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2025-06-30-accounts

sexmatters in life l in law TRUSTEES. ANNUAL REPORT 2025 1 st July 2024 - 30th June 2025 Sex Matters is a human-rights charity promoting clarity about sex in law, policy and language sex-matters.org info@sex-matters.org

Contents

Contents
Charity information 3
Chair of trustees’ introduction 4
CEO’s introduction 5
Objectives and activities 6
Our purpose 6
Our vision 6
Why does sex matter for human rights? 7
The problem 8
Using the law to protect everyone’s rights 9
Our public beneft 10
Our strategy 10
What we do in practice 12
The journey to get here 13
Achievements and performance 19
Make the Equality Act clear 19
Other people have rights 21
First do no harm 23
Be safe for work 25
Protect privacy and data integrity 27
Small organisation: big footprint 28
Supporters 28
Media 28
Social media 29
Explaining sex-based rights and current issues 30
Advisory group 31
Plan for the future 33
Structure, governance and management 33
Financial review 35
Trustees’ statement of responsibility 39
Report of the independent auditors 40
Audited accounts 44
Statement of fnancial activities 44
Balance sheet 45
Cash fow statement 46
Notes to the fnancial statements 48

Charity information

Sex Matters was registered as a charitable incorporated association on 3rd April 2024 (registered number 1207701). It is governed by its constitution as amended by a special resolution dated 28th March 2024.

The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the period 1 April 2024 to 30 June 2025. The trustees have adopted the provisions of 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 trustees confirm they have complied with their duty in section 4 of the 2011 Charities Act to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission in exercising their powers and duties. The trustees are responsible for overseeing the management of all the affairs of Sex Matters and delegate day‐to‐day management of the organisation to the CEO, Maya Forstater.

Reference and administrative details

Charity number 1207701
Principal
address		 167–169 Great Portland Street
London, W1W 5PF
Trustees Dr E N HiltonChair (appointed 3.4.24)
Ms N B Cunningham (appointed 3.4.24,resigned 1.12.25)
Dr M P Biggs(appointed 3.4.24)
Ms R M Bull (appointed 3.4.24)
Ms J D Casimo (appointed 3.4.24,resigned 19.1.26)
T Allan (appointed 1.9.24, resigned 1.9.25)
C Cadden (appointed 26.2.25)
K Owen (appointed 1.9.24, resigned 23.9.25)
A Palmer (appointed 18.8.24)
C Weir (appointed 1.9.24, resigned 19.11.25)
Bankers Lloyds Bank plc
25 Gresham Street
London, EC2V 7HN		 CAF Bank Ltd
25 Kings Hill Avenue
Kings Hill, West Malling,
Kent, ME19 4JQ
Auditors Godfrey Laws Audit Limited
Chartered Accountants
65 Knowl Piece,
Wilbury Way, Hitchin
Hertfordshire, SG4 0TY

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Chair of trustees’ introduction

We are immensely excited to publish our first annual report. This year has been a watershed for Sex Matters. When the organisation was founded in 2020, we faced an environment where the belief that sex is real, immutable and important was deemed to be “not worthy of respect in a democratic society”.

Sex Matters became a charity in April 2024, with a single mission: to bring back clarity about sex to law, policy and everyday life so that everyone’s human rights can be protected.

Just a year later, our mission was vindicated by the highest court in the land. The Supreme Court confirmed that sex matters in life and law. Sex Matters was acknowledged directly in the judgment – a recognition of our rigorous legal work, our persistence and our focus on the public interest.

Since we began, the dedicated staff team together with the trustees have developed the organisation into a formidable force; providing thought leadership, research and legal insights, sharp campaigning and usable guidance and advice that answers practical questions. The team should feel incredibly proud of what they have achieved this year.

Dr Emma Hilton Chair

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CEO’s introduction

2025 was the year when the Equality Act became clear. The Supreme Court judgment was a moment of pride and celebration and optimism.

But legal clarity alone does not change practice on the ground.

Much of our work this year has been about pressing institutions, employers, regulators, schools, sports bodies and public authorities to follow the law.

We have shared analysis, challenged policies, briefed decision-makers, provided practical guidance, made our voice heard in the media and in Westminster, and prepared to return to court.

We continue to grow, but we remain a small organisation. Every scrap of our influence has been possible because of the hard work of our team of staff, trustees, volunteers and those we collaborate with, and because so many people trusted us, supported us and backed us.

The year ahead will focus on ensuring the Supreme Court ruling is implemented, understood and applied in practice; that the female category in sport is protected; that workplaces become safe for speaking truth; that children are safeguarded; and that digital identity systems respect both privacy and reality. Our updated strategy to Make the Equality Act work reflects this shift from clarifying the law to ensuring it is understood and enforced.

We will also work on continuing to strengthen the organisation: building systems, competencies and relationships and making smart use of technology to streamline our workflows so that we can be as effective as we can.

Thank you to our trustees, advisory group, staff, team collaborators, lawyers and every person who has spoken up, written to their MP, shared our work or simply refused to be silent.

I am particularly grateful to our donors. Without the generosity of those who committed to support us with monthly donations, Sex Matters would never have got off the ground. We are grateful for every single person who has given us support. I am proud of the faith they have placed in Sex Matters and of what we have accomplished together, as well as determined for what comes next.

Maya Forstater CEO

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Objectives and activities

Our purpose

Sex Matters is a human-rights charity. Our objects are (in short) to:

  1. promote human rights throughout the world, where they relate to biological sex

  2. advance education about sex and the law

  3. promote the sound administration of the law in relation to sex and equality in the law.

Our aim is to promote clarity about sex in law, policy and language in order to protect everybody’s rights.

Our vision

It is easy and safe to speak about biology

The ordinary truth about the two sexes can be expressed without confusion or stigma.

Law and policy are clear about the two sexes.

Protection against sex discrimination is understood as important.

Freedom is respected

Belief in gender identity is accommodated and judged like other beliefs in a pluralist society where people hold a wide variety of beliefs.

People with beliefs about gender identity know they can express them but cannot impose them on others in a way that breaches those people’s human rights.

Children are protected

Children are supported to be happy and confident in their bodies.

No child or teenager believes they need to modify their body to match their gender non-conformity.

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Why does sex matter for human rights?

We believe that clarity about sex is crucial to protect human rights.

Everyone is born male or female. Everyone is born from the reproductive contribution of a mother and a father. Being male or female determines which reproductive role you can play. These facts of life are important.

Everyone has human rights . As article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”

Sex matters in life. Being a man is not the same as being a woman, and a person’s sex impacts upon their life, their relationships with others and their needs and vulnerabilities. Sex matters for healthcare and other services, for managing risks and resolving interests, for recording data and for understanding science.

Sex matters in law. Clarity about the meaning of man and woman, male and female, is essential to protecting people’s rights, including protecting women and girls against discrimination, and safeguarding children and vulnerable people. Men and women may be treated differently where there is a good reason, such as different medical needs, in sport or in order to respect privacy. People have autonomy to meet and form associations, including single-sex associations.

People who identify as transgender have the same human rights as everyone else. This includes, for example, the right to express their thoughts and beliefs, the right not to be subjected to humiliating or degrading treatment; and the right not to be discriminated against. It does not mean they can change their sex.

Conflicts of rights can be resolved . Making decisions transparently, based on the rule of law and robust evidence, protects not only individuals’ rights, but the integrity and effectiveness of society’s institutions which are needed to protect us all.

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The problem

“People have been led to believe by public authorities, among others, for the last 15 years that they had rights, which they didn’t have.“

Lord Hodge, Supreme Court judge, 12th September 2025 in The Times

The word “gender” is confusing. Sometimes it is used to mean sex (in terms such as “gender pay gap”), and sometimes to mean social expectations of men and women (“gender stereotypes”). Over the past few decades it has increasingly been used for the idea of “gender identity”: that being a man or a woman is an internal sense, not a material reality.

This categorises people who are of opposite sexes as sharing the characteristic of “gender”.

Some of the people wishing to be treated as the opposite sex are driven by feelings of “gender dysphoria” (discomfort about being male or female). Some are driven by autogynephilia (a male’s propensity to be sexually aroused by the thought of himself as a female). Increasing numbers of young people are driven by confusion, adolescent distress and suggestion. Many of them expect to be able to disregard other people’s human rights, and they are being enabled to do so by organisations that have lost sight of their duties.

Everyone should be able to live freely and equally: to get an education and healthcare, make a living, make a home, use public and commercial services, borrow and save, get married, express themselves and be treated fairly by police and courts. This includes people who identify as transgender. But this does not mean that they have changed sex, or that other people have to pretend they have done so.

Human beings cannot change sex, and the impossible idea that they can harms individuals and society:

Some versions of the belief are “not worthy of respect in a democratic society” because they are aimed at the destruction or limitation of other people’s human rights.

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Using the law to protect everyone’s rights

The UK has a framework of laws that protect equality and human rights, including the rights of people who identify as transgender. No law was ever passed forcing people to pretend to believe it is possible to change sex, or that they must treat anyone as having changed sex.

Yet in recent years this idea – often called “gender self-identification” – has been widely adopted by many institutions and in public policies and guidance. The result has been that women’s rights and freedom of speech have been discounted. Science, evidence and data collection systems have been corrupted. Children and vulnerable people have been experimented on with drugs that blocked puberty and led to sterility, loss of sexual function and lifelong medicalisation.

Anyone who contested this has been dismissed as “transphobic”. People who hold ordinary beliefs about the fact that there are two sexes (so called “gender-critical beliefs”) have been targeted by bullying, harassment, discrimination and exclusion.

In 2021 it was established by an Employment Appeal Tribunal that the belief that sex matters is “worthy of respect in a democratic society”. This means that the Equality Act protects people from being discriminated against or harassed because they hold or manifest such beliefs, in the same way as for other religious or philosophical beliefs.

But knowing that there are two sexes and that sex matters is not merely a belief. It is objective reality. The idea of gender identity is not a substitute for sex when it comes to recording personal data and statistics, protecting children and vulnerable people, consenting to intimate contact, communicating rules or reporting objective facts.

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Our public benefit

The trustees have paid due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. The trustees are confident that Sex Matters’ aims and activities are in accordance with the regulations on public benefit.

There is an obvious public benefit in promoting human rights, underpinned by administrative coherence, the rule of law and rational, open, evidence-based decision-making.

For people whose human rights are secured, the benefit is immediate and tangible.

Stopping the persecution of people who do not share the belief in gender self-identification is a crucial step towards returning clarity and reality to institutions. If people stop being afraid to speak they can advocate for their rights and the rights of others. They can point out situations where sex matters, such as in medicine, single-sex services, data integrity and safeguarding.

There is a significant benefit to the whole community from having clear laws that protect everyone’s human rights, and from a clear common understanding of the law.

Our principles

Our strategy

Sex Matters is a UK human-rights charity which has a single objective: to bring back clarity about sex to law, policy and language in order to protect everybody’s rights.

We do this by helping people use the legal framework to protect their sex-based rights and win back institutions to their mission and purpose.

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Our strategy 2024 to 2027

  1. Make the Equality Act clear . Clarify that “sex” in the Equality Act (male/female, man/woman) relates to the ordinary, biological meaning of those concepts, as recognised by common law.

  2. Win back recognition that other people have rights . Raise awareness and provide evidence of conflicts of rights, including in sports, single-sex services and safeguarding. Mobilise effective action and challenge in the public domain through the media, directly with politicians and via courts and regulators.

  3. First do no harm . Stop the school-to-clinic pipeline of schools, charities and clinicians encouraging children to think they can be “born in the wrong body”.

  4. Be safe for work . Challenge the culture of fear at work and promote understanding of the law, so that people do not need courage to say they know what male and female mean, and that they expect their organisation to be clear about reality.

  5. Protect privacy and data integrity . Trans rights are rights to keep information private in some situations. Digital technology enables the development of a workable solution to record sex accurately throughout society while protecting data privacy in situations where that data is not needed.

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What we do in practice

In practice our work falls into four key activities:

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The journey to get here

Sex Matters was registered as a charitable incorporated association on 3rd April 2024. Before that we operated as a not-for-profit company.

Sex Matters Ltd is registered as a company limited by guarantee.

Sex Matters submits evidence to the Women and Equality Select Committee’s inquiry into reform of the Gender Recognition Act.

Sex Matters Chair Naomi Cunningham starts FOI campaign to find out what organisations are committing to as part of the Stonewall Diversity Champions scheme.

Sex Matters briefs peers to support discussion on the meaning of sex in legislative drafting during debate on the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances (MOMA) bill.

On 5th March 2021 Sex Matters launches publicly with a website saying “the era of no debate is over”.

Sex Matters’ first “take action” for supporters is a letter to the Committee on Standards in Public Life calling for a public inquiry into why public institutions adopted policies that-replace clarity about the two sexes with gender self identification. 7,893 people signed the letter, including hundreds of teachers, social workers, doctors, nurses, lawyers, civil servants, business people, charity workers, parents and carers. 20% of those who signed could not do so publicly out of fear.

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Sex Matters sends an open letter and a dossier of cases on being “gender-critical at work” to the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Sex Matters publishes the frst version of its guidance on the Equality Act 2010 for schools in England and Wales and in Scotland, in partnership with Transgender Trend. Sex Matters sends a response to the consultation by British Cycling on its transgender policy. Sex Matters writes to the CEOs of 850 organisations that are members of the Stonewall Diversity Champions Scheme, urging them to withdraw from the scheme as a necessary step to protecting the rights of all their employees, in particular in relation to discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and religion or belief, as established by the Equality Act 2010. On 3rd June Sex Matters has its frst-ever newspaper cover story, in The Telegraph, on Stonewall and the widespread misinterpretation of the Equality Act. On 10th June Maya Forstater achieved a landmark legal ruling that gender-critical beliefs are worthy of respect in a democratic society. Sex Matters launches its weekly memo and asks people to pledge to become core, premium or super supporters. In a single day hundreds of people signed up, showing the strength of support for our aims. Their generosity enables Sex Matters to hire its first member of staff. Maya Forstater becomes Executive Director of Sex Matters Ltd. Sex Matters supporters sponsor copies of Helen Joyce’s book Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality to be sent to MPs and elected representatives in the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland legislatures. A total of 1,185 copies of the book are sent.

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Sex Matters calls on the EHRC in its strategy review to provide clear guidance on single-sex services.

Sex Matters publishes guidance on pronouns at work.

Sex Matters publishes simple guidance on single-sex services.

Sex Matters’ advisory group is launched, bringing together a diverse range of experts

Sex Matters publishes its frst report on sex and digital identities.

Helen Joyce joins Sex Matters as Director of Advocacy.

Sex Matters holds its first public event, “The Claimants”, at Bush Theatre in London.

Sex Matters joins the #RespectMySex campaign with the Women’s Rights Network and Women Uniting in the run-up to local elections.

Sex Matters updates its schools guidance.

Sex Matters publishes Why ban talking therapy? and asks people to write to their MPs.

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Sex Matters publishes Why do single-sex services matter?: findings from a call for evidence. The call had resulted in over 7,000 responses in little over a week, nine out of ten of them from women. The report is launched at a reception at the House of Lords.

Sex Matters produces Sex and the law, a booklet that makes things simple. 5,000 copies have been distributed.

Sex Matters publishes a media handbook on sex and gender.

Sex Matters launches a petition on the UK Parliament website to Make the Equality Act clear. We worked with the Women’s Rights Network and with our supporters to gather signatures.

Sex Matters publishes its human-rights framework.

Sex Matters applies to become a charity.

Sex Matters publishes Lesbians without liberty: how the UK denies freedom of association to women who love women.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission responds to Sex Matters’ petition, recommending that the government clarify the meaning of sex in the Equality Act.

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The petition to clarify the Equality Act closes with more than 100,000 signatures. Sex Matters holds an event in Edinburgh to celebrate the constituencies with the most signatures (the top five were all in Scotland).

A debate is held in the UK Parliament on the petition to Make the Equality Act clear.

The EHRC writes to Sex Matters saying it will update its schools guidance to correct inaccuracies we pointed out.

Sex Matters launches a new campaign: I support single-sex services.

Sex Matters intervenes in the For Women Scotland case in the Inner House of the Court of Session.

Sex Matters publishes Data matters, guidance on collecting data on sex and gender identity.

Sex Matters delivers a letter to 10 Downing Street signed by 15,000 people asking the Prime Minister to take action on the campaign of violence against gender-critical women.

Together with Fair Play For Women, Transgender Trend, LGB Alliance, Women’s Rights Network, For Women Scotland and Merched Cymru, Sex Matters submits a report on the UK’s implementation of the Istanbul Convention to the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO).

Sex Matters supports nurse Sandie Peggie to find a solicitor and launch her employment-tribunal case.

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Sex Matters publishes Women’s services: a sector silenced, a report by Matilda Gosling based on research with leaders in the women’s sector. It is launched at the House of Commons.

Sex Matters makes a submission to the World Health Organisation against activist influence on medical standards for transgender healthcare alongside medically focused groups – the Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender (CAN-SG), Genspect, the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine (SEGM), Transgender Trend, Thoughtful Therapists and With Woman – as well as Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls.

Fiona McAnena joins as Director of Campaigns, from Fair Play For Women.

Sex Matters starts monitoring bias at the BBC.

Sex Matters supports the launch of the WPATH Files exposé about the scandal for gender medicine.

Sex Matters becomes a charity.

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Achievements and performance

Make the Equality Act clear

Clarify that “sex” in the Equality Act has the ordinary, biological meaning.

Making the law clear is central to our strategy to protect everyone’s rights. Misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the words “man” and “woman” in the Equality Act have allowed the law that is meant to protect women’s rights to be used to undermine them.

Our strategy includes public campaigning, engagement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and legal action.

In May 2024 we lodged an application to intervene in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers in the Supreme Court, to argue that sex in the Equality Act means biological sex.

At the same time we continued to campaign so that people understand why clarity about the law matters. In the run-up to the general election, our “I support single-sex services” campaign got the message through to politicians. Thousands of people wrote to candidates, talked to canvassers on the doorstep, asked questions at hustings and called in to radio shows. We commissioned polls showing that opinion was moving in our direction. Overall, 57% of the population supported the proposal to clarify that “male” and “female” in the Equality Act mean biological sex, with just 10% opposing.

On 11th September we held a mass lobby day. Hundreds of supporters came to Parliament to ask their MPs to stand up for single-sex services and to make the Equality Act clear.

In November 2024 we appeared in the Supreme Court, represented by Ben Cooper KC and David Welsh. The historic judgment, which came on 16th April 2025, declared that sex in the Equality Act means, and has always meant, biological sex.

The Supreme Court agreed with us that this is the only interpretation that allows protections against sex discrimination to work coherently. Sex Matters was thanked in the judgment, which said:

“We are particularly grateful to Ben Cooper KC for his written and oral submissions on behalf of Sex Matters, which gave focus and structure to the argument that ‘sex’, ‘man’ and ‘woman’ should be given a biological meaning, and who was able effectively to address the questions posed by members of the court in the hour he had to make his submissions.”

Following the judgement we produced a suite of guidance materials on providing single-sex services with confdence and called for all organisations to update their policies to bring them in line with the law.

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What we asked for

In 2021 we called on the EHRC to step up and address the issue of sex and gender. We told it about women who stand up against gender ideology being bullied at work and in public life, and how this was undermining trust in the integrity of public organisations and regulators. We called on the equality watchdog to provide guidance that clarifies the meaning of sex in the law, and makes clear that people should not be discriminated against or harassed because of their beliefs on sex and gender. We asked it to step back from using the Equality Act to promote childhood transition, and to support clear single-sex provision. We also called on it to meet with us and groups such as Fair Play For Women, Woman’s Place UK, Transgender Trend and LGB Alliance, and to commission research and to publish new guidance on single-sex services.

What’s happened

The EHRC did much of this. And because of that its chair, Baroness Kishwer Falkner, became the target of a vicious backlash. She faced accusations and attacks in the media, an internal investigation, masked men pouring urine around the entrance to the EHRC’s London office and complaints led by Stonewall to the UN body GANHRI. As we wrote in a letter to GANHRI, these are the same sorts of attacks, vexatious complaints and smears that have been used to harass and intimidate so many ordinary women at work. The EHRC was investigated by GANHRI and retained its “A” grade status, but responding to these attacks diverted it from its core purpose.

Update

In 2024, in our response to its new strategy, we thanked the EHRC for its work and its chair for her courage. We called on it to continue to work on the issue of sex-based rights, and to apply the equality and human-rights framework clearly and simply, using natural language . In January 2025 we gave detailed feedback on its draft new code of practice for service providers.

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Other people have rights

Raise awareness, provide evidence of conflicts of rights and enable people to use the law.

Key domains where sex matters in everyday life include single-sex services and charities, healthcare, sport and crime and justice.

Our strategy is to use the law to challenge where human rights are being breached through conflation of sex and gender. We do this by carrying out research and analysis; collecting stories; briefing politicians and officials; engaging with regulators, sports governing bodies and other organisations; producing guidance; and bringing strategic legal cases.

We worked to support a group of trustees of La Leche League who were trying to protect their charity as a single-sex service for breastfeeding mothers and facing a backlash from gender-ideology activists.They went on to set up MoMa Breastfeeding, a new voluntary organisation dedicated to supporting mothers who wish to breastfeed their children.

We conducted a review of the Rape Crisis National Service Standards and found that an organisation that does not clearly recognise the two sexes will be unable to meet 51 of its 61 indicators.

We launched a legal case against the British Transport Police (BTP) challenging its search policy, which allowed male officers with gender-recognition certificates to search female detainees. Following the For Women Scotland judgment, BTP withdrew its unlawful searching policy. We then succeeded in convincing other forces, including Sussex, Merseyside, Northumbria and Surrey Police, to withdraw similar abusive policies. We are now taking action against the National Police Chiefs’ Council and BTP on their new policy, which puts pressure on female officers to strip-search men if those men claim to be trans.

We monitor bias at the BBC and engage with the national broadcaster in several ways, both formal and informal. It is obliged by its charter to be accurate and impartial. But when it comes to reporting on issues of sex and gender, the BBC is neither accurate nor impartial.

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Building the case and shaping the debate on for fair sport

Fiona McAnena leads our sport work. We engage proactively with sports governing bodies and sports councils, bringing the scientific, legal and human rights arguments. When people tell us about their experiences of men in women’s sports, we share those too, with decision-makers and where appropriate with the media.

In August 2025 we responded to the scandal of two male athletes with disorders of sexual development (DSDs) competing in women’s boxing. We produced a hard-hitting short video about the unfairness of men in women’s sports, and briefings on disorders of sexual development and the problem of male inclusion in women’s sport. We hosted a webinar for journalists with Fiona McAnena, Dr Emma Hilton, Sharron Davies and Mara Yamauchi, which was viewed 14,000 times that week.

Our briefing itself made headlines and improved the quality of reporting on the issue. Following the debacle Sebastian Coe, the leading candidate for the position of president of - the International Olympic Committee, said that protecting female sport is non negotiable.

Legal, regulatory and parliamentary action

Following the FWS judgment several governing bodies amended their policies including the Football Association, Scottish Football Association, England and Wales Cricket Board and England Netball. We continue to encourage all sports to bring their policies into line with the law and remove all males from the women’s category. We wrote to the chairs and chief executives of the Sports Councils pointing out that a women’s category must now be based on biological sex or it is not a lawful category.

Recreational activities such as swimming sessions, guided bike rides, and exercise classes provided have been slower to respond. Fiona together with trustee Anya Palmer wrote an article, in the New Law Journal , addressing these and other aspects of sport policies.

We provided critical feedback on the draft EHRC Code of Practice for Services in relation to sport to remove the discredited idea that testosterone suppression can enable transidentifying males to fairly compete “as women”. We provided a briefng to a cross-party parliamentary meeting on this issue. We have engaged with the parties in legal cases defending the women’s category in the sport of pool and are exploring other cases.

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First do no harm

Stop the school-to-clinic pipeline of schools, charities and clinicians encouraging children to think they can be “born in the wrong body”.

There is an epidemic of children and young people seeking to socially transition and to receive hormonal and surgical treatment. Gender medicine relies on the signs and symbols of evidence-based medicine — consultations, diagnoses, drugs and surgeries — while subverting its rationale.

The scandal of the school-to-clinic pipeline involving the NHS’s paediatric gender clinic (the Tavistock’s Gender Identity Development Service) and the charity Mermaids was brought to light by court cases, journalists, parents, detransitioners and campaigners. Dr Hilary Cass exposed the weak evidence base for paediatric gender transition.

Following the Cass Review, we published a briefng dispelling myths about suicide and transgender health care.

Emergency restrictions on puberty blockers were announced by the Conservative government in May 2024. We hosted an event in London bringing together some of the whistleblowers, campaigners, clinicians, researchers and journalists who have spoken up to arrive at this point, including Michele Moore, Stephanie Davies-Arai, Michael Biggs, Sue Evans and Heather Brunskell-Evans.

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Together with other organisations, including the Gay Men’s Network and the Lesbian Project, we wrote to the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, after the general election, urging him to resist calls to to legislate to ban so-called conversion therapy and instead to commit to fve tests that must be satisfied by any proposed legislation, based on the principle of “first do no harm”.

We argue that social transition in school is not possible. In September we published a model policy for schools on how to set clear, fair policies in relation to sex, and how to accommodate children experiencing gender distress. Our model policy is aligned to safeguarding legislation, the Cass Review, the Equality Act 2010 and draft guidance published by the Department for Education before the general election. It is designed to provide confidence to school and college leaders in taking an approach that supports robust safeguarding and does not subject any child to unlawful discrimination or harassment under the Equality Act 2010.

At the end of September 2024 Helen Joyce attended the Genspect conference in Lisbon. She spoke about sex, gender and human rights. We published her speech, together with the one she gave as a keynote at Genspect’s first conference in Killarney in 2023, as a booklet and online.

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Be safe for work

People should not need extraordinary courage to say they know what male and female mean at work.

Making it “safe for work” to speak honestly about the two sexes is crucial to winning back organisations and professions to their missions. Many people have been shocked to discover that saying that they recognise sex instead of gender identity can lead to trouble at work. Individuals quickly learn to remain silent to avoid bullying and workplace sanctions. But important jobs including teaching, healthcare, social work, journalism and science cannot be performed properly without honesty. Protecting untruths creates a culture of fear across institutions, undermines integrity and dulls creativity.

In July 2024, Sex Matters hosted a meeting of people involved in workplace sex equality and equity networks (SEENs). Gender-critical networks have sprung up in sectors including the civil service banking and finance, human resources, the police, healthcare, universities and Parliament. Groups at the meeting included established SEENs and other sector networks, as well as nascent groups. The day was a chance for groups at different stages of development and organisers from all over the UK to gain courage, make connections, share learning and inspire each other into action.

We provide resources for employers and employees, including template letters, information on the law and suggestions on where to go for help. We also provide first-line support to people through our inbox, which deals with an average of 300 queries a month.

In February 2025 Maya Forstater gave evidence in the case of Sandie Peggie v NHS Fife . Sex Matters supported press and public understanding of this important case. In October 2024 we intervened in the case of Kristie Higgs v Farmor’s School on the question of how courts and tribunals should approach religious or philosophical belief-discrimination cases concerning the “manifestation” of belief.

We also explained and documented employment-tribunal judgments as they happened, publishing a review of lessons from the Professor Jo Phoenix case at the Open University, and after the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC) judgment. We launched a series of case briefngs documenting the legal cases that are winning back rights at work, in order to help to accelerate learning and stop more people suffering unlawful discrimination.

In June 2025 we launched Everyday Cancellation together with SEEN in Publishing, a research report investigating the working environment for authors, agents and publishing staff who believe that sex is binary, immutable and important.

Following the For Women Scotland case, we engaged with the Scottish Government on its workplace policies, which eventually led to it revising its toilets policy. We are also engaging with the Health and Safety Executive, calling on it to provide clear guidance on toilets and other facilities at work.

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Listening to supporters and service users

Sometimes it’s a simple “thank you” from a supporter for our latest campaign or web page, which we love to hear. We also receive numerous emails from people asking for help, advice or signposting to information, or responding to our request to “tell us” about their experience, such as of men in women’s sport.

We receive messages from people working in every sector, but most commonly the NHS, education, the voluntary sector and government (both local and national). Many of the enquiries are about bad policies, lack of clarity or workplace training that misrepresents the law.

We also receive frequent reports from people who are using services such as swimming pools, theatres, shop changing rooms and pubs. They ask us whether signage or policies are lawful and what to do if they think that they’re not. For many people the first time they contact us is when they find themselves faced with a situation that they’re not comfortable with.

Providing guidance and support

Sometimes these enquiries can be answered easily. We have a wealth of information and guidance on our website and often signposting to this is enough. Since the Supreme Court ruling, our new web pages on toilets and changing rooms for service users and for employees have been very popular because they explain the law and provide templates for challenging policies or making a complaint. Unfortunately such help is necessary because so many organisations misunderstand or misquote the law – or worse, blatantly ignore it.

Other enquiries are more personal and are from people who are being directly affected and harmed by organisations that refuse to apply the law. For these enquiries we always do our best to provide more detailed support, which may result in a conversation, a letter to the organisation or suggestions on getting legal advice. (We cannot give formal legal advice or act in a legal capacity.)

We also signpost people to other organisations that provide specific help, such as for parents who are concerned about what is being taught in their child’s school, or because of their own child. We log every email we receive and look at the common and emerging themes to help to inform our campaigns and the development of new materials.

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Protect privacy and data integrity

“Trans rights” are privacy rights. They are limited. The solution is to offer a proportionate, workable way to record sex accurately throughout society while respecting the private life of transgender individuals.

In October 2024 the government introduced its Data Bill, which included plans to unlock the power of digitisation to expand the economy and improve people’s lives by creating a framework to support digital identity verification, thus making it easier for people to prove who they are.

Sex Matters proposes that accurate sex data in digital identity systems could help solve the “ ” gender wars , addressing the needs of both those concerned with administrative coherence and data needed for safeguarding, science, sport, and people who wish to keep their sex private on occasions where that information is not needed such as booking a ticket or renting a car.

In November we published a report on the risks and opportunities of the bill and the problem of unreliable sex data in historic systems such as passports and driving licences. Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom, the parliamentary hero of the Post Office scandal, highlighted our report in a parliamentary debate, after talking about how people’s lives were ruined because of unreliable data generated by the Post Office’s Horizon computer system. In December amendments we supported to solve the data issue were debated by the House of Lords. In January the amendments were passed. In March MPs removed these safeguards from the bill.

At the same time the Sullivan Review was finally published. Sex Matters welcomed this long-awaited report on data, statistics and research on sex and gender, which had been commissioned by the previous government and which underlines the importance of clear, accurate sex data.

Together with Lord Arbuthnot, we met Peter Kyle MP, the minister in charge of the digital-identity programme at the time, to explain the problem. In May over 2,000 of our supporters wrote to the minister calling on him to act. The government admitted that passports do not provide reliable information on sex, but has still not come up with a solution for reliable digital data on sex.

We are continuing to engage with the government, seeking to ensure that the “sex” attribute in new forms of digital identity conveys accurate, reliable personal data — or keeps that data private where appropriate.

We also undertook interventions on open justice in several cases, challenging expectations of extraordinary privacy for individuals with trans identities by arguing that such privacy undermines the freedom of expression of others.

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Small organisation: big footprint

Sex Matters works with other campaigners and groups that have developed in the past seven years in response to the failure of established organisations to deal with gender ideology rationally.

These dissident organisations focus on different areas and have a variety of different approaches. But all recognise that sex is real and important.

Sex Matters works with other people and groups that share our core principles, on points of agreement and synergy.

Supporters

Sex Matters is only able to achieve what it does because of our base of active, engaged and generous supporters. They provide donations that are the lifeblood of the organisation, share experience and knowledge with us and use our materials to spark conversations and take action in their communities and organisations and with their political representatives.

Media

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sexmatters Social media FOLLOWERS LARGEST AUDIENCE GROWTH 28.44K +25% pl OYouTube NEW FOILOWERS across all platforms 9,380 .139.58% 6Rowni LINKEDIN GROWTH RATE SECOND IARGEST GROWtH RATE +53.62% ENGAGEMENT POUTICIANS FROM ACROSS THE UK FOILOW AND ENGAGE WITH OUR SOCIAL MEDIA X / TWITTER 0 5.9MIWONVIEWS 0 1.6 MIWON ENGAGEMElIts 0 4.9% ENGAGEMENTRATE CAMPAIGNS SOCWL posrs RELAnNG TO OURCASE AGAINST SOCIAL posrs RELATING TO FWSSUPREME COLRT JUDGMENf IAND RELATED DEVELOPMEMfs) RECENED.• RECEIVED JUST UNDER: 3 MILLION VIEWS 8 MILIION VIEWS sexmatters l Truslees, annual report 2025 29

Explaining sex-based rights and current issues

A large part of Sex Matters’ mission is advocating for sex-based rights to the general public. This means ensuring that as wide an audience as possible understands the law, as well as the specific issues in fields including education, healthcare, criminal justice and sport. It also means shining a spotlight on news stories and court cases where sex-based rights are in play.

Reaching audiences through written content and social media

Since Sex Matters’ inception, our website has run blog posts, briefings and reports to forward this aim. Our weekly memo now goes to 21,000 people every Friday and covers the big stories of the week and what the Sex Matters team have been doing. Our X account is very active, and has been our primary way of getting our message out on social media.

This year we took a strategic decision to move into video in order expand our reach on YouTube and TikTok. In late April we recorded three 90-minute video podcasts on three key topics: Why does sex matter? The hard truth about sport and Fixing the legal mess.

These enabled us to lay out our institutional positions in long form, and in detail, for supporters and a more engaged audience.

Expanding reach through video and new platforms

It also provided us with a bank of high-quality “own-brand” material to use and reuse in short form, both as YouTube shorts and as part of future social-media videos, with the aim of reaching newer, younger and less engaged viewers too. Alongside these long-form videos we recorded a series of 18 shorter “talking head” explainers on topics such as “What does trans mean?” and “Can transwomen breastfeed?”, together with a lighthearted “behind the scenes” outtakes reel.

Altogether this project drove significant new engagement on YouTube, where up till now our presence has relied on clips of media and podcast appearances on other people’s platforms. It also formed the basis of our very successful launch on TikTok. In the coming year we plan to incorporate the lessons learned to produce more video material in long-form and short, both timeless and newsy, as well as to launch our own podcast on Substack.

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Advisory group

As well as the board and staff team, Sex Matters draws on an advisory group that represents a wide range of personal and professional experiences in fields including sport, politics, academia, law, the creative arts, business, healthcare and campaigning. They serve in a personal capacity and have no responsibility for the organisation or its governance.

During the year to June 2025 they included:

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Members of the advisory group who stepped down during the year: Emma Burnell, public-policy professional; Michael Foran, associate professor of law; Tracy Edwards, round-the-world sailor and advocate for women’s sports; Lucy Hunter Blackburn, policy researcher; Ann Keeling, global-health professional; Alice Sullivan, professor of sociology.

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Plan for the future

Over the next year we will continue with our updated strategy. Following the For Women Scotland judgment, “Make the Equality Act clear” has been changed to “ Make the Equality Act work”, with a focus on ensuring that people understand that the law is clear.

  1. Make the Equality Act work. Ensure that the implications of “sex” in the Equality Act meaning biological sex are understood and implemented through policies, guidance and practice.

  2. Win back recognition that other people have rights. Use the Equality Act to protect the single-sex services and the female category in sport. Make talking clearly about the two sexes the norm in institutions, media and regulators.

  3. First do no harm. Ensure that schools, charities, clinicians and policy-makers understand the harm of encouraging children to think they can be “born in the wrong body”.

  4. Be safe for work. Continue to strengthen understanding of the law, including both belief discrimination and the operation of sex-based rules. Provide usable resources for employees and employers and work with SEENs to challenge the culture of fear at work, working across sectors.

  5. Protect privacy and data integrity. Challenge the practice of misrecording of sex, in particular in the development of digital identity.

Structure, governance and management

Sex Matters is a charitable incorporated organisation governed by its constitution. The charity was entered onto the register of charities in 2024.

The governance of the charity is the responsibility of the trustees. Day-to-day management is carried out by the CEO, who draws on the support and expertise of the board of trustees as needed. Trustees delegate management to the chief executive based on a scheme of delegation.

Apart from the first five charity trustees, every trustee must be appointed for a term of three years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees.

New trustees are recruited in various ways, according to the skills sought by the board. Vacancies are advertised on our social media and to our networks, and through charity trustee recruitment services. Potential trustees are invited to submit a formal application and attend an interview.

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New trustees have an induction and receive a copy of the trustees’ handbook, which includes key information about the organisation as well as important policies and procedures. They also receive the governing document, strategy and minutes of previous board of trustee meetings, as well as The Essential Trustee . Training is offered to board members according to their needs.

All trustees also take part in an annual strategy weekend. This is an opportunity to discuss the changing situation and the organisation’s plans, and to spend time with other board members and members of the team.

Pay and remuneration of all personnel is awarded in line with our pay policy and procedure.

The chief executive reports regularly to the board, and the board receives management accounts and financial reports at meetings. We have board and executive working groups on finance and governance and legal cases. Sex Matters’ board of trustees met five times during the reporting period to devise and oversee the delivery of the strategy.

A register of trustees’ interests is in place and is updated before each board meeting.

Related parties and relationships with other organisations

Sex Matters was originally established as a company limited by guarantee. In December 2023 the name of the company was changed to Sex Matters for Everyone Ltd, in order that the charitable incorporated organisation could be named Sex Matters.

Sex Matters for Everyone Ltd was dissolved on 23rd September 2025 following transfer of all operations to the charity.

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Financial review

Overview

We are pleased with our first period of operations as a charity. We successfully raised over £1.2 million solely from public and other voluntary donations.

In our first period of operations, we have been conscious of the need to manage our resources cautiously as our income and operations developed.

The trustees wish to thank all our donors, large and small, for their invaluable support, which has allowed Sex Matters to expand its activities and make decisive progress towards our charitable objectives.

Income and expenditure

Sex Matters made an overall operating surplus in the period ending 30th June 2025 of £586,066. This operating surplus arose from total income of £1,429,806 less expenditure of £843,730 . Excluding the restricted element of £10,760 from the operating surplus, the unrestricted year result was a surplus of £575,306 .

The charity's income includes £205,278 which was a transfer from Sex Matters for Everyone Ltd, the not-for-profit entity through which our operations were previously carried out. After excluding this, the charity received 99.3% of its income (including Gift Aid reclaimed) from its donors.

The charity’s expenditure in the period on fundraising was £53,630 and on charitable activities was £760,519 .

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Charitable activity splits between campaigns and policy, legal action, providing advice, help and guidance and research and analysis.

36

Balance sheet

Total funds available to be carried forwards at 30th June 2025 were £586,066 , of which £575,306 were unrestricted and £10,760 were restricted.

Fundraising

Section 162a of the Charities Act 2011 requires charities to make a statement regarding fundraising activities. The legislation defines fundraising as “soliciting or otherwise procuring money or other property for charitable purposes”. Such amounts are presented on our financial statements as “donations and voluntary income”.

Engaging with our supporters in person, by email and social media are essential ways to involve people in our work and progress. We aim to inform our supporters about the difference their support makes, to make it easy for them to choose how we communicate with them and to respect their privacy.

The day-to-day management of all income generation is delegated to the executive team, led by the CEO and accountable to the trustees.

All our fundraising is managed internally and without the involvement of commercial participators, third parties or professional fundraisers. The day-to-day management of fundraising is delegated to the executive team in line with our fundraising policy.

We are registered with the fundraising regulator.

We have not received any complaints in relation to our fundraising activities.

Going concern

The trustees have reviewed the charity’s financial position, taking into account the levels of reserves, cash and committed income, future plans and systems of financial and risk management. The trustees believe the charity is well-placed to manage operational and financial risks successfully. Accordingly, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue its operations for the foreseeable future and consider that there are no material uncertainties about its ability to continue as a going concern.

Reserves

The trustees are responsible for ensuring that Sex Matters maintains an appropriate level of reserves to meet future risks and provide working capital.

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The trustees have set a reserves policy that requires the charity to hold a target of six months of forecast regular operating expenses as free reserves. Our forecast regular operating expenses based on our budget for the year ended 30th June 2026 are £79,000 per month.

Our free reserves at 30th June 2025 were £424,615 , representing 5.4 months of forecast regular operating expenses, falling slightly short of our target; but in the context of our first year of operations, trustees are satisfied with this position.

Trustees also took the decision to designate funds to cover strategic projects to which the organisation was committed. These designations are as follows, and will be spent over the next year:

next year:
£
Committed strategic campaigns fund 103,500
International development strategic collaboration fund 10,000
Strategy development and implementation fund 35,000

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Trustees’ statement of responsibility

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Charity law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law, the trustees have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law).

Under charity law the trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charity for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011 and The Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Approved by order of the board of trustees on 22nd March 2026 and signed on its behalf by:

Dr Emma Hilton

39

Report of the independent auditors

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Sex Matters (the 'charity') for the period ended 30 June 2025 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom GenerallyAccepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC's Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

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

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

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

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Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report, other than the financial statements and our Report of the Independent Auditors thereon.

Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations2008 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities, the trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements which give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

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

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Our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditors under Section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

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

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

The objectives of our audit in respect of fraud, are; to identify and assess the risks of material misstatement due to fraud; to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the assessed risks of material misstatements due to fraud, through designing and implementing appropriate responses to those assessed risks; and to respond appropriately to instances of fraud or suspected fraud identified during the audit. however, the primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of fraud rests with both management and those charged with governance of the company.

Our approach was as follows:-

Based on our understanding of the Company, the industry and discussions with management we identified Financial Reporting Standard 102 and Companies Act 2006 and UK taxation legislation.

We obtained an understanding of how the Company complies with these requirement by discussions with management and those charged with governance.

We assessed the risk of material misstatement of the financial statements, including the risk of material misstatement due to fraud and how it might occur and whether there had been known instances of non compliance or suspected noncompliance with laws and regulations.

As part of an audit in accordance with ISAs (UK) we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also:

Identify and assess the risks of the financial statements, whether due to fraud and error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, misrepresentations, or intentional omissions.

Enquiries of management regarding compliance of Laws & Regulations and any known instances of non compliance; Examining supporting documentation for all material balances,

Annual report 2025

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transactions and disclosures; Evaluation of the selection and application of accounting policies;

Reviewing the appropriateness of journal entries made in the general ledger and other adjustments made in the preparation of financial statements;

Review of accounting estimates for bias.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial ReportingCouncil's website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities . This description forms part of our Report of theIndependent Auditors.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charity's trustees, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts andReports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity's trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors' report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted bylaw, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity's trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Godfrey Laws Audit Limited 65 Knowl Piece Wilbury Way Hitchin Hertfordshire SG4 0TY

Howard Ashmore FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of Godfrey Laws Audit Ltd

20th April 2026 Date: .............................................

Annual report 2025

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Audited accounts

Statement of financial activities

For the Period 1 April 2024 to 30 June 2025

Notes Notes Unrestricted
funds £		 Restricted
funds £		 Total
funds £
INCOME & ENDOWMENTS FROM
Donations and legacies
Other trading activities
Investment income		 2
3
4		 1,140,603
206,824
6,814		 75,565
-
-		 1,216,168
206,824
6,814
Total 1,354,241 75,565 1,429,806
EXPENDITURE ON
Raising funds		 5 53,630 - 53,630
Charitable activities
Research (inc legal) & analysis
Campaigns and Policy
Resources, Advice and Helpdesk
Legal action
Other		 5 120,007
251,436
152,128
172,143
29,591		 15,000
-
9,240
40,565
-		 135,007
251,436
161,368
212,708
29,591
Total 778,935 64,805 843,740
NET INCOME 575,306 10,760 586,066
TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED
FORWARD		 575,306 10,760 586,066

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Balance sheet

30th June 2025

30th June 2025 30th June 2025
Notes Unrestricted
funds £		 Restricted
funds £		 Total
funds £
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible assets		 8 2,191 - 2,191
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors
Cash at bank		 9 33,579
675,728		 -
10,760		 33,579
686,488
709,307 10,760 720,067
CREDITORS
Amounts falling due within one
year		 10 (136,192 ) - (136,192)
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT
LIABILITIES		 575,306 10,760 586,066
NET ASSETS 575,306 10,760 586,066
FUNDS
Unrestricted funds:
General fund
Designated Funds:
Committed Strategic
Campaigns
Intl Dev Strategic Collaboration
Strategy Devpt &
Implementation		 11 426,806
103,500
10,000
35,000
575,306
Restricted funds 10,760
TOTAL FUNDS 586,066

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 22nd March 2025 and were signed on its behalf by:

Dr Emma Hilton Annual report 2025

page 45

Cash flow statement

Notes Notes £
Cash fows from operating activities
Cash generated from operations		 1 685,974
Net cash provided by operating activities 685,974
Cash fows from investing activities
Purchase of tangible fxed assets
Interest received		 (6,300)
6,814
Net cash provided by investing activities 514
Change in cash and cash equivalents in
the reporting period		 686,488
Cash and cash equivalents at the
beginning of the reporting period -
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of
the reporting period		 686,488

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Notes to the cash flow statement

for the Period 1 April 2024 to 30 June 2025

1. RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME TO NET CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

Net income for the reporting period (as per the Statement of
Financial Activities)
Adjustments for:
Depreciation charges
Interest received
Increase in debtors
Increase in creditors
Net cash provided by operations		 Net income for the reporting period (as per the Statement of
Financial Activities)
Adjustments for:
Depreciation charges
Interest received
Increase in debtors
Increase in creditors
Net cash provided by operations		 £
586,066
4,109
(6,814)
(33,579)
136,192
685,974

2. ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN NET FUNDS

At 1.4.24
£		 At 1.4.24
£		 Cash fow
£		 Cash fow
£		 At 30.6.25
£
Net cash - 686,488 686,488
Cash at bank - 686,488 686,488
Total 686,488 686,488

The notes form part of these financial statements

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Notes to the financial statements

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements of the charity, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement ofRecommended 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)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UKand Republic ofIreland' and the Charities Act 2011. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Income

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, 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 accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life.

Computer equipment - 33% on cost

Taxation

The charity is exempt from tax on its charitable activities.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees. Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

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2. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES

2. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES 2. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES
£
Donations
Gift aid		 1,143,230
72,938
1,216,168

3. OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES

3. OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES 3. OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES
£
Other income
Social media monetisation
Other income		 80
1,466
205,278
206,824

Transfer from SMFE Ltd on cessation of trading £205,278

4. INVESTMENT INCOME

£
Interest receivable - trading 6,814

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5. TOTAL EXPENDITURE

Raising Funds
Fundraising Costs
Other
Governance Costs
Charitable Activities
Research and analysis
Campaigns and policy
Guidance and advice
Legal action		 Raising Funds
Fundraising Costs
Other
Governance Costs
Charitable Activities
Research and analysis
Campaigns and policy
Guidance and advice
Legal action		 Direct costs
£		 Support costs
£		 Support costs
£		 Totals
£
18,365
0
88,058
133,420
88,679
182,447		 35,265
29,591
46,949
118,016
72,689
30,261		 53,630
29,591
135,007
251,436
161,368
212,708
510,696 328,771 843,740

Support costs (including Governance costs) for the period ended 30 June 2025 comprise:

General Management
Finance, operations,
human resources and IT		 General Management
Finance, operations,
human resources and IT		 Raising
Funds
£		 Charitable
activities
£		 Governa
nce
£		 30 June
2025
£
17,538
17,727		 138,249
129,666		 18,308
11,283		 174,095
158,676
267,915 29,591 332,771

Charitable expenditure includes grant funding of £62,500 to For Women Scotland for campaigning and engagement to ensure policy and legislation applicable to Scotland is consistent with human rights in relation to sex and to help people understand and use the law in relation to sex and human rights.

Net expenditure is stated after charging: 30 June
2025
£
Auditors' remuneration
Depreciation		 6,300
1,700

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6. TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the period ended 30 June 2025.

£
Trustees' expenses 127
7. STAFF COSTS
£
Wages and salaries 331,985
Social security costs 27,927
Pension costs 6,255
366,167
Pension costs relate to employer's contribution to defned beneft contribution pension schemes. The
average monthly number of employees during the period was as follows:
Employees 8
The number of employees whose employee benefts (excluding employer pension costs) exceeded
£60,000 was:
£100,001 to £110,000 1
  1. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
8. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS 8. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
Computer
equipment
£
COST
Additions		 6,300
DEPRECIATION
Charge for year		 4,109
NET BOOK VALUE
At 30 June 2025		 2,191

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9. DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

9. DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR 9. DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
£
Prepayments and accrued income 33,579
  1. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
10. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR 10. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
£
Trade creditors
Other creditors		 96,449
39,743
136,192

Annual report 2025

page 52

11. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS

11. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS 11. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS
Net
Transfers in
funds
£		 Movement
between
funds
£		 At
30.6.25
£
Unrestricted funds:
General fund
Designated Funds:
Committed Strategic Campaigns
Intl Dev Strategic Collaboration
Strategy Devpt & Implementatio
n		 575,306
-
-
-		 (148,500 )
103,500
10,000
35,000		 426,806
103,500
10,000
35,000
575,306 - 575,306
Restricted funds
Restricted fund		 10,760 - 10,760
TOTAL FUNDS 586,066 - 586,066

Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Incoming
resources
£		 Resources
expended
£		 Resources
expended
£		 Movement in
funds
£
Unrestricted funds:
General fund		 1,354,241 (778,935 ) 575,306
Restricted funds
Restricted fund		 75,565 (64,805) 10,760
TOTAL FUNDS 1,429,806 (843,740 ) 586,066

Annual report 2025

page 53

12. DESIGNATED FUNDS

Designated funds are held for the following purposes:

13. RESTRICTED FUNDS

Restricted funds are held for the following purposes:

14. RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES

As reported on page 49, transfer from SMFE Ltd on cessation of trading £205,278.

There were no other related party transactions for the period ended 30 June 2025.

Annual report 2025

page 54

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