**Charity registration number 1188919 (England and Wales)**
## **VISIBLE WOMEN UK**
**ANNUAL REPORT AND UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2025**
## **VISIBLE WOMEN UK**
## **LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION**
**Trustees** A J Pearson N Brugger (Appointed 3 November 2024) T Schofield **Charity registration** England and Wales 1188919 **Principal address** 1 Spadger Lane West Stafford Dorchester DT2 8UB **Independent examiner** CB Reid Limited Wadebridge House 16 Wadebridge Square Poundbury Dorchester Dorset DT1 3AQ
## **VISIBLE WOMEN UK**
## **CONTENTS**
||**Page**|
|---|---|
|Chair's statement|1|
|Trustees' report|2 - 4|
|Independent examiner's report|5|
|Statement of financial activities|6|
|Balance sheet|7|
|Notes to the financial statements|8 - 11|
## **VISIBLE WOMEN UK**
## **CHAIR'S STATEMENT**
## _**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2025**_
## **Note from the Chair**
This has been another exciting and significant year for Visible Women UK. After months of fundraising, campaigning and incredible support, we successfully raised the funds needed to create a statue celebrating the remarkable writer Sylvia Townsend Warner. By the end of the financial year, sculptor Denise Dutton had been commissioned, work on the statue was well underway and an unveiling date of 22 December 2025 had been set. We are delighted to report that, since the year end, the Townsend Warner statue has now been successfully unveiled in Dorchester.
Dorset has long celebrated its great literary men, with writers such as Thomas Hardy and William Barnes firmly embedded in our cultural landscape. Townsend Warner deserves to stand alongside them. Her statue helps broaden the story Dorset tells about its literary heritage, putting an important female literary voice back in her rightful place and making her presence permanent within the county she called home.
Townsend Warner's visibility matters for another reason too. She lived openly with her partner, the poet Valentine Ackland, at a time when being openly queer was far from accepted, particularly in rural Britain. Nearly a century later, placing Townsend Warner permanently within Dorset's public landscape is a powerful acknowledgement that our shared history is made up of many different voices and lives.
The statue gives visibility not only to an extraordinary writer and woman, but to LGBTQ+ history within a rural community where those stories have too often remained unseen. This feels entirely at the heart of what Visible Women UK exists to do: ensuring the women who helped shape our history are finally given the space, recognition and permanence they deserve.
.............................. A J Pearson **Chair** 2nd Sept 2026
Date: .........................
- 1 -
## **VISIBLE WOMEN UK**
## **TRUSTEES' REPORT**
## _**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2025**_
The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 30 September 2025.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's Foundation Document dated 6 April 2020 (as amended on 20 August 2024), the Charities Act 2011 and "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 (FRS 102)" (effective 1 January 2019).
## **Objectives and activities**
Visible Women UK is a grassroots charitable organisation committed to honouring the lives and legacies of overlooked and underrepresented historical women from Dorset. Through the commissioning and installation of permanent public monuments, we seek to celebrate these women’s contributions and ensure their stories are made visible in the landscape, both literally and symbolically. By creating enduring works of art in prominent locations, we aim to provide focal points for remembrance, education and collective pride, so that these women are never forgotten again.
In May 2022, we successfully funded and unveiled a bronze statue of pioneering palaeontologist Mary Anning in Lyme Regis. During 2024–25, the charity’s principal focus was the development of its second major public statue project in Dorchester, supported by an extensive programme of research, public consultation, community engagement and fundraising.
## _Public benefit_
The trustees have carefully considered the guidance issued by the Charity Commission regarding public benefit and remain confident that our work aligns with these principles.
Through our educational, heritage and community activities, we provide opportunities for people of all ages to discover and engage with the stories of historically underrepresented women. Our projects are developed with significant public involvement and result in permanent, freely accessible public artworks and educational resources that benefit local communities and visitors to Dorset.
- 2 -
## **VISIBLE WOMEN UK**
## **TRUSTEES' REPORT (CONTINUED)** _**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2025**_
## **Achievements and performance**
## _Significant activities and achievements against objectives_
A major focus of the year was Dorset Sheroes, our community research project created to identify overlooked women with significant connections to Dorchester and the surrounding area.
The project was launched through schools, community groups, events and local publicity, inviting the public to nominate women who met a set of criteria: they had to be real historical figures who were no longer living, have a connection within a 25-mile radius of Dorchester town centre, and have made a significant contribution locally, nationally or internationally.
We anticipated receiving a relatively small number of suggestions but were delighted to receive 57 nominations, uncovering an extraordinary range of women and stories. From these, six women were shortlisted for a public vote.
To make the selection process as accessible and community-led as possible, we created a physical voting board and took it directly out into the community. This included visits to local schools, festivals and community events, as well as some Dorchester Town Council events, enabling a wide cross-section of people to participate.
The public vote resulted in a clear majority for writer and poet Sylvia Townsend Warner, who was selected as the subject of Visible Women UK’s second permanent statue.
Following her selection, we undertook further consultation with LGBTQ+ communities to ensure that this important aspect of Townsend Warner’s life and legacy was properly represented within the project. We worked with local LGBTQ+ representatives, youth organisations and young people, including students at Thomas Hardye School, and attended Pride and LGBTQ+ community events across Dorset to gather views and encourage participation.
Alongside this community work, fundraising for the statue continued throughout the year. By 30 September 2025, the necessary funds had been successfully raised, sculptor Denise Dutton had been commissioned and work towards the planned unveiling on 15th December 2025 was underway.
Since the year-end, the Townsend Warner statue has been successfully unveiled in Dorchester.
The Dorset Sheroes project has also created a valuable body of research beyond the statue itself. The stories of the 57 nominated women have highlighted the extent of women’s history still waiting to be explored and shared, and the trustees are considering opportunities to bring these stories together in a future publication.
## **Financial review**
During the year, the charity continued to raise and manage funds in support of its charitable objectives, with significant fundraising activity focused on the Townsend Warner statue and associated project costs.
During the year we raised £18,824. After operational expenses, the charity had cash available of £34,375 at the year end.
## _Reserves policy_
The reserves are held to fund the continued aims of the charity, and the trustees give due consideration to the level of reserves to meet its ongoing commitments.
## **Structure, governance and management**
The charity is a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation).
The trustees who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
A J Pearson
N Brugger (Appointed 3 November 2024) T Schofield
## _Recruitment and appointment of trustees_
Trustees are appointed by a resolution passed following a properly convened meeting of the Trustees to ensure suitability of candidates.
- 3 -
## **VISIBLE WOMEN UK**
## **TRUSTEES' REPORT (CONTINUED)** _**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2025**_
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
.............................. A J Pearson **Trustee** 2nd Sept 2026 Date: .............................................
- 4 -
## **VISIBLE WOMEN UK**
## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF VISIBLE WOMEN UK**
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Visible Women UK (the charity) for the year ended 30 September 2025.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.
I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act 2011.
## **Independent examiner's statement**
Your attention is drawn to the fact that the charity has prepared the financial statements in accordance with the relevant version of the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) in preference to the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice issued on 1 April 2005 which is referred to in the extant regulations but has now been withdrawn. I understand that this has been done in order for the financial statements to provide a true and fair view in accordance with UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.
- 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 that in any material respect: 1 accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Charities Act 2011.
- 2 the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
- 3 the financial statements do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of financial statements set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the financial statements give a true and fair view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
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 financial statements to be reached.
## **Matthew Haines FCA**
Wadebridge House 16 Wadebridge Square Poundbury Dorchester Dorset DT1 3AQ 2 September 2026 Dated: .........................
- 5 -
## **VISIBLE WOMEN UK**
## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (INCLUDING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT)**
## _**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2025**_
|||**Unrestricted**|**Unrestricted**|
|---|---|---|---|
|||**funds**|**funds**|
|||**2025**|**2024**|
||**Notes**|**£**|**£**|
|**Income from:**||||
|Donations and legacies|**3**|18,539|966|
|Charitable activities|**4**|285|355|
|**Total income**||18,824|1,321|
|**Expenditure on:**||||
|Charitable activities|**5**|26,569|6,231|
|Other expenditure|**8**|-|500|
|**Total expenditure**||26,569|6,731|
|**Net expenditure and movement in funds**||(7,745)|(5,410)|
|**Reconciliation of funds:**||||
|Fund balances at 1 October 2024||42,120|47,530|
|**Fund balances at 30 September 2025**||34,375|42,120|
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
- 6 -
## **VISIBLE WOMEN UK**
## **BALANCE SHEET**
## _**AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2025**_
|**2025**
**Notes**
**£**
**£**
**Current assets**
Cash at bank and in hand
34,375
**Net current assets**
34,375
**The funds of the charity**
Unrestricted funds
34,375
34,375
2nd Sept 202~~6~~|**2024**
**£**
42,120|**£**
42,120|
|---|---|---|
|||42,120|
|||42,120|
||||
The financial statements were approved by the trustees on .........................
..............................
## A J Pearson **Trustee**
- 7 -
## **VISIBLE WOMEN UK**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** _**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2025**_
## **1 Accounting policies**
## **Charity information**
Visible Women UK is a CIO, registration number 1188919. The charity's address is 1 Spadger Lane, West Stafford, Dorchester, DT2 8UB.
## **1.1 Basis of preparation**
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's CIO Foundation Document dated 6 April 2020, the Charities Act 2011, FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the Charities SORP "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 (FRS 102)" (effective 1 January 2019). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.
The financial statements have departed from the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 only to the extent required to provide a true and fair view. This departure has involved following the Statement of Recommended Practice for charities applying FRS 102 rather than the version of the Statement of Recommended Practice which is referred to in the Regulations but which has since been withdrawn.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
## **1.2 Going concern**
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
## **1.3 Charitable funds**
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
## **1.4 Income**
Income is recognised when the charity is legally entitled to it after any performance conditions have been met, the amounts can be measured reliably, and it is probable that income will be received.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.
Legacies are recognised on receipt or otherwise if the charity has been notified of an impending distribution, the amount is known, and receipt is expected. If the amount is not known, the legacy is treated as a contingent asset.
- 8 -
## **VISIBLE WOMEN UK**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)** _**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2025**_
## **1 Accounting policies**
**(Continued)**
## **1.5 Expenditure**
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.
Expenditure is classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Central staff costs are allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges are allocated on the portion of the asset’s use.
## **1.6 Cash and cash equivalents**
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
## _**Basic financial assets**_
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
## _**Basic financial liabilities**_
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
## _**Derecognition of financial liabilities**_
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
## **2 Critical accounting estimates and judgements**
In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
- 9 -
## **VISIBLE WOMEN UK**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)** _**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2025**_
## **3 Income from donations and legacies**
||**Unrestricted**|**Unrestricted**|
|---|---|---|
||**funds**|**funds**|
||**2025**|**2024**|
||**£**|**£**|
|Donations and gifts|18,539|966|
|**Donations and gifts**|||
|Other|18,539|966|
||18,539|966|
## **4 Income from charitable activities**
||**T-shirt sales T-shirt sales**|**T-shirt sales T-shirt sales**|
|---|---|---|
||**2025**|**2024**|
||**£**|**£**|
|Sale of goods|285|355|
|**Analysis by fund**|||
|Unrestricted funds|285|355|
**5 Expenditure on charitable activities**
||**Charitable**|**Charitable**|
|---|---|---|
||**expenditure**|**expenditure**|
||**2025**|**2024**|
||**£**|**£**|
|**Direct costs**|||
|Internet / web costs|2,000|362|
|Bank charges|9|-|
|Launch / Maquette Day costs|624|-|
|Statue expenses|24,034|4,811|
|Postage costs|25|23|
|Legal, professional and insurance costs|(123)|889|
|T-Shirts for events|-|146|
||26,569|6,231|
|**Analysis by fund**|||
|Unrestricted funds|26,569|6,231|
- 10 -
## **VISIBLE WOMEN UK**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)** _**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2025**_
## **6 Trustees**
None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits from the charity during the year.
## **7 Employees**
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
||**2025**|**2024**|
|---|---|---|
||**Number**|**Number**|
|Total|-|-|
There were no employees whose annual remuneration was more than £60,000.
## **8 Other expenditure**
||**Unrestricted**|**Unrestricted**|
|---|---|---|
||**funds**|**funds**|
||**2025**|**2024**|
||**£**|**£**|
|Donations made|-|500|
## **9 Taxation**
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
## **10 Related party transactions**
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2024 - none).
SIGN
- 11 -