Charity registration number: 1210474 ## **Pregnancy Associated Osteoporosis UK** Annual Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31[st] December 2025 1 Charity registration number: 1210474 |**Item**||**Page **| |---|---|---| |Table of contents||2| |Reference and Administrative Details||3| |Trustees Report||4-8| |_Objects and aims_||4| |_Structure, governance and management_||4| |_Public beneft_||5| |_Achievements andperformance_||5| |_Infrastructure_||6| |_Research_||6| |_Financial review_||6| |_Plans for futureperiods_||7| |_Major risks and management of those risks_||7| |Statement of Trustee responsibilities||8| 2 Charity registration number: 1210474 ## **Pregnancy Associated Osteoporosis UK** ## **Reference and Administrative Details** ## **Charity Registration Number:** 1210474 ## **Principal Office** Long Haddon School Lane South Chard Chard Somerset TA20 2SA ## **Trustees** Karen Ann Whitehead MBE Co-chair Professor Stuart H Ralston, Co-Chair Professor Graham Richard Williams OBE Jane Victoria Kent Professor David Macauley Reid MBE Anne Catherine Southcombe Morag Park James William Green Caroline Craig Driscoll Kathryn Berg Tessa Gooding ## **Bankers** Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) Bank UK 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4JQ 3 Charity registration number: 1210474 ## **Trustees' Report** The trustees present the annual report together with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended December 2025 ## _Objects and aims_ Pregnancy Associated Osteoporosis UK is the only charity whose remit is solely concerned with the condition of pregnancy associated osteoporosis (PAO) The broad aims of the charity are to provide information and support for people with this condition and their families; to raise awareness about the condition among healthcare professionals, policy makers and the general public in all aspects of PAO; to support advocacy regarding women’s physical and mental health and wellbeing and other relevant healthcare topics relevant to PAO and to support study and research into PAO, its prevention and treatment and publishing and disseminating the useful results of latest research. ## _Structure, governance and management_ The Pregnancy Associated Osteoporosis charity was founded as a charitable incorporated organisation on 15[th] October 2024. The Board of Trustees is collectively responsible for setting the strategy and policies of the Pregnancy Associated Osteoporosis (PAO) UK charity. The Board, during this period, had 11 trustees and in line with the Constitution, established various Committees, all of which had at least one trustee as a member. The role of these committees is to conduct a detailed analysis and review of the areas for which they are responsible, and to give strategic advice to the Board to then, with board approval, facilitate delivery of the objectives of the organisation. Recommendations of the committees are reported to and ratified by the board, with authority delegated to the committees to carry out approved activities. The ongoing organisational structure of the Charity is shown below. The Medical and Scientific committee was formed after charity registration and is chaired by Dr Sarah Hardcastle a volunteer. The committee comprising 11 PAO expert members; Dr Alex Cominos, Dr Kirsten Furley, Prof Stuart H Ralston, Kathryn Berg, Morag Park, Prof Jennifer Walsh, Dr Claire Holmes, Dr Hannah Irvine and Lynne Hammond. Three of this committee are trustees (Prof Stuart H Ralston, Kathryn Berg and Morag Park). The governance and policy committee is chaired by trustee Caroline Driscoll and has three members, who are all trustees, with trustee Morag Park additionally acting as trustee safeguarding lead. The finance committee was chaired by trustee Anne Southcombe with Karen Whitehead and Morag Park as members. It was responsible for opening a bank account for the charity and supervised initial fundraising efforts for the charity to operate. ## **Organisational Structure of the Charity for the year end 31[st] December 2025** 4 Charity registration number: 1210474 ## _Public benefit_ Pregnancy Associated Osteoporosis UK is an inclusive organisation which promotes the wellbeing of all people diagnosed with PAO, their families and carers. We provide information to people affected by the condition, the general public and to healthcare professionals through our website: https://www.pao.org.uk . The website also contains links to research articles of potential interest to people affected by PAO and healthcare professionals. The charity aims to promote the development of a clinical guideline for PAO as none currently exists. The trustees confirm that they have complied with the requirements of section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission for England and Wales. ## _Achievements and performance_ The charity hosted an “Ask the Experts” question and answer session online in 2025 aimed at supporting people with PAO. PAO Expert Professor David Reid, one of trustees of the charity, took questions, along with Prof Alexander Comninos and Dr Sarah Hardcastle, both of whom are clinicians with expertise in the management of patients with PAO and members of the charity’s Medical and Scientific Committee. The charity also hosted two further virtual peer support sessions in 2025 so that individuals affected by the condition could provide peer support and share stories of resilience. Key event information was promoted via the charity social media channels and was placed on the charity website. Further peer support activities and expert Q&A sessions are planned for 2026. The charity also provided advocacy and raised awareness, with the charity registration being announced during a Parliamentary debate and the new charity welcomed by MPs from all parties. The charity was later officially launched with a presentation at the prestigious Bone Research Society Conference and Exhibition by Co-Chair Professor Stuart Ralston and an educational exhibition display, manned and attended by various trustees and volunteers from the charity Medical and Scientific Committee, including Kathryn Berg, Sarah Hardcastle and David Reid. The charity carried out further advocacy and awareness raising work during 2025, via their social media channels, raising awareness around key dates and at events relevant to PAO, including Rare Disease Day and World Osteoporosis Day. The charity held fundraising and awareness raising public activities and events, including the Milton Abbas StreetFair, which has various healthcare charity displays and is attended by over 10,000 members of the public. The Trustees appointed PAO diagnosed mother, disease awareness advocate and well-known musician Lucy Rose, as a new charity Patron. The charity carried out further advocacy and awareness raising around the fact the condition is rare, with attendance and presentations by various trustees and volunteers at Rare Disease Parliamentary events and other rare bone disease events and activities. Co-Chair Karen Whitehead presented and took part in a panel discussion at the prestigious 2025 Rare Summit in Cambridge, regarding Communicating Rare Diseases, where the charity additionally had a further exhibition display stand and a research poster display. Throughout its first year, the charity participated in CamRare's rare disease healthcare charity network, including provision of a PAO UK rare disease condition patient passport. The charity registered as a NICE Expert Stakeholder Organisation, to comment on relevant consultations and guidance updates. During this period, the charity commented on various relevant healthcare matters, including the World Health Organisation (WHO) consultation on the definition of Osteoporosis, the Government’s NHS Healthcare 10 point plan and the National Maternity Investigation. 5 Charity registration number: 1210474 ## _Infrastructure_ The new website of the charity is the only UK website dedicated to the disease. It offers a clear, user-friendly journey and provides open access to information about PAO, making it easy for anyone who needs support to find information that is reliable, and relevant to them. Through this mechanism the charity provides support, education and information relevant to those affected by PAO, healthcare professionals and the public. The Charity's Medical & Scientific Committee approved all patient facing materials presented on the Charity’s website. ## _Research_ The charity supported a research project on the diagnosis of PAO and used this research to raise awareness among the public and healthcare professionals, with the research results underpinning the charity awareness raising campaign #measurethatmum which was welcomed by MP's from all political parties. The results of this research were published in the medical journal Calcified Tissue International by a research team at the University of Edinburgh and disseminated further by relevant organisations such as the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Three trustees of the charity (Karen Whitehead, Kathryn Berg and Stuart Ralston) were amongst the authors of this publication. The charity further promoted and disseminated key information regarding new research into the condition via its social media channels by listing key research publications on the charity website and through key presentations by various charity trustees and committee members. Karen Whitehead gave a 2025 presentation for the Rare Disease Research Network regarding patient participation in healthcare research and her own PAO patient researcher experience. Stuart Ralston gave numerous presentations regarding the charity and new research results and Dr Sarah Hardcastle, Chair of the Medical and Scientific Committee presented about the condition and the new charity to healthcare professionals at a Bone Research Society healthcare professional training course. ## _Financial review_ This is summarised in the Table below. Income in the year was £3333.34 from donations received from individuals in the UK. The annual operating expenditure was £286.06. Expenditure comprised £286.06 for charitable activities and £0 for activities just specifically related to raising funds. Net assets were £3047.28 at December 2025. ## **Income and Expenditure** |**Income**|| |---|---| |Donatons|£3,318| |Interest income|£15| |**Total**|**£3,333**| |**Expenditure**|| |Bank fees|(£50)| |Marketng|(£96)| |Insurance|(£140)| |**Total**|**(£286)**| |**Funds carried forward**|**£3,047**| ||| |**Balance sheet**|| |Cash|£3,144| |Accruals|(£96)| |**Total funds**|**£3,047**| 6 Charity registration number: 1210474 ## _Plans for future periods_ An important aim of the charity is to promote the development of a clinical guideline on the management of PAO. The charity aims to support development of a clinical guideline on PAO, supervised by the Medical and Scientific Committee. This committee will work with a group of experts who develop a clinical guideline for PAO using a Delphi approach. This group mainly comprises clinicians and has representation from PAO diagnosed mothers who are also healthcare professionals. Going forward the charity aims to separate the finance committee from the fundraising committee. The fundraising committee will in the future be combined with a marketing and communications committee. This new committee; termed the fundraising, marketing and communications committee will be chaired by Anne Southcombe, with Karen Whitehead and David Reid as members. The finance committee will be chaired by Morag Park with Karen Whitehead and Kathryn Berg as members. We anticipate that moving forward the governance committee will be chaired by Caroline Driscoll with Graham Williams and Jamie Green as members. During 2026, the charity plans to continue to hold further “Ask the Expert” Q&A sessions for PAO diagnosed mothers and their families. It also plans to continue peer support activities. To assist further with advocacy and awareness raising, the charity aims to establish a “Pregnancy Associated Osteoporosis Awareness Day “ and to appoint further patrons and ambassadors. It also aims to continue liaison with other relevant and obtain membership of key relevant charity and umbrella healthcare organisations. The charity also plans to register with the Fundraising Regulator if funding permits. It aims to continue and work on developing charity advocacy and awareness raising activities and to further develop the charity Rare Disease PAO Patient Passport and continue work in the area of the condition being rare. ## _Major risks and management of those risks_ The Trustees have examined the major strategic, business and operational risks that the Association faces and confirm that policies during the charity first year of operation have been established to ensure good governance and regular monitoring and reporting and in particular risk monitoring and mitigation This will allow for timely intervention if necessary. The trustees acknowledge that the charity has limited financial reserves, but efforts will be made to generate income to support the charity’s objectives moving forward in the coming year. The financial health of the charity is good as expenditure is modest, and the charity does not employ staff. The annual report was approved by the trustees of the charity on 18[th] June 2026 and signed on its behalf by: ......................................... Professor Stuart Ralston Trustee 7 Charity registration number: 1210474 ## **Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities** The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees' report and the financial statements in accordance with the United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) and applicable law and regulations. The law applicable to charities requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to: - select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; - observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP; - make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; - state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and - prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business. The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008, and the provisions of the constitution. The trustees 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. The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company's website. Legislation governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. Approved by the trustees of the charity on 18[th] June 2026 and signed on its behalf by: ......................................... Professor Stuart Ralston Trustee 8