Company registration number: 5174065 Charity registration number: 1107539 Charity number (Scotland): SC049810
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
(A company limited by guarantee)
Annual Report and Financial Statements
for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
KM Chartered Accountants 1st Floor, Block C The Wharf Manchester Road Burnley Lancashire BB11 1JG
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Contents
| Reference and Administrative Details | 1 |
|---|---|
| Trustees' Report | 2 to 11 |
| Independent Examiner's Report | 12 |
| Statement of Financial Activities | 13 |
| Balance Sheet | 14 |
| Notes to the Financial Statements | 15 to 21 |
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Reference and Administrative Details
| Chair | A Conquy |
|---|---|
| Trustees | A Conquy |
| P M Cossell | |
| J L Cozens | |
| Prof P H Hillmen | |
| Prof J C W Marsh | |
| S Moos | |
| Prof G M Mufti | |
| Dr S R Samarasinghe | |
| T Stephenson | |
| Secretary | S L Tyler |
| Principal Office | 1st Floor, Block C |
| The Wharf | |
| Manchester Road | |
| Burnley | |
| Lancashire | |
| BB11 1JG | |
| Company Registration Number | 5174065 |
| Charity Registration Number | 1107539 |
| Charity Registration Number | SC049810 |
| Scotland | |
| Bankers | CAF Bank Ltd |
| 25 Kings Hill Avenue | |
| Kings Hill | |
| West Malling | |
| Kent | |
| ME19 5JQ | |
| Independent Examiner | KM |
| Chartered Accountants | |
| 1st Floor, Block C | |
| The Wharf | |
| Manchester Road | |
| Burnley | |
| Lancashire | |
| BB11 1JG |
Page 1
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Trustees' Report
The trustees, who are directors for the purposes of company law, present the annual report together with the financial statements of the charitable company for the year ended 31 March 2021.
Trustees
A Conquy (appointed 29 April 2020)
P M Cossell
J L Cozens
Prof P H Hillmen
Prof J C W Marsh
S Moos
Prof G M Mufti Dr S R Samarasinghe T Stephenson (appointed 29 April 2020)
Chair’s Statement
2020 - 2021 has been a momentous year for the world and against the backdrop of the pandemic the Aplastic Anaemia Trust has grown and deepened the breadth of its work in service of our community which, in its own way, has been momentous too. In the last financial year we have appointed a new CEO and seen the team grow with new roles in patient support and outreach, fundraising and communications. I salute all the staff, and particularly our CEO, Stevie Tyler, for the dynamism, professionalism and dedication they bring to their roles.
Despite Covid continuing to impact all our work, we have continued to deliver support to our communities all over the UK through our website and our increasingly engaged online community. We used this time to pilot new ways of supporting people with the emotional and psychological challenges facing those who have been shielding for 18 months.
Our clear focus has been on collaboration. We’ve established a strong relationship with Maggie's, the national charity whose beautiful drop-in centres across the United Kingdom, have been providing a caring environment that provide support, information and practical advice for people being treated for cancer, and now include people with Aplastic Anaemia, enabling them to access their services, including referrals for benefits advice and psychological support.
We funded some new research exploring the efficacy of the Covid vaccine for people with Aplastic Anaemia and PNH, contributing to the wider understanding of vaccines and blood disorders alongside Blood Cancer UK.
I would like to thank my fellow trustees who support me as chair, and especially my predecessor, Sven Moos, for his careful induction and handover during the course of the year. His commitment to the ongoing excellence of our work is shared by all the board, the staff and our volunteers. Finally, and as ever, we thank our supporters, volunteers, and donors for their dedication to the Aplastic Anaemia Trust and its invaluable work. We appeal to all who support and sustain our efforts to continue and even intensify their work to help the charity to fight Aplastic Anaemia and help those who live with it.
Amanda Conquy Chair of the Board of Trustees
Page 2
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Trustees' Report
What is Aplastic Anaemia?
Aplastic anaemia (AA) is a rare and life-threatening form of bone marrow failure. Most cases are acquired. However inherited types of AA are also quite common and can present in adults, not just in children.
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust is the only UK charity working at grassroots to support every aplastic anaemia sufferer and their loved ones and to help relieve the immense disease burden.
In most cases it is an auto-immune disease, whereby the immune system attacks and destroys stem cells. These cells are essential for making all the different type of blood cells within the bone marrow - red cells, white cells and platelets. This results in a deficiency of the blood-making cells and the consequent downstream effects of low blood counts, in all the cell types. As a result, people cannot lead a normal life and, if untreated, will die quickly.
AA affects 2 people per million of population every year in the UK, mostly the young (0-20) and the elderly (60+). This equates to around 120-150 individuals being newly disnosed per year, with a broader impact on the entire family.
Our Mission, Vision and Objectives
The Objects of the Charity as defined in its Memorandum of Association are to relieve the sickness of those people suffering from bone marrow disease and immune defects.
Vision
Everyone affected by aplastic anemia in the UK should feel empowered, and have access to the best possible treatment, care and support. And one day, everyone with rare bone marrow failure will be able to lead a full and healthy life.
Mission
We deliver our vision though two key strategies:
• Enabling research into aplastic anaemia and other rare bone marrow failures to understand the cause, improve treatments and eventually eradicate it altogether.
• Empowering people affected by aplastic anaemia to lead healthy and fulfilling lives through support, advocacy and improvements to health and social care systems.
Our strategic objectives
A. Ensure everyone affected by AA has the informational, practical, and emotional support they need to lead healthy and fulfilling lives.
B. Improve the knowledge and understanding of AA through education, campaigning, community outreach, leveraging partnerships, advocacy, and system change.
C. Enable ground-breaking research partnerships which lead to improved treatments and better outcomes. D. Underpinning the above, build and hold an evidence base on our community, their experiences and the needs they have.
The challenges we worked hard to address in 2020/21
-
The impact of Covid on - access to support, isolation on mental health and wellbeing, the workplace and employment, AA treatments and the vaccine.
-
Growing and deepening our relationships by creating a coherent supporter journey / experience for our community. Recognition that our people affected by AA and our fundraisers are the same people.
Page 3
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Trustees' Report
AAT’s achievements and performance highlights for public benefit in 2020/21
The Board of Trustees confirm they have had regard to the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit and have complied with their duty under section 4 of the Charities Act 2011 when reviewing the charity's aims and objectives and in implementing current and planning future activities.
2020/21 was a year with a clear focus on delivery of support and outreach to our community, ensuring a range of interventions were put in place to meet the challenges of Covid.
1. ADULT PATIENT INFORMATION, OUTREACH AND SUPPORT
Our achievements in 2020/21
Much progress has been made this year to sustain and expand our adult patient support and outreach offering. In September 2020, a dedicated Patient Support lead was appointed, with responsibility for developing our adult patient information and support. In March 2020, we further expanded the patient support and outreach team by appointing Outreach Coordinators based in Scotland and Wales, initially on six-month contracts, to gain insight into the needs of aplastic anaemia patients, and develop relationships with treatment centres, clinicians and other organisations within the devolved nations. We are grateful to have received specific grant funding for these posts.
Commencing in March 2020, we piloted a new programme of events within our community, aiming to promote both physical and mental wellbeing during the Coronavirus pandemic and reduce feelings of isolation that our community experienced. With the support of trained practitioners, we offered a range of online activity sessions to our community, including pilates, yoga and sound meditation. Encouraged by the take up and success of this pilot, we plan to re-launch our programme of wellbeing activities in autumn-winter 2021 to support our community through the winter season.
Many members of our community report difficulties in accessing information about, or applying for welfare benefits that they may be entitled to. In March 2020, we appointed a benefits advisor on a six-month secondment from Maggie’s Cancer Centres, working one day per week to provide one-to-one benefits consultations for our community. Through this provision, we also held an ‘Introduction to Benefits’ webinar hosted by our benefits advisor, which was attended by 21 individuals and families. In March 2020 alone, nine members of our community requested a 1-1 benefits consultation, all of whom were able to receive the support and information that they needed. We also updated our online and print resources concerning welfare benefits, to ensure that these remained accurate and up to date.
Regional outreach and support
In Scotland, our Outreach Coordinator has successfully developed relationships with clinicians at most of the key treatment centres in Scotland, helping to ensure that patients are able to access our support at the earliest opportunity. We have also forged relationships with all Maggie’s centres in Scotland, helping to raise awareness of aplastic anaemia and ensure that all people affected by aplastic anaemia are able to access their vital supplementary support. Through the work of our Outreach Coordinator in Scotland, we are also in discussions with an organisation called CanRehab, with a view to offering a physical exercise programme suited to patients with aplastic anaemia in the future. By having a key named contact in Scotland, this has allowed us to develop strong relationships with families and patients in the area, giving us an opportunity to provide proactive support in the form of information, emotional and practical support.
Page 4
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Trustees' Report
Since March 2020, our Outreach Coordinator in Wales has developed strong and previously unexplored relationships with the main treatment centres and Maggie’s centres to raise awareness of the support that we are able to offer. In the case of one major treatment centre, in which there was limited awareness of our support offering amongst clinicians, our Outreach Coordinator has developed relationships with several key clinicians and support staff to ensure that newly diagnosed patients are proactively signposted to our support services. We have also forged relationships with several Teenage Cancer Trust clinical nurse specialists to raise awareness of our support offering, which has been warmly received. We have also provided one-to-one support to four families in Wales so far, offering information, emotional support and signposting to other services. This equates to around 120 to 150 individuals being newly diagnosed per year.
Ongoing Coronavirus response
• AAT Connect and Wellbeing Wednesday digital meetings have now been running for over a year, providing a supportive lifeline for our community. These are vital groups offering psychological and mental health support. Wellbeing Wednesday is run on a voluntary basis by the lead clinical psychologist at Maggie’s and we are hugely grateful for this generosity.
• Continuously updating the website with the most up to date guidance provided by the government, Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunisations and the Specialised Healthcare Alliance.
• Providing webinars on rights in the workplace, redundancy rights and ensuring safety for CEV people as restrictions were removed.
2. PAEDIATRIC AND FAMILY INFORMATION, OUTREACH AND SUPPORT
MarrowKidz
Excellent progress has been made with this major paediatric programme over the last 12 months:
• Our new website, featuring 38 new digital and print resources, was launched in November 2020 and received a very positive response from patients, families and healthcare professionals.
• In January 2021, MarrowKidz packs were produced and distributed to 115 consultants across 44 treatment centres. The packs included information, posters, bookmarks and MarrowKidz publications, to allow treatment centres promote and signpost our new resources to young patients and families.
• We received interest from two UK-based charities and a German aplastic anaemia charity, who would like to reproduce our resources for their patient communities.
• A further 8 new resources have been in production this year and will be launched in August 2021.
"What a great selection of beautiful booklets. Very impressive, particularly as they cover the teenage and young adult patients too. I wish we had something similarly colourful and informative for our other rare diseases." Dr Georgina W Hall, Consultant Paediatric & Adolescent Haematologist, John Radcliffe Hospital and Senior Lecturer, University of Oxford
3. RESEARCH
The AAT is currently committed to funding three important research projects, to progress treatments of aplastic anaemia and to further the understanding of the disease.
The Research Advisory Panel has been superseded by the Research and Clinical Advisory Panel (RCAP) which, from January 2022 onwards, will guide our research investments helping us further innovative basic and clinical research to develop understanding of aplastic anaemia and its causes, facilitate new therapies and improve patient outcomes.
1). Identification and relevance of novel somatic mutations in patients with aplastic anaemia, led by Dr Alex Smith and Professor Ghulam Mufti, King’s College Hospital, London
Page 5
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Trustees' Report
Progress headlines:
• A bespoke 291-gene panel was designed and deployed which utilized molecular barcode technology to screen for novel gene mutations to a relatively high sensitivity in AA patients undergoing treatment with the pan-European RACE trail.
• For the batch of 204 samples (from 104 patients), findings showed that in addition to the 31 genes previously screened in the Cancer Research UK parallel study, a number of other genes in our extended screen panel were associated with candidate mutations.
• Many novel mutational events were seen as patient-specific, “one-off” mutations, when any single gene was considered and if potential inherited variants were removed. As this new data set continues to grow, the researchers will be able to establish further functional and pathological relevance to any recurrent candidate driver-mutations, and link this to treatment. The full release of clinical data will be available after the trial ends.
2). Establishment of a paediatric UK bone marrow failure registry and biobank , led by Dr Sujith Samarasinghe, Great Ormond Street Hospital, London
Progress headlines:
• All Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG) paediatric centres approved the collection and sending of blood/marrow from children with AA to the Cell Bank in Manchester. The last centre to do this was in August 2019.
• The registry was set up in York under the Cell Bank Governance structures.
- Data and samples on 20 children were collected. This is about 70% of where we had hoped to be.
• Despite the COVID-19 crisis, biobanking and data registry continued. However, unfortunately, due to a lack of research capacity, the quality-of-life work had to be suspended.
The project will lead to a much better understanding of the causes of AA. It is hoped this will lead to the discovery of novel genes that can result in childhood aplastic anaemia. It is anticipated that data from The 100,000 Genomes Project on paediatric bone marrow failure (BMF) will be combined with genomic data from banked samples to give us an idea about the spectrum of inherited causes of aplastic anaemia.
3). Production of expanded autologous regulatory T cells to treat patients with refractory aplastic anaemia in a phase I dose study , led by Professor Ghulam Mufti, King’s College Hospital, London
In October 2019 we announced this ground-breaking research partnership with LifeArc, a UK-based medical research charity, jointly awarding a £1.15m research grant over 3 years to King’s College London and King’s College Hospital to investigate the potential of a novel type of “personalised cellular therapy” to reverse aplastic anaemia.
The grant began to fund a clinical trial to investigate the safety and efficacy of using a patient’s own T-reg cells to restore the blood-making function of the bone marrow. This follows laboratory-based research from the team of scientists where T-reg cells from a patient’s own blood were collected, selected for activity and multiplied. In a test tube, these cells prevented the immune system from attacking the patient’s bone marrow stem cells.
"For patients with this ultra-rare disease, we’re looking for the first time at a personalised medicine approach where their own immune cells could be used to alter their disease. In AA there is a reduction in the number of T-regs and most of the ones that the AA patients do have are non-functional. We’ve seen success in the laboratory by selecting and bolstering the number of functional T-reg cells. Now, with funding from LifeArc and the AAT, we can investigate the potential of this approach in treating AA patients who currently have very limited treatment options." Prof Ghulam Mufti
Page 6
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Trustees' Report
Progress headlines:
• The project made a promising start with the recruitment of the research team and project manager.
• The initial drafts of the study protocol were produced.
• Testing of T-reg expansion protocol in the laboratory began with the T-reg expansion culture progressing well at the early stages.
• The pandemic put a pause on all laboratory work, which was set to resume once social-distancing measures were eased.
4) Covid vaccine efficacy in patients with PNH (Paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria, is a rare blood disease that causes red blood cells to break apart) and AA: An initial piece of research has been funded at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to better understand the effectiveness of the Covid vaccine in people with PNH and AA. Preliminary results are imminent.
4. AWARENESS-RAISING AND STRATEGIC CAPACITY
Strategic partnerships
• The Together for Healthy Marrow Alliance has grown from strength to strength and has six member organisations. We have created shared priorities and extended our digital support offering to our communities. The alliance hopes to seek some funding for partnership working next year.
• We launched our formal Maggie’s partnership enabling our community to access the services Maggie’s provide, something that people with AA were not previously able to do consistently. We can ensure access to benefits expertise, psychological support and workshops on management of fatigue for people with AA.
Awareness campaigns 2020/21
The primary goals of our awareness-raising in 2020/21 were to help our community to band together during a year of intense shielding and isolation, and reach them with clear messaging about Covid safety.
Our new Super Rare campaign for Rare Disease Day saw over 30 volunteer fundraisers recruited to raise funds and awareness. Our new t-shirts were so popular we sold over 60, and had to reorder to meet the demand. The campaign raised £15,100 in fundraising and £556 in online donations (gross amounts). The campaign was a fantastic success in helping the community feel closer together and we plan to expand on this to make this an annual campaign.
We conducted an overhaul of patient stories on our website, recruiting regular bloggers to share their journey. This richer content has had consistently positive feedback, and one blogger, Connor, won 'Best storytelling by a small charity’ award from Rare Disease Day.
Our social media has improved after training team members to use Canva (a digital design tool). We are posting informative and promotional messages regularly on Instagram, and Facebook. We have received enthusiastic feedback from our shareable posts which empower our community to share key messages with their family and friends. Our Facebook post explaining the difference between aplastic anaemia and anaemia received a reach of 15,800 people (most of our posts achieve a reach of around 300).
Fundraising
2019/20 saw a marked step forward in community fundraising, with inspiring giving from individuals.
Page 7
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Trustees' Report
We would like to extend a big Thank You to every individual who raised money for the AAT through your sporting events, community balls, quizzes, pilates classes, cake bakes and sales, knitting and many more wonderful initiatives.
Due to the pandemic, our community pivoted towards online fundraising, of which some key successes were:
• An increase in people fundraising for their birthday on Facebook
• Community members hosting online events like skincare sessions and quizzes
While mass fundraising events like our own walks and The Great North Run were postponed due to Covid restrictions, we saw some inspiring individual fundraisers create their own challenges including ‘Love You To The Moon and Back’, a fundraiser led by a passionate supporter raising money through running ‘moon miles’ spacesuits.
We created a new fundraising pack for supporters and new resources for use on social media.
We increased the range in our Christmas Shop and created our own range of cards. The Christmas Shop generated £798.22 in profit, from 80% new customers. Repeat customers spent on average £15.56 more than last year, indicating that we should be stocking gifts as well as cards again next year.
We were successful in diversifying our income streams, crucial for the AAT’s financial sustainability, and secured funds from the following organisations, whom we’d like to thank whole-heartedly and acknowledge:
-
Grant-giving Trusts and Foundations
-
Apellis
-
AbbVie
-
Alexion
-
Novartis
-
Lloyds Bank Foundation
-
The Meikle Foundation
-
Thistledown Trust
· The National Lottery Community Fund through Awards for All England, Awards for All Scotland, Reaching Communities and Covid-19 emergency and government support
Page 8
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Trustees' Report
Looking ahead
The AAT will continue to build on the core activities outlined in the annual report, for the benefit of its patient and family communities.
2022 will be an important year for events, with so many having been delayed or cancelled over the last year. This will be important for our income but also for our community and team, who will have opportunities to meet in person, safely.
The principles underpinning the AAT’s strategic objectives will be community-first ethos, collaborative working and organisational excellence.
Risk management
The Trustees have a duty to identify, assess and regularly scrutinise the risks to which the charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error. The Trustees have mapped significant risks that may have an adverse effect on the AAT’s charitable activities.
The principal risks facing the charity are to do with Covid and the management of increased demand for services against a lack of certainty around being able to engage in face to face work, and fundraised income.
A robust risk management framework is in place and remains effective in enabling the Trustees to oversee and monitor strategic risks, reviewing progress against specific action plans quarterly.
Going Concern
The Trustees consider there are no material uncertainties about the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The review of the financial position and future plans gives Trustees confidence that the charity remains a going concern for the foreseeable future.
Financial Review
Unrestricted income for the year totalled £222,766 (2020: £196,488) and expenditure amounted to £151,461 (2020: £262,925) resulting in net income on unrestricted funds for the year of £71,305 (2020: -£66,437). In addition, restricted income of £0 was receivable (2020: £83,320). Expenditure incurred and charged against restricted income funds amounted to £123,474 (2020: £78,042), leaving balances on restricted funds totalling £101,668 at 31 March 2021 (2020: £225,142).
At the end of the year the charity had free, unrestricted reserves of £352,702 (2020: reserves of £281,397).
Page 9
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Trustees' Report
Reserves Policy
The Trustees have considered the charitable company’s position with regard to formulating a reserves policy, aligned with the organisation’s strategy moving forward.
Typically, the charitable company:
• Makes time-limited commitments to fund projects, research, staffing costs which are capped either explicitly or by a time-limit to funding an on-going cost.
• Engages in time-limited commitments with regard to operating costs, consisting in the main of direct and indirect wage costs, as far as is possible and reasonable.
Under its reserves policy the charitable company follows the following principles:
• Ensure that it has an operating income reserve equivalent to approximately 12 months of operational costs of the charity plus a reasonable amount of investment funds to draw upon, in line with the strategy, to the minimum value of £125,000, approved by the trustees in the Reserves Policy in March 2021.
• Ensure that the charitable company retains reasonable reserves to cover unforeseen emergency or other unexpected need for funds.
Given the above, the Trustees have allocated funds to research projects aligned with the Research Strategy launched in April 2018.
Recruitment & appointment of Trustees
When recruiting new Trustees, the Trust looks for individuals with skills and experience which are considered of value to the charity and which are not necessarily held by existing Trustees. Potential Trustees are interviewed by existing Trustees and, if appointed, are provided with a pack of information including, inter alia, a copy of the most recent annual report and financial statements, a copy of the charitable company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association and minutes of recent Trustee meetings. New Trustees then sign a declaration of willingness to act as a charity Trustee before being eligible to vote.
The Trustees are also Members of the charitable company.
Page 10
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Trustees' Report
Chief Executive
The Trustees have delegated day-to-day management of the Trust’s affairs to Stevie Tyler, the AAT’s Chief Executive, during this financial period.
Trustees’ Responsibilities
Company law requires the Directors (who are also Trustees for the purposes of charity law) to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under the law the Directors have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law the Directors 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 charitable company and of its surplus or deficit for that period. In preparing the financial statements, the Directors are required to:
-
select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
-
observe the methods and principles of the SORP (FRS102);
-
make judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
-
state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed in the financial statements;
-
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business.
The Directors 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 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.
The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
Small companies provision statement
The accounts are prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
The annual report was approved by the trustees of the charity on 18 November 2021 and signed on their behalf by:
----- Start of picture text -----
.........................................
----- End of picture text -----
......................................... S Moos Trustee
Page 11
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Independent Examiner's Report to the trustees of The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2021 which are set out on pages 13 to 21.
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
As the company's trustees (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 ('the 2005 Act'), the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Act'). You are satisfied that the accounts of the company are not required by charity or company law to be audited and have chosen instead to have an independent examination.
Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the company's accounts as carried out under section 44 (1) (c) of the 2005 Act and section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (the '2011 Act'). In carrying out my examination I have followed the requirements of Regulation 11 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.
Independent examiner’s statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:
-
accounting records were not kept in respect of the charitable company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations; or
-
the accounts do not accord with those records with the accounting requirements of Regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006; or
-
the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair' view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
-
the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
...................................... Mark Heaton FCCA FCIE DChA KM 1st Floor, Block C The Wharf Manchester Road Burnley Lancashire BB11 1JG
18 November 2021
Page 12
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
(Including Income and Expenditure Account and Statement of Total Recognised Gains and Losses)
| Note Income from: Donations and legacies 3 Grants receivable Fund-raising events Other income Total income Expenditure on: Raising funds 5 Charitable activities 6 Total expenditure Net income/(expenditure) Net movement in funds Reconciliation of funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward 16 |
Unrestricted funds £ 113,987 102,966 1,091 4,722 222,766 (3,186) (148,275) (151,461) 71,305 71,305 281,397 352,702 |
Restricted funds £ - - - - - (21,851) (101,623) (123,474) (123,474) (123,474) 225,142 101,668 |
Total 2021 £ 113,987 102,966 1,091 4,722 222,766 (25,037) (249,898) (274,935) (52,169) (52,169) 506,539 454,370 |
Unrestricted funds £ 154,741 13,338 26,298 2,111 196,488 (42,769) (220,156) (262,925) (66,437) (66,437) 347,834 281,397 |
Restricted funds £ - 83,320 - - 83,320 - (78,042) (78,042) 5,278 5,278 219,864 225,142 |
Total 2020 £ 154,741 96,658 26,298 2,111 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 279,808 | ||||||
| (42,769) (298,198) |
||||||
| (340,967) | ||||||
| (61,159) | ||||||
| (61,159) 567,698 |
||||||
| 506,539 |
All of the charity's activities derive from continuing operations during the above two periods. The funds breakdown for 2020 is shown in note 16.
Page 13
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
(Registration number: 5174065) Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2021
| Note Current assets Debtors 12 Cash at bank and in hand Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year 13 Total assets less current liabilities Creditors: Amounts falling due after more than one year 14 Net assets Funds of the charity: Restricted income funds Restricted funds Unrestricted income funds Unrestricted funds Total funds 16 |
2021 £ - 697,621 697,621 (110,545) 587,076 (132,706) 454,370 101,668 352,702 454,370 |
2020 £ 120,284 637,027 |
|---|---|---|
| 757,311 (118,066) |
||
| 639,245 (132,706) |
||
| 506,539 | ||
| 225,142 281,397 |
||
| 506,539 |
For the financial year ending 31 March 2021 the charity was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
Directors' responsibilities:
-
The members have not required the charity to obtain an audit of its accounts for the year in question in accordance with section 476. However, in accordance with section 44 of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the accounts have been examined by an independant examiner whose report appears on page 12; and
-
The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.
These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.
The financial statements on pages 13 to 21 were approved by the trustees, and authorised for issue on 18 November 2021 and signed on their behalf by:
......................................... S Moos Trustee
Page 14
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
1 Charity status
The charity is limited by guarantee, incorporated in England, and consequently does not have share capital. Each of the trustees is liable to contribute an amount not exceeding £100 towards the assets of the charity in the event of liquidation.
The address of its registered office is: 1st Floor, Block C The Wharf Manchester Road Burnley Lancashire BB11 1JG
These financial statements were authorised for issue by the trustees on 18 November 2021.
2 Accounting policies
Summary of significant accounting policies and key accounting estimates
The principal accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all the years presented, unless otherwise stated.
Statement of compliance
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, on a going concern basis, in accordance with the Charity Commissioners' "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" (effective January 2019) ("the SORP (FRS 102)"), FRS 102, the Charities and Trustees Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006, the Charities Act 2011 and the Companies Act 2006.
Basis of preparation
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes.
Going concern
The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern nor any significant areas of uncertainty that affect the carrying value of assets held by the charity.
Exemption from preparing a cash flow statement
The charity is exempt from preparing a cash flow statement.
Income
All income is recognised once the charity has entitlement to the income, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount of the income receivable can be measured reliably.
Page 15
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Expenditure
All expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to that expenditure, it is probable settlement is required and the amount can be measured reliably. All costs are allocated to the applicable expenditure heading that aggregate similar costs to that category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
Governance costs
These include the costs attributable to the charity’s compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements.
Trade creditors
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of business from suppliers. Accounts payable are classified as current liabilities if the charity does not have an unconditional right, at the end of the reporting period, to defer settlement of the creditor for at least twelve months after the reporting date. If there is an unconditional right to defer settlement for at least twelve months after the reporting date, they are presented as non-current liabilities.
Trade creditors are recognised initially at the transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Fund structure
Unrestricted income funds are general funds that are available for use at the trustees's discretion in furtherance of the objectives of the charity.
Restricted income funds are those donated for use in a particular area or for specific purposes, the use of which is restricted to that area or purpose.
Pensions and other post retirement obligations
The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme which is a pension plan under which fixed contributions are paid into a pension fund and the charity has no legal or constructive obligation to pay further contributions even if the fund does not hold sufficient assets to pay all employees the benefits relating to employee service in the current and prior periods.
Contributions to defined contribution plans are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities when they are due. If contribution payments exceed the contribution due for service, the excess is recognised as a prepayment.
3 Income from donations
| Donations and legacies | Total 2021 £ 113,987 113,987 |
Total 2020 £ 154,741 |
|---|---|---|
| 154,741 |
Page 16
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
4 Income from charitable activities
| 4 Income from charitable activities |
||
|---|---|---|
| Grants receivable | Total 2021 £ 102,966 102,966 |
Total 2020 £ 96,658 |
| 96,658 |
5 Expenditure on raising funds
| Unrestricted funds General £ Raising funds 3,186 3,186 6 Expenditure on charitable activities Unrestricted funds Note General £ Patient Information, outreach & support 43,154 Research & grants 63,453 Governance costs 7 41,668 148,275 |
Restricted funds £ 21,851 21,851 Restricted funds £ 101,623 - - 101,623 |
Total 2021 £ 25,037 25,037 Total 2021 £ 144,777 63,453 41,668 249,898 |
Total 2020 £ 42,769 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 42,769 | |||
| Total 2020 £ 106,907 176,066 15,225 |
|||
| 298,198 |
Page 17
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
7 Analysis of governance and support costs
Governance costs
| Staff costs Accountancy fees Independent examiner's fee Other governance costs |
Unrestricted funds General £ 39,724 - 1,400 544 41,668 |
Total 2021 £ 39,724 - 1,400 544 41,668 |
Total 2020 £ 12,325 1,450 1,450 - |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15,225 |
8 Trustees remuneration and expenses
No trustees, nor any persons connected with them, have received any remuneration from the charity during the year.
No trustees have received any reimbursed expenses or any other benefits from the charity during the year.
9 Staff costs
The aggregate payroll costs were as follows:
| Staff costs during the year were: Wages and salaries Social security costs Pension costs |
2021 £ 111,685 5,681 9,360 126,726 |
2020 £ 104,082 8,108 3,970 |
|---|---|---|
| 116,160 |
The monthly average number of persons (including senior management team) employed by the charity during the year expressed as full time equivalents was as follows:
| Charitable activites The number of employees whose emoluments fell within the following bands £60,001 - £70,000 £70,001 - £80,000 |
2021 No 5 was: 2021 No 1 - |
2020 No 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 No - 1 |
Page 18
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
10 Independent examiner's remuneration
| 10 Independent examiner's remuneration | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2020 | |
| £ | £ | |
| Examination of the financial statements | 1,400 | 1,450 |
11 Taxation
The charity is a registered charity and is therefore exempt from taxation.
12 Debtors
| 12 Debtors | ||
|---|---|---|
| Trade debtors Other debtors |
2021 £ - - - |
2020 £ 108,972 11,312 |
| 120,284 |
13 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
| Other taxation and social security Research grant commitments Pension scheme creditor Accruals |
2021 £ 4,194 106,086 265 - 110,545 |
2020 £ - 106,086 - 11,980 |
|---|---|---|
| 118,066 |
Page 19
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
14 Creditors: amounts falling due after one year
| Research grant commitments | 2021 £ 132,706 |
2020 £ 132,706 |
|---|---|---|
15 Pension and other schemes
Defined contribution pension scheme
The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The pension cost charge for the year represents contributions payable by the charity to the scheme and amounted to £9,360 (2020 - £3,970).
Contributions totalling £265 (2020 - £nil) were payable to the scheme at the end of the year and are included in creditors.
16 Funds
| Unrestricted funds General Restricted funds Marrowkidz Fund Patient Information, Outreach & Support Programme Fund Emergency Response Covid-19 Fund Total funds |
Balance at 1 April 2020 £ 281,397 281,397 158,621 34,386 32,135 225,142 506,539 |
Incoming resources £ 222,766 222,766 - - - - 222,766 |
Resources expended £ (151,461) (151,461) (56,953) (34,386) (32,135) (123,474) (274,935) |
Balance at 31 March 2021 £ 352,702 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 352,702 | ||||
| 101,668 - - |
||||
| 101,668 | ||||
| 454,370 |
Page 20
The Aplastic Anaemia Trust
Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
| Balance at 1 April 2019 £ Unrestricted funds General 347,834 347,834 Restricted funds Marrowkidz Fund 219,864 Patient Information, Outreach & Support Programme Fund - Emergency Response Covid-19 Fund - 219,864 Total funds 567,698 17 Analysis of net assets between funds Current assets Current liabilities Creditors over 1 year Total net assets Current assets Current liabilities Creditors over 1 year Total net assets |
Incoming resources £ 196,488 196,488 - 51,170 32,150 83,320 279,808 Unrestricted funds General £ 595,953 (110,545) (132,706) 352,702 Unrestricted funds General £ 532,169 (118,066) (132,706) 281,397 |
Resources expended £ (262,925) (262,925) (61,243) (16,784) (15) (78,042) (340,967) Restricted funds £ 101,668 - - 101,668 Restricted funds £ 225,142 - - 225,142 |
Balance at 31 March 2020 £ 281,397 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 281,397 | ||||
| 158,621 34,386 32,135 |
||||
| 225,142 | ||||
| 506,539 | ||||
| 2021 Total funds £ 697,621 (110,545) (132,706) |
||||
| 454,370 | ||||
| 2020 Total funds £ 757,311 (118,066) (132,706) |
||||
| 506,539 |
Page 21