peer-reviewed and then assessed by the Committee’s members with funding decisions being consensed in discussion. Committee members absent themselves from assessments in which they have a conflict of interest. The Committee’s final selection is approved formally by the Trustees. Each research project is monitored by the Committee’s officers with regular progress reports being submitted.

70 Macular Society

Appendix A Research Committee

Professor James Bainbridge CHAIR

Professor of Retinal Studies at University College London and Consultant Ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital

Professor Bal Dhillon

Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology, University of Edinburgh and Hon Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion

Professor Phil Luthert

Professor of Pathology, Head of Department of Eye Pathology, Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London

Stephen Stacey

Professor Tom Margrain

Cardiff Centre for Vision Sciences, College of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Cardiff University

Professor Luminita Paraoan

Eye and Vision Science, Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease, University of Liverpool

Dr Imre Lengyel

Senior Lecturer, Centre for Experimental Medicine, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Science, Queen’s University Belfast

Professor Alexander Foss

Consultant Ophthalmologist, Department of Ophthalmology, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

Macular Society Trustee and lay member

William Best

Macular Society Trustee and lay member

Macular Society 71

Macular Society Crown Chambers, South Street, Andover, Hampshire SP10 2BN

Company Registered Numbers: England and Wales 2177039 Isle of Man: 005738F

Registered Charity Numbers: England and Wales: 1001198, Scotland: SC042015, Isle of Man: 1123