ANNUAL REPORT 2024 - 2025
Charity Name: The Richard Whitehead Foundation Charity Registration Number: 1194726
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CONTENTS
Administrative information
Chair & CEO Report
The Trustees’ Annual Report & Accounts What we achieved In 2024-25 Plans, priorities & objectives for 2025-26 Structure, governance & management Financial review Independent examiner’s report
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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Trustees
Richard Whitehead MBE PLY Mark Fosbrook PLY President Chair Peter Stansbury Kate Naish Treasurer Vice Chair Resigned: September 2024 Amanda Clewes Rachael Ashton Treasurer Compliance Lead Joined October 2024 David Howells Tracy Cox-Smyth OLY Trustee Trustee Claire Buckle Andrew Whitaker Trustee Trustee Gill Lane MBE Helen Jeremiah Trustee Trustee Joined: January 2025 Joined: January 2025
James Dixon Trustee Joined: January 2025
Chief Executive Officer
Penny Sturgess (resigned August 2025)
Registered Address
c/o 9ine Accounting 76 Bridgford Road West Bridgford Nottingham NG2 6AX
info@whitehead.foundation www.whitehead.foundation
Independent Examiner
9ine Accounting 76 Bridgford Road West Bridgford Nottingham NG2 6AX
Charity Registration Number
1194726
Bank
National Westminster Bank Plc Chatham Customer Service Centre Chatham Waterside Court Chatham Maritime Chatham ME4 4RT
Lisa May BSc (Hons); Dip HSW (joined September 2025)
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CHAIR & CEO REPORT
Welcome to the annual report and financial statements of the Richard Whitehead Foundation (RWF) for 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025.
It has been a year of development and expansion for the Richard Whitehead Foundation. In August our first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Penny Sturgess, who had joined at the beginning of 2024, was joined by our first Digital Communications and Marketing Officer Alice Curtis. This marks a major investment in building our brand, developing our communications and expanding our reach.
This has been a year of development, refining the strategic focus for our project and service portfolio.
We expanded our Supported Runner Programme at the TCS London Marathon and six events in the AJ Bell Great Run Series, supporting 37 disabled people to complete an event.
We delivered our third Run with Rich mass participation inclusive event; once again attracting a diverse audience of disabled and non-disabled people, friends and families.
We also worked with Nissan and Run Through to deliver the first Run to the Future event at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. We worked with 410 children in schools in Teesside in our second BP Week of Inspiration.
We continued to support the eight beneficiaries of our Nissan Possibilities Project and recruited our third cohort of a further four beneficiaries who began their journey towards getting running prosthetics and being supported to maximise their potential.
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Holme Pierrepont Watersports Centre in Nottingham, whom we thank for hosting our annual Run with Rich event.
We worked in partnership with the following organisations who assisted us in the successful delivery of services to disabled people and families:
Star Trust , whom we thank for their grant to help us set up a mentoring programme in Leicestershire.
Nissan, whom we thank for their continued funding and in-kind support for our Possibilities Project and our Supported Runner Project.
The National Lottery, whom we thank for our first Awards for All grant to help us expand our mentoring programme across the East Midlands, which was awarded in 2024–25, with no funding received within the year.
Össur, whom we thank for providing running prosthetics such as blades and ongoing support with getting the most out of their blades to our Nissan.
Dorset Orthopaedic and
Proactive Prosthetics Ltd, whom we thank for supporting our Nissan Beneficiaries with limb fittings.
Gaddesby Gallop in
Leicestershire , whom we thank for donating the proceeds from their annual event to support our work and for promoting out Supported Runner Project.
Anglo American, whom we thank for providing capacity building and donations funded by their Ambassadors for Good programme.
Better IT whom we thank for providing our IT services.
World Mobile, whom we thank for their ongoing donations.
The Richard Whitehead Foundation remains a volunteer and user led organisation.
We, along with the wider Board of Trustees, express our thanks to all the staff, freelancers and volunteers who have worked with us over the past 12 months. Their determination, enthusiasm and resilience are greatly appreciated and we look forward together to the exciting prospects of the year ahead.
We continue to be supported by our community of over 100 volunteers who supported the activities of the RWF over the course of the year. We would like to thank all our
volunteers, who have provided an estimated total of 1,166 volunteering hours with a value in-kind contribution of over £30,316. We also thank our hundreds of individual fundraisers who have together raised a total of £49,425 for the RWF by taking part in charity events such as the London Marathon and Run with Rich or raising funds in other ways.
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THE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS
The trustees of The Richard Whitehead Foundation present their annual report and accounts for the year 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, and confirm they comply with the current requirements of UK Charity Law and the Charities Constitution.
Status
The Richard Whitehead Foundation is a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) registered in England and Wales: registration number 1194726. It has a constitution as its governing document.
Charitable object
To promote for the benefit of people with physical or mental disabilities the provision of facilities (which includes projects, mentoring and equipment) to encourage participation in disability sports in general and track and field athletics in
particular, in the interests of social welfare and with the object of improving their conditions of life.
Public benefit
The trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing their aims and objectives and in planning future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives of the charity.
Who we are
The Richard Whitehead Foundation, established in 2021 by Paralympic Gold Medalist Richard Whitehead MBE, is a national charity dedicated to supporting disabled people to achieve their ambitions through the lifechanging power of sport.
What we do
The Richard Whitehead Foundation enables disabled people’s ambitions through the power of sport and physical activity. We believe all disabled people should have access to the life-changing power of sport. We place the individual at the centre of our work. We provide access to support, mentoring, information, advice, equipment and opportunities that will spark a sustained lifetime intervention. We work with disabled people who are facing physical and emotional challenges who without intervention would likely remain inactive. We help to identify and remove their barriers to engaging in sport and physical activity, supporting them to reach their full potential.
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WHAT WE ACHIEVED IN 2024-25
In our fourth full year of operations, the trustees and CEO have continued to develop the building blocks of the organisation through governance, capacity building, fundraising, the appointment of our first part-time Digital Communications and Marketing Officer and part-time Bid Writer and the recruitment of two Project Officers.
We revamped our website, created a regular newsletter and produced a brand kit and marketing assets. We have developed a database of supporters and stakeholders and built our following on social media using it to build our brand and reach more people to tell the story of our work.
Through our investment in
fundraising we were successful in securing grant funding from the Star Trust and Awards for All. Run with Rich raised more funding than ever and other events such as Run to the Future and the Gaddesby Gallop in Leicestershire raised awareness of the Supported Runner Project and significant funding for our work.
We reviewed our service and project portfolio and established our Mentoring Programme, Supported Running Project and the development of a Supported Sports Project as the keystone of our future offer. Below is a summary of what we achieved through our services and projects.
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NISSAN POSSIBILITIES
In partnership with Nissan, Össur, Proactive Prosthetics and Dorset Orthopaedic we support young adults with leg limb loss, amputation or limb difference to participate in running and other sports. We source and fund the provision of running prosthetics and provide ongoing support to get the most from the prosthetics. Össur provides prosthetics which are tailor-made for each beneficiary and a specialist physiotherapist. They work closely with Proactive Prosthetics and Dorset Orthopaedic limb centres, RWF and the beneficiaries through each stage of their journey, enabling them to get the most from their prosthetics.
This year we used the experience of the programme over the past two years to tighten our policies and procedures, improve the customer journey and build wider partnerships. Following this we recruited our third cohort of beneficiaries. We received nine applications for the programme and invited five to attend an
assessment day with our partner prosthetics provider, Össur and Proactive Prosthetics. Four beneficiaries were accepted onto the programme and have begun being assessed for their prosthetics according to their personal development needs. This brings the number of beneficiaries supported by the programme so far to 12 in total.
The four beneficiaries chosen last year for our second year of the Nissan Possibilities programme have completed the programme. They were supported through mentoring, facilitated peer networking, guidance and the provision of running prosthetics. Since completing the programme one of our beneficiaries has taken up stand-up paddle boarding; another is climbing mountains with other amputees while a third has achieved her ambition to complete a two-mile run and is enjoying running and playing outdoors again with her children. Our fourth beneficiary has progessed his running career to national level and is on his way to achieving his dream of representing the UK internationally.
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RUN WITH RICH 2024
For the third year we organised Run with Rich, once again providing a platform to showcase diversity and inclusion in action and to fundraise for our work.
This unique event is open to all impairment types and enables people to 'run' the course their way so that the experience is their own challenge. Participants complete either a 5km or a 1mile sensory course alongside Richard Whitehead MBE.
Once again our events village was central to the event showcasing entertainment from local drumming and gymnastics groups and stalls from disability and sports organisations such as Paddle UK, Decathlon, Delichon and Footprints. 390 people took part their way: young and old; non-disabled and disabled people; as well as people from differing cultural backgrounds. This incredible event could not have happened without the support of Holme Pierrepont and our fabulous organising committee with our amazing team of volunteers.
A feedback survey was sent to all participants and volunteers. It showed that the Net Promotor Score (NPS) ie the % of people who would recommend Run with Rich to a friend or colleague for volunteers was 100 and for participants it was 95.
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SUPPORTED RUNNER PROJECT
Following our successful pilot last year we established our Nissan funded Supported Runner Project as one of our major offers.
This included supporting five disabled people to complete the TCS London Marathon for the first time with two of them breaking the world record for their category.
Through the project we train experienced runners to provide disabled people with the support, access, encouragement and motivation they need to take part in a running event. No matter their impairment, if a disabled person wants to run we match them with a support runner who will discuss their needs before an event and provide the support they need on the day.
his project supports disabled runners whilst establishing our brand and influencing event organisers to improve inclusion. The success of the project has enabled us to begin recruitment of a Project Officer to grow the programme at mass events and bring it to shorter community runs alongside developing a project to support disabled people to complete other sporting events such as swimming and cycling.
Tn 2024-25 we built a database of 126 volunteer support runners, 39 of whom have completed our online training and gone on to support 18 disabled people to participate in a marathon, half marathon or 10k.
MENTORING
We secured funding from Star Trust and Lottery Awards for All to further build on the pilot mentoring programme delivered in Nottinghamshire last year by establishing programmes in Leicestershire and across the East Midlands.
They work together over six months to break down these barriers and connect with local sports clubs and initiatives. They meet weekly (online or in person), discussing the mentee’s situation and working together to source solutions such as equipment and opportunities to be more active and engage in sport or movement-based activity and progress with their personal goals. The new funding has enabled us to begin the recruitment of our first permanent Project Officer to expand the programme across the East Midlands and into other areas.
This programme will provide a person-centred approach supporting disabled people to access the life-changing power of movement and sport. We train mentors (who are disabled) and matched them with disabled people who faced multiple barriers and were likely to remain inactive without intervention.
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RUN TO THE FUTURE
Our President, Paralympian Richard Whitehead MBE and DJ Adele Roberts worked with Nissan to create a running event to celebrate diversity, being yourself and making sport a more accessible, inclusive place.
We worked with event organisers Run Through, training their management and event staff in disability awareness and supporting them to ensure Run to the Future was accessible at every stage of the event from registration to completion of the run, including the course and the customer experience. 587 people completed the run and it featured on the Amazon Prime documentary Dare to Defy. The Richard Whitehead Foundation benefitted from the proceeds from Run to the Future.
There was a 2k and 5k route both totally accessible for everyone regardless of ability and aimed at people who had never taken part in a run before and wanted a challenge.
ADVANCED RUNNING CLINIC
In partnership with Össur and England Athletics we delivered an Advanced Running Clinic for lower limb participants who have started to run, either on a running blade or suitable prosthetic.
It took place at the Regional Sports Centre in Manchester and was attended by nine adults (including three of our beneficiaries), three juniors, four clinicians (physios and prosthetists), and three coaches. Working with athletic coaches and physiotherapists the purpose of the day was to help develop new athletes and increase knowledge in the work force.
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PLANS, PRIORITIES & OBJECTIVES FOR 2025-26
2024–2025 has seen some exciting developments at the Richard Whitehead Foundation including developing our strategic focus and building capacity for the year ahead. With a team of four staff and a freelance bid writer, the coming year will be an opportunity to further develop and expand our offer and grow our funding base so that we reach and support many more disabled people to achieve their ambitions through sport.
DEVELOPING OUR PROGRAMMES & SERVICES
Our objective to put the individual at the heart of what we do will remain unchanged. We will support our Nissan Possibilities amputees to get active and engage them in our other projects. We will further develop our Supported Runner Project so that we support more disabled people to participate in the TCS London Marathon and other mass 10k, half marathon and marathon events. We will extend the project to shorter community runs and reach those disabled people who face barriers to getting active and who would benefit both physically and mentally from being involved in a short local run. We will work with organisations such as Park Run to do this and to make their events more inclusive and break down the barriers that currently exist for disabled people.
We will train and match mentors who are disabled themselves and involved in sport with disabled people who are struggling. They will work together to achieve mentees’ personal goals through getting active. Supported by funding from the Star Trust and National Lottery Awards for All we will set up a new mentoring programme in Leicestershire and across the East Midlands.
2025-26 will be the year that we are seen to move into other sports. We will use Run with Rich to engage and work alongside organisations in supporting disabled people to have a go at other sports such as climbing, sitting volleyball, amputee football, cricket and boccia. We will use the supported runner model to establish a support programme for other sports and will pilot this in swimming and one other sport.
Following the success of the Advanced Running course, we will organise more events to engage disabled people in trying out different sports and linking them with local clubs and providers. We will work with partners such as Climb2Recovery to deliver a climbing and skills day and Pheonix Paddle Sports to deliver stand up paddle boarding.
We will set up new mentoring services to support disabled people who are struggling to get active and we will seek grant funding to develop this area of our work. Many disabled people need support to get active, enter sporting events and engage in their communities with some just needing more confidence to start on a road to physical activity.
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BUILDING OUR BRAND & TELLING DISABLED PEOPLE’S STORIES
Over the coming year we want to build our brand, amplify our impact and reach more people. We will develop a monitoring and evaluation framework for all our programmes and we will further invest in our marketing and communications in order to tell our story and the stories of disabled people.
We will invest in a CRM system to improve our efficiency, customer experience, donor stewardship, volunteer management and beneficiary support. We will use this to become smarter about how we use data and become more personalised in our marketing and communications.
GOVERNANCE
The Richard Whitehead Foundation remains committed to rigorous governance and continuous improvement. We will review all our policies and procedures and make amendments where required.
We will recruit a new Chair when our current Chair, Mark Fosbrook reaches the end of his tenure. The new CEO will work with trustees to review the structure and remit of the Board and implement any required changes.
ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE FINANCES
Our financial position remains stable and we are using our resources to invest in the development of the charity. Achieving sustainable, long-term income remains a key priority and in the coming year we will continue to employ a freelance bid writer to support grant and trust fundraising. We will implement a CRM system to improve our stewardship of fundraisers.
For the first time we will sign up to be a Gold Charity Partner for the Robin Hood Half Marathon and Mini Marathon.
We will recruit a team of runners to fundraise for us and raise the profile of the foundation, and we will be the official provider of support runners to disabled people. We will continue to seek corporate partnerships and funding and develop partnerships with organisations across the sector.
We will use Run with Rich 2025 to raise vital funds making it bigger and better than ever by including additional sports for disabled people to try and we will bring on board our first corporate sponsor for the event.
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STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE & MANAGEMENT
The Richard Whitehead Foundation is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, governed through a constitution last amended in October 2021.
The Richard Whitehead Foundation is a user led organisation with the majority of the Board comprising of people with lived experience of disability. We are governed by a Board of a maximum of 12 trustees recruited through an open, inclusive and robust process. This includes open advertising of the Board of Trustee roles, an application and shortlisting process, informal information sessions to meet the existing trustees and interviews.
The Board of Trustees has remained committed to rigorous governance and continuous improvement. We reviewed the structure of the Board, including removing some lead roles so that responsibility for areas like fundraising are the responsible of every trustee rather than just one person. We conducted a skills audit and developed a trustee skills matrix identifying the gaps we needed to consider when recruiting new trustees to the Board.
Within the year we have seen some change in our Board. Trustee of three years, Kate Naish became our Vice Chair. Our Treasurer, Peter Stansbury stepped down in September 2024 and we thank him for his work to develop the financial rigour of the charity. Amanda Clewes joined as our new Treasurer in October 2024 following a thorough handover with Peter. We welcomed new trustees, Helen Jeremiah, Gill Lane and James Dixon in January 2025. Penny Sturgess resigned from her role as CEO in August 2025 and Lisa May took over as our new CEO in September 2025 following a thorough handover with Penny. We thank Penny for all her work in building a new team, refining the strategic focus and bringing the organisation to where it is today.
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FINANCIAL REVIEW
The Charity made a surplus of £10,621 from an income of £185,411 during the period 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025. In addition we
received a donation of Prosthetic equipment from Össur UK valued at £29,931 (see note 1 in financial statement).
Reserves Policy
The foundation had £152,423 cash reserves as at 31st March 2025. Reserves Policy :it is the policy of the Charity to maintain reserves to operate fully throughout the year without the need for an overdraft. In addition we ensure that we operate with unrestricted cash available greater than three months running costs.
Approved by the Trustees on 12th January 2026 and signed on their behalf by:
Mark Fosbrook
Trustee and Chair
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INCOME & EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT
1st April 2024 – 31st March 2025
Note:
*During the accounting period April 1st 2024 to March 31st 2025 the Foundation received a donation of prosthetic equipment from Össur UK to the value of £29,931.
| Year ending 31 March 2025 | Year ending 31 March 2025 | Year ending 31 March 2025 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year ending March 2025 £ |
Restricted Inc/Exp £ |
Unrestricted Inc/Exp £ |
As restated Year ending March 2024 £ |
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| INCOME | ||||||
| Restricted Income | Nissan Project Notts Active BP Star Trust |
88,000 - - 5,000 |
88,000 - - 5,000 |
- - - - |
88,000 - 20,008 - |
|
| Unrestricted Income | General Donations Grants Charitable Activities Nike Clothing Bank Interest |
87,138 - 3,809 - 1,464 |
29,931 - - - - |
57,207 - 3,809 - 1,464 |
39,386 - 40,193 8,948 872 |
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| Total Income | 185,411 | 122,931 | 62,480 | 197,407 | ||
| EXPENDITURE | ||||||
| Charitable Activities | Limb Fitting Ossur donation* Physio Mentoring & Support |
38,335 29,931 300 - |
38,335 29,931 300 - |
- - - - |
5,493 9,000 - 12,494 |
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| Cost of raising funds | Advertising & Promotion Event Costs Nike Clothing Donation Contractor Costs Staff Costs |
2,437 12,447 - 25,710 46,203 |
432 2,405 - 18,376 13,352 |
2,005 10,042 - 7,334 32,851 |
2,862 8,568 8,948 10,619 27,396 |
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| Administrative expenses | Insurance Training Legal & Professional Fees Travel & Accommodation Bank Charges |
1,442 860 1,718 13,142 - |
560 860 225 9,502 - |
882 - 1,493 3,640 - |
1,277 - 600 12,439 252 |
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| Other Costs | Donation Hosting Software subscription Other admin expenses |
591 1,602 72 |
- - - |
591 1,602 72 |
644 1,915 1,819 |
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| Total Expenditure | 174,790 | 114,277 | 60,513 | 104,326 | ||
| Surplus | 10,621 | 8,654 | 1,967 | 50,168 | ||
| Surplus Brought Forward | 143,249 | 82,884 | 60,365 | 93,081 | ||
| Transfer between funds | - | 1,717 | (1,717) | - | ||
| Surplus Carried Forward | 153,870 | 93,255 | 60,615 | 143,249 |
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BALANCE SHEET
As at 31st March 2025
| As restated | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 31st March 2025 | 31st March 2024 | ||
| £ | £ | ||
| Current Assets | |||
| Bank & Cash | 152,423 | 139,659 | |
| Trade Debtors | 1,716 | 1,832 | |
| Other Debtors | - | 1,873 | |
| Other Creditor | (269) | (115) | |
| Total Net Assets | 153,870 | 143,249 | |
| Funds of the Charity | |||
| Restricted Funds | Nissan Project | 88,255 | 73,666 |
| Star Trust | 5,000 | - | |
| Notts Active | - | 7 | |
| BP | - | 9,211 | |
| 93,255 | 82,884 | ||
| Unrestricted Funds | 60,615 | 60,365 | |
| Total Funds | 153,870 | 143,249 |
Approved by the Trustees on 12th January 2026 and signed on their behalf by:
Mark Fosbrook
Trustee and Chair
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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT ON THE ACCOUNTS
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www.whitehead.foundation charity@whitehead.foundation