WOMEN’S HEARTBEAT
Charity No. 1196851
Trustees’ Report and Unaudited Accounts
31[st] March 2025
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Women’s Heartbeat
Contents
| Pages | |
|---|---|
| Trustees’ Annual Report | 4 - 6 |
| Statement of Financial Activities | 7 |
| Balance Sheet | 8 |
| Notes to the Accounts | 9 - 11 |
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Women’s Heartbeat
Trustees’ Annual Report
The trustees present their report with the unaudited financial statements of the charity for the period ended 31[st] March 2025.
Reference and Administrative Details
Charity No. 1196851
Principal Office
The Old Farm Gagingwell Enstone Chipping Norton OX7 4EF
Registered Office
The Old Farm Gagingwell Enstone Chipping Norton OX7 4EF
Directors and Trustees
The following Trustees served during the period:
Barbara Shaw Caron Curragh Dr. Melanie Rein
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Women’s Heartbeat
Objectives and Activities
Women’s Heartbeat’s activities focus on our three main objectives: 1) raising awareness of women’s heart disease and of the importance of early diagnosis; 2) providing improved access to information, education, and guidance for both patients and medical professionals; 3) promoting and supporting research into heart disease in women and its treatment.
Achievements and Performance
It is now four years since our trustees first decided to set up a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) to raise awareness of women’s heart disease and its risks, by providing educational information to help women get the help they need, by improving the gender imbalance in diagnosis, treatment and outcomes for women with heart disease, and by encouraging additional research. This year we have been working on the following:
1. Charity administration, policies and procedures
This has been a difficult year for the trustees as illness has impacted heavily on our work. The trustee board continues to meet on a regular basis, to oversee the governance of the CIO, review performance and policies, set objectives and have oversight of the charities finances. We are very grateful to our volunteer Brian Curragh who continues to produce our quarterly and annual accounts.
2. Promoting the charity
Trustees promote Women’s Heartbeat by writing articles, giving interviews, writing to politicians and the press and by attending lectures and symposia including the European Society of Cardiologists. The interviews between Caron and Barbara and Dr Sanjay Gupta on Women’s Heart issues and Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy now available on our website have been viewed more than 20,000 times. https://www.womensheartbeat.com.
3. Working with other charities
We continue to work closely with other heart charities, including the British Heart Foundation and Cardiomyopathy UK. Caron continues to be a support volunteer with Cardiomyopathy UK for people with Takotsubo and has worked with their communications team to review and update their website pages on Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy.
4. Website
We continue to work on our website: a large amount of work has gone into improving the design and adding and updating content. Grateful thanks to Caron for her continued work supporting the website. The site emphasises our main aims: raising awareness, providing and improving access and promoting clinical research, as well as promoting our fundraising events. The website is also being populated with educational information about heart disease in women and what to look out for. Anyone viewing the site can contact us by email, make a donation to the charity, or offer to volunteer.
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Women’s Heartbeat
5. Raising awareness and advocacy
Caron continues to undertake the administration of the Takotsubo Support Group on Face Book and the Takotsubo website www.Takotsubo.net. These sites provide support, information and education to its 4,100 international members with an additional 300 members joining this year. The Takotsubo support group has also been used to promote the aims of Women’s Heartbeat, keep members aware of the work of the charity, undertake patient surveys and to obtain feedback on patient experience and opinions as well as promoting fundraising events.
Our Instagram and Facebook accounts are used to promote the work of the charity and raise awareness as well as providing information and links to cardiac related news and education. We also provide access to articles via the TTS Facebook group and the Takotsubo website.
Barbara continues to be a member of the Oxfordshire County Council Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee. She has been appointed as a Patient Safety Partner at Oxford University Hospital Trust where she raises safety, improvement and learning issues regarding cardiology services provided at the John Radcliff hospital’s Oxford Heart Centre as well as cardiac services in the community. Barbara sits on the trusts Clinical Governance Committee and Clinical Improvement Committee. Barbara has also joined the board of Healthwatch Oxfordshire and has been working with the charity on a questionnaire to gain insight into women’s experiences of diagnosis and health care in Oxfordshire including for cardiac disease.
6. Support for women with heart issues and their families
Women’s Heartbeat trustees provided support for people with Takotsubo through the Takotsubo Facebook Support Group. Caron also provides one-to-one support to women with heart issues via both telephone and zoom as a volunteer with Cardiomyopathy UK. We also support anyone who contacts the charity by email.
The trustees are very grateful to all the volunteers and supporters who contributed time and money to support the charity.
7. Research
We have been working closely with Prof. Dana Dawson, at Aberdeen University on the research programme looking at ACE inhibitors as a treatment for Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy. ‘A Randomised Controlled Trial of Renin-Angiotensin System Inhibition for Reduction of Cardiovascular Events after Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy (EVEREST)’. A grant of £3,049,458.47 was awarded in 2024. The duration of the trial is 1[st] January 2025 through to 31[st] December 2031. Caron is a member of the EVEREST Project Management Group and meets regularly with the project team to provide input from Women’s Heartbeat.
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Women’s Heartbeat
Financial Review
The charity and its supporters raised £25.47 in this financial year as the trustees made a decision not to undertake any fundraising activities during this financial year. Our unrestricted funds were £2,414.60 at the end of the financial year. The charity has given out no grants during the year. It is the policy of the trustees to keep reserves sufficient to cover four months’ operating costs. The trustees expect the charity to continue as a going concern.
Plans for future Periods
The trustees plan to continue with our current strategic objectives: raising awareness of women’s heart disease, including strengthening our links with cardiac medical institutions, cardiac charities, NHS and central government; improving access to information and education by developing our website and social media; and promoting research by continuing to work with and support cardiac research specialists.
Structure, Governance and Management
Women’s Heartbeat is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) governed by a constitution dated 25[th] June 2021. The original trustees are the founders of the charity. Apart from the first charity trustees, every trustee will be appointed for a term of three years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees.
In selecting individuals for appointment as charity trustees, the charity trustees will have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the CIO.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and for ensuring that financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. Trustees are also responsible for guarding the assets of the charity and taking reasonable steps to detect and prevent irregularities and fraud.
In planning our activities for the period trustees kept in mind the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit at our trustee meetings and in all our charitable activities.
The above report has been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102). Signed on behalf of the board.
Barbara Shaw Chair 22[nd] December 2025
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Women’s Heartbeat
Statement of Financial Activities
For the period ended 31[st] March 2025
| Incoming resources Just Giving receipts Give As You Live receipts Smile Amazon Investment income Total incoming resources Resources expended Grant making Other expenses Website expenses Just Giving fees CAF Bank fees Total resources expended Net (outgoing)/incoming resources Total Funds brought forward Total Funds carried forward |
2025 £ 2024 £ 0.00 125.28 20.00 15.69 0.00 31.91 5.47 5.89 |
|---|---|
| 25.47 178.77 191.13 - 216.00 216.00 60.00 60.00 |
|
| 467.13 276.00 |
|
| (441.66) (97.23) |
|
| 2,856.26 2,953.49 |
|
| 2,414.60 2,856.26 |
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Women’s Heartbeat
Balance Sheet
At 31[st] March 2025
| Fixed assets Tangible assets Investments Total fixed assets Current assets Debtors Cash at bank and in hand Total current assets Creditors falling due within one year Total assets less current liabilities Creditors falling due after more than one year Net assets The funds of the charity Unrestricted funds Total charity funds |
2025 £ 2024 £ 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 |
|
|---|---|---|
| 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2,605.73 2,856.26 |
||
| 2,605.73 2,856.26 191.13 2,414.60 2,856.26 2,414.60 2,856.26 2,414.60 2,856.26 2,414.60 2,856.26 |
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Approved by the board on 22[nd] December 2025
And signed on its behalf by:
Barbara Shaw Chair 22[nd] December 2025
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Women’s Heartbeat
Notes to the Accounts
For the period ended 31[st] March 2025
1 Accounting policies
Basis of preparation
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with 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 2015) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.
Unrestricted funds
These are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objects of the charity.
Income
Recognition of income
Income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when the charity becomes entitled to, and virtually certain to receive, the income and the amount of the income can be measured with sufficient reliability.
Income with related expenditure
Where income has related expenditure the income and related expenditure is reported gross in the SoFA.
Donations and legacies
Voluntary income received by way of grants, donations and gifts is included in the the SoFA when receivable and only when the Charity has unconditional entitlement to the income.
Donated services and facilities
These are only included in income (with an equivalent amount in expenditure) where the benefit to the Charity is reasonably quantifiable, measurable and material.
Volunteer help
The value of any volunteer help received is not included in the accounts.
Expenditure
Recognition of expenditure
Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered, and is reported as part of the expenditure to which it relates.
Expenditure on raising funds
These comprise the costs associated with attracting voluntary income, fundraising trading costs and investment management costs.
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Women’s Heartbeat
Expenditure on charitable activities
These comprise the costs incurred by the Charity in the delivery of its activities and services in the furtherance of its objects, including the making of grants and governance costs.
Grants payable
All grant expenditure is accounted for on an actual paid basis plus an accrual for grants that have been approved by the trustees at the end of the year but not yet paid.
Governance costs
These include those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the Charity, including any audit/independent examination fees, costs linked to the strategic management of the Charity, together with a share of other administration costs.
Other expenditure
These are support costs not allocated to a particular activity. The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.
Taxation
The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.
Freehold investment property
The charity does not hold any freehold investment property.
Stocks
Stock is included at the lower of cost or net realisable value. Donated items of stock are recognised at fair value which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay for the items on the open market.
Trade and other debtors
Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash at bank and on hand, demand deposits with banks and other short-term highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less and bank overdrafts. In the statement of financial position, bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings or current liabilities. In the Statement of Cash Flows, cash and cash equivalents are shown net of bank overdrafts that are repayable on demand and form an integral part of the company's cash management.
Trade and other creditors
Short term creditors are measured at the transaction price. Other creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.
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Women’s Heartbeat
Research and development
Expenditure on research and development is written off in the year in which it is incurred.
Pension costs
The charity does not operate a pension scheme.
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Charity status The charity is a CIO.
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Related party disclosures
The board of trustees are the controlling party.
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