## **Company Registration Number 01921508 Charity Number 292403** # **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)** ## **FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **31 MARCH 2025** **GOLDWINS** Chartered Accountants 75 Maygrove Road, West Hampstead, London NW6 2EG **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025** |**CONTENTS**|**PAGE**| |---|---| |Trustees' Annual Report|3-25| |Independent Auditor's Report|26-28| |Statement of Financial Activities|29| |Balance Sheet|30| |Statement of Cash Flows|31| |Notes to the Financial Statements|32-41| 2 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)** ## **REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS** The Foundation for Women's Health, Research and Development (FORWARD) presents the report of its Board of Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2025. ## **Charity registration number:** 292403 ## **Company registration number:** 01921508 **Registered office:** Suite 4.8 Chandelier Building 8 Scrubs Lane London NW10 6RB **Email** : forward@forwarduk.org.uk **Website** : www.forwarduk.org.uk ## **THE TRUSTEES AS AT 31 MARCH 2025** Dr Titilola Banjoko Chair Dr Lisa Smith Treasurer Joy Fraser-Amosun Dr Ali Sakaria Resigned Nov 2024 Aniesha Obuobie Kadra Abdinasir Vanessa Thomas **Senior Management Team** Naana Otoo-Oyortey MBE Executive Director Toks Okeniyi Head of UK Programmes Mary Otuko UK Programme Manager Fosdicka Crankson Finance & Operations Consultant Negar Zaman Head of Business Development and Strategy ## **Bankers** Unity Trust Bank, 9 Brindley Place, Birmingham B1 2HB NatWest, Strand Branch, P.O. Box 414, 38 Strand, London WC2H 5JB ## **Accountant** Goldwins, 75 Maygrove Road, West Hampstead, London NW6 2EG 3 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** ## **1. Introduction** The Board of Trustees of the Foundation for Women's Health Research and Development (FORWARD) presents its annual report and audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025. This report from the Board of Trustees complies with the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006, and FORWARD's Memorandum and Articles of Association. It also aligns with the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) required of charities when preparing their financial accounts, according to the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. ## **1.1 Objects and Mission Statement** FORWARD's charitable objects are set out in its Memorandum of Association to guide the organisation's work. The organisation's strategy and objectives are developed and shaped within this framework. FORWARD's charitable objects are as follows: (A) To promote good health and human rights, and to empower children and women, particularly African girls and women, wherever they reside. (B) To eliminate gender-based discriminatory practices, including violence against women and girls, and to relieve the suffering of African children and women caused by those practices and compounded by poverty, ill health or distress, or arising from culture, tradition, public policy or legislation. ## **1.2 FORWARD's Vision and Mission** ## **Our Vision** We want to see African women and girls everywhere live in dignity, be healthy and thrive free from the fear of violence. ## **Our Mission** We are a pioneering organisation led by and for African women, working towards the end of violence against African women and girls. We work to end child marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM), domestic and sexual violence, and associated harms. We work to transform responses to violence against African women and girls through the delivery of specialist support services, partnerships and community interventions. At FORWARD, we focus on amplifying the voices and lived experiences of African women and girls to make positive change. We provide culturally appropriate, and trauma-informed support on the ground by bringing together partner organisations and communities, fostering skills and knowledge, and nurturing resilient leaders. We work strategically with decision-makers and practitioners to conduct community research, build partnerships and create opportunities for gender justice and social transformation. ## **Our Strategic “E” Goals** We exist to enable African women and girls to achieve gender equality and the fundamental human rights that they deserve. In the past year, we have reviewed 4 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** FORWARD's strategic goals, taking account of the changing environment in which we operate. This has led us to adopt six new “E” goals to guide our work from 2024 to 2027: **Goal 1** - **Engage Decision-Makers** - We will enable African women and girls to use their agency and lived experience to influence policy and funding decisions on abuse and gender equality. **Goal 2** – **Educate Professionals** - We will enable frontline agencies and schools to become culturally competent and embed inclusive and equitable responses that safeguards everyone’s right to thrive. **Goal 3** - **Expand Partnerships** - We will strengthen existing and new partnerships, and young women-led organisations, enabling them to deliver transformative change for African women and girls. **Goal 4** – **Elevate Young Women Leaders** - We will nurture resilient young women leaders to drive social change movements in their communities and beyond. **Goal 5** - **Empower Communities** - We will support communities in tackling violence against women and girls, through capacity building, access to holistic support and wellbeing services. **Goal 6 (Organisational/Internal)** - **Enhance Resilience** - We will strengthen FORWARD’s financial resilience, programme effectiveness, impact and learning. ## **2. How We Work** ## **2.1. What drives our work** Gender inequality fuels our work. However, growing global crises, political conflicts and regional instability have significantly impacted progress in combatting violence against women and girls (VAWG). The UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 on Gender Equality sets 2030 as the global target for achieving gender equality for women and girls, including ending VAWG. Yet, worldwide, 736 million women alive today are still estimated to have been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence or both at least once in their lives (UN Women, 2023). VAWG is defined by the UN as ‘violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman, or violence that affects women disproportionately’. At FORWARD, our work centres on tackling multiple forms of VAWG, particularly female genital mutilation (FGM), child marriage, forced marriage, intimate partner violence and sexual abuse. A 2024 UNICEF report shows that over 230 million women and girls worldwide have undergone FGM. In the UK 37,615 women and girls who have undergone some form of FGM, have been treated by the NHS since 2015 (Dept of Health 2025). On the issue of child marriage, the evidence shows that 640 million girls and women were married before they reached 18 years of age (UNICEF, 2023). Early sexual initiation, sexual violence and child marriage results in child motherhood. Although globally, there has been a reduction in child mothers, Africa still has higher rates of births to 15-to-19-year-olds. World Health Organisation data in 2023 showed a total number of 6,114,000 births to African girls aged 19 or younger. 5 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** ## **2.2. How we deliver on our strategic goals** In setting out our annual work programme, FORWARD adheres to the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit. The Board of Trustees ensures that the organisation's objectives and activities contribute to its charitable objectives and aims. FORWARD delivers its operations from our offices in London and undertakes widereaching partnership work in the UK, Europe and Africa. We value our partnerships, as they are central to our work, building long-term relationships with our implementing partners on the ground - notably by providing them with sub-grants, technical support, connections and resources. Our partnerships enable us to reach a greater number of vulnerable and at-risk girls and women, on a greater scale. They also help us to build up local capacity and thus to ensure the sustainability of our programme outcomes, while at the same time enabling us to make the best use of local knowledge. Their valuable insights regularly inform all of our work. In the past year we have revised the organisation’s delivery structure and defined four operational work streams: - **Business Development and Strategy** - this new work stream is in line with our new strategic goal to strengthen organisational resilience. It focuses on supporting our business development processes, our fundraising and our advocacy work, as well as the monitoring and evaluation of all business processes and programme delivery. - **Programmes and Support Services** - the unit responsible for our specialist community support services, youth engagement and partnership working. This year, FORWARD’s community programme was active in 25 London boroughs, engaging with new partners in London and continuing to support a long-term partner in Bristol. In addition, we also carried out partnership work in four African countries. - **Technical Training and Commissioning Services** - a newly revamped team that consolidates all the training programmes provided by FORWARD, to strengthen their impact, while also seeking access to unrestricted funding through commissioned training and research services. - **Central Operations Office** - provides general organisational support to all teams and ensures that they have the relevant human, administrative, financial and resource capacity to deliver effective programmes. Additionally, the team has oversight over our organisational policies and provides governance support. ## **2.3. Our programme activities** FORWARD is a “by and for” African women-led organisation. Our operational programme areas develop and deliver best-practice responses to multiple forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG). The core pillars underpinning our programme work, which sits alongside FORWARD’s other more systemic interventions (such as policy advocacy, training of frontline professionals and research), includes prevention, protection through safeguarding, provision of support services and partnership development. FORWARD delivers this concrete work in the field in the UK, Africa and Europe, often working through local partners and collaborative programmes. We adopt a rights-based and trauma-informed approach during the delivery of all our specialist services and training offerings. The table below outlines in more detail how we deliver our programme activities. 6 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** ## **How we deliver our work** 7 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** ## **2.4. Who benefits from our services?** FORWARD is an African women-led, “by and for” organisation, delivering services to women and girls from African, Black and minoritised communities. That said, we also partner with other organisations that share our values, to ensure that all vulnerable women, especially those from different backgrounds, can access the specialist services that we provide. In the UK, our community programme benefits black and minoritised girls and women of African heritage as well as from Arab and Middle Eastern communities. We also work with asylum seekers, refugees and migrant women. We engage with key stakeholders through our work, including statutory professionals, community organisations and the general public. In Africa, our work benefits marginalised girls and young women in Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Gambia. Our programmes specifically target those most affected by – or at risk of – child marriage, sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy and FGM. In addition, other beneficiaries of our work in these countries include adult women and men (including parents), young men and boys, and community leaders; we operate through schools and local communities to reach them. ## **2.5. Public Benefit** The Board of Trustees has referred to the guidance provided by the Charity Commission regarding public benefit in reviewing the charity's aims and objectives and in planning its activities and services. The Trustees ensure that FORWARD's programme activities contribute to the organisation's aims and objectives and that they benefit the public. The Trustees also strive to identify risks and potential harm to the organisation's operations and programmes in good time, and to ensure that these are minimised and do not hamper the public benefit of its activities. ## **3. Achievements and Performance in the Year** FORWARD's work enables African women and girls to gain vital skills, develop greater self-confidence and access the support they need. Our training and outreach programmes aim to build their resilience, improve their well-being and develop their leadership capacity to transform their lives. We work at multiple levels, engaging women, community members and our local partners, building on all their vital insights to inform and shape policy and practice. We are committed to evidence-based programming; assessing our programme performance and outcomes through regular monitoring, risk management, assessment of progress targets and evaluation, and using this learning to adjust our programmes. We use various quantitative, qualitative and participatory methods to monitor the delivery of our activities, and to evaluate their outcomes, including periodically engaging independent external consultants to assess our work. The programme achievements presented here focus on the first year of FORWARD’s new strategic plan ‘Elevating Voices and Enhancing Resilience (2024-2027)’. This is made up of six strategic “E” goals, (c.f. Page 5 above). We aim to build on our unique position as a niche organisation in the sector to strengthen our programmes and the capacity of our partners and ourselves so we can deliver better and more for African women and girls everywhere. We aim to invest in amplifying women’s voices, lived experience and our core organisational processes including strengthening capacity and internal systems. 8 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** 9 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** **3.1 Strategic Goal 1: Engage Decision-Makers** - We will enable African women and girls to use their agency and lived experience to influence policy and funding decisions on abuse and gender equality. ## **Influence the policy agenda on violence against African women and girls** The outcome focuses on increasing engagement with policymakers to recognise new, holistic policy approaches based on prevention, protection, prosecution and service provision in relation to VAWG, with a particular focus on the issues of FGM, sexual violence and child marriage. **Ministerial Roundtable at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office** FORWARD participated in a ministerial roundtable on FGM sector leaders and researchers as part of the Foreign and Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to mark International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM. The Minister for Women and Equalities Anneliese Dodds reaffirmed her strong commitment to zero tolerance and noted that the evidence shows that change is happening but cases of FGM were still rising and there was need to keep FGM on the political agenda. Naana Otoo-Oyortey the Executive Director who attended the roundtable noted that “FGM remains a challenge for attaining gender equality and empowerment of women and girls. Cultural integration often collides with traditional beliefs and diaspora communities often struggle with the complexity of maintaining their cultural identity, social and national laws in host countries.” FORWARD co-hosted a Pan European Knowledge Exchange webinar on Diaspora Change Makers in the Global Movement to End Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) with End FGM European Network. The event launched a new study conducted by FORWARD which interviewed 27 diaspora women, representing 15 diaspora countries in Europe, America and Australia. The study on “ **Diaspora Change Makers in the Global Movement to End FGM-Amplifying their Voices, Experiences and Impact** ” stresses the vital importance of listening to the voices of community change makers in the fight against FGM – both in the diaspora and in countries of origin. Their experiences and invaluable insights have helped shaped change in the global movement against FGM. 10 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** **3.2. Strategic Goal 2: Educate Professionals** - We will enable frontline agencies and schools to become culturally competent, and embed inclusive and equitable responses that safeguard’s everyone’s right to thrive. This goal focuses on enhancing the knowledge and capacity of frontline professionals to effectively respond to and protect women and girls from harm. Additionally, it includes working in schools adopting a whole school approach based on targeting the school ecosystem, teachers, students and parents to provide critical information, skills and raise awareness about VAWG, gender equality matters, healthy relationships as well as safeguarding practices, and access to support and wellbeing services. We trained 209 statutory professionals across key sectors including healthcare, education, police, social services, and the voluntary sector. We strive to ensure that front lines are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and confidence necessary to protect vulnerable women and girls. Our schools training adopts a rights-based, trauma-informed and prevention focused approach targeting professionals and students. In the past year we reached 867 students and 253 staff in 20 schools and colleges in London. Teachers, safeguarding officers, and school staff members in general received training throughout the year, which equipped them with the knowledge required to identify, respond to, and prevent violence against women and girls. Our workshops allowed schools to better understand culturally sensitive safeguarding practice, leading to more inclusive support for students from Black and minoritised communities. **3.3. Strategic Goal 3: Expand Partnerships** to help strengthen existing and new partnerships, and young women-led organisations, enabling them to deliver transformative change for African women and girls. Partnerships and strategic collaborations are central to FORWARD’s approach to programming. Over the past year, we have worked with a diverse range of organisations and networks within the women’s rights and specialist VAWG sectors. Our efforts have notably also included ongoing collaborations with statutory partners as well as building alliances with frontline organisations, supporting advocacy campaigns and engaging in policy development. In delivering our community programmes, meanwhile, we have continued to collaborate with various community-based organisations across the UK, Europe, and Africa, ensuring that our initiatives remain grounded in local expertise and that they can have a broad, meaningful impact. ## **END FGM European Network: Launch of the Purple Chair Podcast** FGM remains a transnational problem with communities across Europe and Africa. FORWARD is one of the founding members of this strategic network based in Brussels and has held key leadership roles. The Purple Chair is led by young ambassadors of the network. Two young women from FORWARD were part of the six young ambassadors who worked on the launch of the Purple Chair Podcast. This is an innovative series dedicated to elevating the voices of young activists addressing FGM and Gender-Based Violence (GBV). This podcast formed part of a one-year 11 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** project and offers a unique platform for exploring these critical issues through personal narratives and intersectional insights. FORWARD launched our podcast in March as part of the International Women’s Day activities. The podcasts from the FORWARD ambassadors focused on intersectionality and FGM and community care- healing together. The Purple Chair Podcast is designed to showcase the power of youth-led activism, uncover hidden stories, and challenge societal norms, all while inspiring collective action towards a future free from FGM and GBV. This project aims to enhance the skills and visibility of young women from FGM-affected communities in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands, promoting youth social entrepreneurship and the effective use of digital tools in advocacy. ## **Q-SEED-A Founders’ Leadership Programme** Q-SEED is a pilot project led by FORWARD in collaboration with Black Men 4 Change, Change Grow Live and CLINKS and supported by Barrow Cadbury and Lloyds Bank Foundation. This innovative pilot leadership development programme works with 15 Black and Global Majority (BGM) leaders in the criminal justice sector (CJS). The overarching aim is to increase the resilience and capabilities of these leaders through training and networking and enable them to lead social change efforts at a time of great volatility and crises within the sector and help challenge and influence the CJS. In the year we organised discovery sessions, webinars and a residential reflection session where participants explored key issues and fed into the development of the leadership sessions. A key highlight of the programme was the ‘Breaking the Cycle’ event held at Westminster in partnership with the office of Bell Ribeiro Addy MP on 20[th] November 2024. This event was organized by Q-SEED leaders and included speakers and contributors from the Q-SEED cohort and external speakers. A report on the event is being produced by two of the leaders and focuses on trauma, racial disparities as well as the layers of barriers that black people face within the CJS. Following the event at Westminster, two of the Q-SEED Leaders were invited to meet the Prisons Minister Lord Timpson, where they shared the Q-SEED position on the planned prison reforms. The Minister has requested to meet further with the leaders. ## **Essex University Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Initiative:** FORWARD is embarking on a new partnership with Essex University as part of the KTP innovation programme. This exciting 24-month project aims to enhance FORWARD’s internal capacity in impact evaluation, data use, and strategic learning. This strategic partnership supports the development of tools, embeds a culture of analysis across the organisation, and connects FORWARD to academic expertise and innovation. It is a critical investment in our long-term effectiveness and sector leadership. This will help lay the foundation for a more learning-driven, reflective and sustainable organisation. ## **Collaboration between FORWARD and Imperial College London** Our longstanding partnership with Imperial College London continues to be a cornerstone of our commitment to education, capacity building and community impact. Now in its sixth year, this collaboration remains a dynamic and impactful initiative, offering medical students invaluable hands-on experience in global health and social inequalities. As part of the Imperial College London Global Health BSc programme, we host four to six students annually. This year we trained eight medical students, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to work effectively within local health and wellbeing voluntary sector organisations. Through this initiative, students not only gain critical insights into grassroots health challenges but also contribute meaningfully to our work, supporting vulnerable communities and promoting health equity. They bring fresh perspectives to help strengthen our programmes and collaborative work. 12 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** **3.4. Strategic Goal 4 Elevate Young Women Leaders** - We will nurture resilient young women leaders to drive social change in their communities and beyond. This goal centres on empowering young women leaders to take up activism, transform their lives and support their peers. In so doing, we also focus on cultivating a strong sisterhood between these young change-makers and build a vibrant movement. Goal 4 also includes supporting young women-led organisations. In the year we supported Girl to Girl Empowerment Sierra Leone on organisational restructuring designed to foster their resilience. We funded Charity for Hope Uganda to support child mothers and Home Girls Unite UK to address the abuse of eldest daughters in migrant families. The main achievements over this past year with young women are outlined below. ## **TuWezeshe Akina Dada Programme** The TuWezeshe Akina Dada programme, meaning “empowering our sisters”, continues to be a cornerstone of FORWARD’s mission to nurture feminist leadership among young African, Black and minoritised women. The TuWezeshe feminist leadership training covers topics such as human rights, feminist principles, sexual and reproductive health/well-being, VAWG and social activism. This immersive programme builds the confidence and leadership skills needed to lead advocacy efforts against VAWG. In the past year we trained 38 fellows in the UK and in Ghana. _“ Leadership, communication, self-reliance, self-care, confidence, and collaboration were strong lessons to me, alongside feminist leadership principles. These skills have been instrumental in my journey, allowing me to establish my own organization and thrive as a leader in my profession,”_ Doreen, Tuwezeshe Fellow from Tanzania ## **Planting Seeds of Change in Ghana: TuWezeshe Global Leadership Training** In partnership with ActionAid Ghana and TuWezeshe Global, our affiliate organisation in Ghana we launched an exciting new three-year programme to equip 100 young women from Northern Ghana to become changemakers in their communities. 20 young women were the first of this initiative to take part in the TuWezeshe Global Young Women’s Leadership Training which took place in Tamale. The five-day transformative feminist training was rooted in healing, sisterhood and skill building. Through poetry, advocacy training, personal reflections, participants explored VAWG, sexual and reproductive health (SRH) mental health, and leadership skills. They also developed six social action projects (SAP) and were given seed funding and experienced mentors to support their wellbeing and SAPs implementation. A major outcome of the training has been a request by ActionAid Ghana to expand the training to other regional offices. This was due to the successful sharing of their SAP activities at national level. 13 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** ## **Spotlight 1:** ## **Hajer Adrwish’s Journey – 2024 TuWezeshe Fellow** For Hajer Adrwish, a sexual health and relationship educator, the TuWezeshe Programme was a turning point in her activism. Drawn to the programme’s focus on marginalised communities, she gained confidence in addressing VAWG. TuWezeshe helped her approach activism with an intersectional lens, incorporating the diverse experiences of women into her work. The mentorship and networking opportunities further strengthened her advocacy, allowing Hajer to collaborate with other advocates to push for meaningful change in the fight for women’s rights. Hajer’s advice for newcomers: “Embrace your journey! Be excited about how you will change and grow throughout the fellowship.” ## **Spotlight 2:** ## **The African Women Leadership Forum** The Tuwezeshe Challenge Programme is offered to fellows who have completed their SAPs and want to take up more activism. Afua’s TuWezeshe Challenge project, the African Women’s Leadership Forum, a virtual training initially attracted 833 applicants. However, the programme worked with only 30 women, equipping them with leadership skills and providing a powerful platform to address critical issues affecting women and girls in their communities. Through transformative “Let’s Talk About It” sessions, participants shared their personal journeys, creating a collective narrative of resilience, courage and empowerment. The project inspired women from East and West Africa to reflect on their experiences, embrace their potential, and take steps to create lasting change. A highlight of the project is a forthcoming book that chronicles the transformative journeys of these 30 young African women. The book captures personal stories, reflections and aspirations, interwoven with insights from the staff of our partner organisation, Precious Fountain Foundation based in Nigeria. The chapters are dedicated to the speakers’ impactful topics. Afua intends to make this an annual event. **3.5. Strategic Goal 5:** - **Empower Communities** - We will support communities in tackling violence against women and girls, through capacity building, access to holistic support and well-being services. This goal underpins our community response and empowerment activities, including the Community Champions Leadership Programme, provision of specialist support and community engagement work of FORWARD. This goal includes three strategic partnerships in London and Bristol. The **Ascent Ending Harmful Practices** – covers 13 London Boroughs and the **P/ACT** initiative includes 4 boroughs. In total we work with over 20 boroughs in London and in Bristol. Ongoing initiatives include the **Ealing FGM Awareness Project** , the **Pan-London Specialist Support and Safety Service,** to reduce risks and harm for survivors and their children. The **No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) Specialist Support** for women on spousal visas subject to NRPF and **Mend the Gap Phase 2** , the latter is the second year of a partnership project led by FORWARD in collaboration with Refugee Women of Bristol and Home Girls Unite. We trained 19 Community Champions in London and Bristol who have gone on to work on multiple social action projects. 14 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** _“I recently got recommended your community and it has completely changed my life (not even exaggerating). I moved from France to escape my eldest daughter role because my mum and sister overly depended on me. This dependency was causing a lot of tension and negatively impacting our relationship. I am now in a much better place, about to get married and recently got a new job. I have my therapist and home girls to thank for that. My therapist actually recommended Home Girls to me; I didn’t know such platform existed. Today’s Hike was amazing!! I met so many amazing women. I now recommend it to every eldest daughter I meet. Can’t wait for the next event. Thank you”_ **Service user 32, Mend the Gap Project 2 Project Partner, Home Girls Unite** ## **Specialist Support Services-Service Users Stories of Change** _“I reached a point of hopelessness, experiencing dejection, anger, and anxiety. Despite Universal Credit support, I struggled to eat properly, lost weight, and developed diabetes due to the inability to cook in emergency housing. FORWARD 's tireless efforts eventually secured me temporary accommodation, and I was joyfully reunited with my 13-year-old daughter, who has now started school in the UK. Throughout this challenging time, some service providers lacked compassion and discriminated against me due to language barriers. Many failed to provide interpreters, resulting in incorrect assessments based on my limited English proficiency. However, FORWARD stood out, offering emotional support, advocacy, and practical assistance in my native language.” FORWARD service user._ _“A week after attending one of the coffee morning sessions, I mustered the courage to call one of the FORWARD staff members. She was an Arabic speaker, which made it easier for me to express my feelings. I poured out my fears and anxieties to her. She reassured me, telling me I was in the right place and safe hands. She offered to provide emotional support, and we began a series of four sessions. With her guidance and support, I started to feel more confident. Finally, I booked my appointment for a cervical smear test. When I actually went through with it, I couldn’t believe myself—I had done it! I felt so impressed and proud of my accomplishment.This journey taught me the importance of seeking support and not letting fear prevent me from taking care of my health. Thanks to FORWARD and the compassionate staff, I overcame my fears and took a crucial step towards ensuring my well-being.” FORWARD Servce User_ **Tackling faith-based abuse** is a major part of our community programme response due to the links between faith, culture and other forms of abuse. FORWARD is a founding member of two key national networks: - **Faith and VAWG Coalition-** consists of over 20 organisations working at the intersections of faith, race, feminism and VAWG. In the past year we supported two events in London, a national conference on faith and domestic abuse and an event to mark 16 Days of Activism in December 2024. - **Working Group for Spiritual and Ritual Abuse (SARA).** SARA brings together survivors of spiritual and ritual abuse together with academics, voluntary sector and safeguarding professionals to provide guidance and support on SARA. They held their first national conference in Manchester in November 2024 on ‘Survivor Stories of Spiritual and Ritual Abuse’. FORWARD is expanding this area of work in the coming year to help raise visibility and policy engagement. FORWARD’s Head of Programmes is one of the two deputy chairs of SARA and has been instrumental in expanding the remit of the National Working Group. 15 ## **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** **3.5. Strategic Goal 6: (Organisational/Internal)** - **Enhance Resilience** - We will strengthen FORWARD’s financial resilience, programme effectiveness, impact and learning. Enhancing organisational resilience and effectiveness is the foundation that allows FORWARD to deliver effectively on our mission to transform responses to tackling VAWG. We want to ensure our organisation’s growth, sustainability and staff wellbeing and development. In 2024 we introduced a number of activities and strategic initiatives that promote strengthening the efficiency of our internal, organisation-wide systems, fundraising and improving staff capacity and wellbeing. Highlights of our work to strengthen our resilience as an organisation include: - The Business Development & Strategy Team became fully functional in the year with the recruitment of a Lead and a Fundraising Officer. This team focuses on operationalizing our new strategic plan, fundraising and communication as well as monitoring and evaluation. This is timely as we plan our 40th Anniversary celebration. - We upgraded our CRM system to Beacon to improve our fundraising work, our stewardship, and managing better our key relationships with funders and individual donors. - Our monitoring and evaluation work have been enhanced with the support of an external learning partner and external consultant together with our staff, we are making progress in strengthening our evidence-based working. The successful outcome of the 2-year Innovation Fund in partnership with Essex University is an additional impetus to support our monitoring, evaluation and learning. - Our HR systems are running well with regular staff supervision processed underway for staff as part of our plans for Investors In People Accreditation. - Our bi-annual staff away days are critical for staff bonding, co-creation of the days have helped improve learning across teams through team presentations and reflective sessions as well as celebrations of our successes of the year. - We are committed to strengthening staff capacity through ongoing training. This year, members of the Community and Youth team completed the Independent Domestic Violence Advocate training, providing staff new skills in supporting survivors of domestic violence. The training has also equipped caseworkers with a deeper understanding of police responses, anti-racist practices, and other essential strategies to ensure survivors receive informed and effective support. - We strengthened the senior management capacity, where we conducted a training needs survey to identify key areas that need to be improved. We are in the process of providing ongoing targeted training to ensure senior management deliver better to those they line manage. ## **3.7. Collaborative Partners and Networks of FORWARD** Our collaborative approach allows us to pursue our strategic goal of building capacity in partner organisations and fostering alliances between African diaspora women's organisations. Above and beyond programme delivery, these partnerships also continue to be a primary channel for our advocacy and campaigning activities, both nationally and internationally. FORWARD is an active member of the following national networks and partnerships: - End FGM European Network (based in Brussels) - End Violence Against Women (EVAW) 16 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** - Faith and VAWG Coalition - Girls Not Brides UK (co-chair) - Gender and Development Network (GADN) - MOPAC Harmful Practices Forum (at the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime) - UK Home Office Stakeholders Group - ASCENT (with London Councils) **Supporting local and national level advocacy work** forms a key strength of the community programme. FORWARD sits on multiple VAWG strategic engagement platforms which have focused on tackling Pan London and local level advocacy issues, this includes being part of EVAW campaign for the VAWG meeting during the elections. The ASCENT partnership has been instrumental in shaping funding decisions at Pan London level. - Tri-Borough Harmful Practices Operational Group - Harmful Practices Working Group SW London Boroughs - Haringey VAWG CCR Group - Haringey VAWG and BAMER Community Forum - Lambeth VAWG - Bexley DA Operational Forum - Islington's BAMER forum - Croydon's FGM Stakeholders Meeting - Brent VAWG Forum - Merton DA Forum _“We have increased collaboration with Local Authorities, VAWG Leads, Safeguarding Leads, Social Services, Health profs, police and others with more training planned for the coming weeks. One of the requests we have been getting from professionals is ‘how to beat the FEAR of talking about FGM’. So, our next training session with the TriBorough will focus on this. Almost everybody knows the facts about FGM but they now need to know how to use the information learnt to tackle the practice and provide appropriate support for survivors as well as safeguarding girls and women at risk.” FORWARD UK Programme Manager_ Our partners we worked with in key boroughs in London are provided below: |**Islington:**
KMEWO (Kurdish & Middle Eastern
Women’s Organisation
Eritrea Women’s Network
**Croydon:**
Centre for Change
SARA’s Women’s support group
MIND in Croydon
**Haringey:**
Hearthstone
**Greenwich:**
Amour Destine
**Hammersmith and Fulham:**
ASE
**Brent:**
PLIAS|**Southwark:**
LOVO Women’s Day Centre
**Lambeth:**
Let’s Grow
Gaia Centre
Riverside Community Radio
**Westminster:**
Family Lives
Hear Women
Abdul Megeed Educational Trust
Hope for Better Future
**Barking and Dagenham:**
Al-Madina Mosque
North East London NHS Trust
Metropolitan Police
**Bexley:**
One-Stop-Shop| |---|---| 17 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** ## **3.8. External factors affecting our work** **Policy Challenges:** Despite the Labour government’s new policy statement to half domestic abuse within a decade this has not translated into strategy. The continuous failure to tackle prevention, integrate a broader VAWG approach based on equality, human rights and inclusion of all survivors is creating barriers to services. The current policy focus does not reflect the whole-society approach or cross government focus needed to effectively end VAWG in our view. The hierarchy of abuse and lack of action on prevention work within communities is an urgent missing link within the UK as focus of policy is more on survivor support. Furthermore, the government’s hostile immigration policies continue to be a major barrier to migrant women’s access to full support and protection from the public sector. The lack of sustainable funding from government creates huge issues for the VAWG specialist women’s sector (End Violence against Women Coalition, Sept 2025). **Underfunding of the Women’s Sector** : A joint survey conducted by Rosa and Pro- Bono Economics (March 2025) found that the women’s sector is underfunded, poorly resourced and under the radar. “ _Women’s and girls’ organisations face considerable pressures, often disproportionately so, compared with the wider charity sector. Demand for services has surged, with 91% of the organisations that completed the survey reporting an increase over the past year, and 93% expecting demand to continue to grow.”_ This is compounded by increased referrals to our services including signposting new arrivals to “by and for” organisations by the Home Office without any associated funding. This is putting strains on finances especially in the context of many Local Authority contracts requiring pre-financing of contracts and one-year extensions which put staff security and retention at huge risk for the sector. This creates huge challenges in delivery of services. **Access to justice and housing for migrant women:** Domestic abuse survivors with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) including women with spousal visas often lack access to needed housing and legal support to escape abuse. Free legal advice for our service users is challenging due to cut backs in legal aid support and high demand for Pro Bono legal services, policy barriers in accessing housing as well as the general cost-of-living crisis. This has impacted on VAWG survivors who are unable to access legal services especially women experiencing domestic abuse and immigration barriers. **Increase in demand for services:** For the second year in a row, we are seeing an increased demand for our services, especially from women with NRPF, who usually have more complex and multi-layered challenges in addition to VAWG. Mainstream services fail to meet the intersectional and complex needs of Black and minoritised communities. For this reason, we need culturally appropriate, specialist services which are genderspecific and trauma-sensitive reflected in government policy on VAWG. Many women face immense cultural pressure from their families to remain in abusive marriages due to 'honour' stigma, regressive ideas around 'shame' and control over women's lives. We also regularly observe a link between faith and women’s experience of VAWG. **Far right riots continue to create unsafe environment** for black and minoritized women and by and for women’s organisations working with black and minoritized communities. There is heightened fear and insecurity as a result of the riots, increased levels of racism against immigrants as well as Islamophobia. A new report by Angelou Centre and Project Resist (2025) noted that the socio-political context of the UK has irreversibly changed as a result of Brexit, austerity and perceived fear of immigrants. The increase in anti-Muslim racism and anti-immigration violence are intertwined and unfortunately women with insecure immigration status are extremely vulnerable. This is also due to discriminatory immigrant policies which bar them for accessing services and creates further dependency on families and abusers. There is therefore an urgent need to tackle racial justice, gender justice and migrant justice to enable specialist services to be able to operate in an environment of equality, access and safety. 18 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** ## **4. Financial Review** ## **4.1. Overview of income and fundraising activities** FORWARD's financial objectives seek to ensure sound financial management and reporting, as well as planning for and mitigating any strategic and operational risks. Our leadership team, including the Board of Trustees and Senior Management oversees and manages the budget for the year and maintains diligent financial record-keeping on all expenditures and reserves. This joint objective is monitored quarterly by the Trustees, through the management accounts and the Finance Committee's work. FORWARD's income over the year ended 31[st] March 2025 amounted to £871,410, compared with £703,082 in the year ended 31[st] March 2024. Total expenditure was £937,334 at year end on 31[st] March 2025, compared with £871,507 in the previous year ended March 2024. The total unrestricted funds carried forward on 31[st] March 2025 totalled £530,341, of which £326,761 were general funds and £203,580 were designated funds, while our restricted funds carried forward on 31[st] March 2025 amounted to £19,033. FORWARD continues to make progress in increasing the diversity of its funding sources, despite the challenging economic climate and the shift in some of our historic funders' funding priorities. We also continue to focus our fundraising efforts on the further diversification of income sources, reaching out to more private trusts and foundations and exploring the development of other income generating income streams from commissioned services, such as our accredited FGM training, support casework and other consultancy services. We have also in the progress of finalising a two-year Knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) with The University of Essex, funded via Innovate UK, which would enhance FORWARD’s financial stability through diverse strategies. ## **4.2. Reserves policy and going concern** FORWARD's reserves are based on unrestricted, general funds that are set aside to ensure our long-term ability to meet the charity's objectives and to ensure the continued operation of our programmes. The Board of Trustees have reviewed FORWARD’s Reserve Policy taking account of current risks outlined in the organisation’s risk register as well as the external policy and funding environment. The minimum amount to be designated as our Operating Reserve has been set by the trustees to maintain ongoing operations and programmes for up to six months. FORWARD's current reserves policy aims to allocate up to 50 % of its annual budget expenditure as its emergency operating reserves. The Trustees have also agreed that in addition, this minimum level of the EOR at any time should be equivalent to up to six months' operating costs. This figure is reviewed annually by the Board of Trustees in relation to internal and external circumstances. The current reserves are as follows: - Total Reserves - Restricted Reserves - Designated Reserves - Unrestricted Reserves FORWARD remains a going concern. The Board of Trustees have assessed the organisation and is confident that FORWARD has adequate resources and staff to continue to operate for the foreseeable future. It consequently adopts the going-concern basis in preparing this report. 19 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** ## **4.3. Grant-making and fundraising** FORWARD's trustees see sub-granting as an essential component of the organisation's charitable operations. This is predominantly the case for our charitable projects in Africa, but also our partnership work in the UK. This year, we provided sub-grants to four partners in the UK. We also supported the establishment on an affiliate partner in Ghana, with the aim to scale up our young women’s leadership programme globally. This approach to sub-granting has become a strategic lifeline for the smaller organisations that we nurture and support; it enables them to access funds and grow their income as many do not have internal fundraising expertise. The majority of our charitable work in Africa is carried out through sub-grants to our local partners. These partners are selected in line with our strategy of working with girls and young women. Partners are required to re-apply for their grant on an annual basis; the renewal of the grants is subject to contract-specific performance measures and financial adherence. All partners sign a Memorandum of Agreement in addition to a grant agreement and a financial grant agreement, detailing roles and responsibilities and outlining the grant conditions. FORWARD's staff conduct regular monitoring, including site visits, and provide our partners with technical support and capacity development. In the past year, we have only worked in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Uganda due to lack of funding for our Africa Programmes. The majority of this has focused on technical support and co-delivery of training activities. Fundraising is the responsibility of FORWARD's senior staff members and is led by the Executive Director. In addition, this past year we have successfully recruited a new role, the Head of Business Development and Strategy, who brings in new skills on business development processes and will help to identify new areas for growing our income. In this reporting period, we also worked with an intern and an external fundraising consultant to support our fundraising activities. Our fundraising work includes writing funding applications, working through partnerships to bid for contracts and commissioned work, and undertaking fundraising campaigns that target the general public. In addition, we are very grateful to our numerous individual donations and legacies who provide our unrestricted funding. Our individual donors generally provide us with monthly direct debits, while additionally, we also receive oneoff donations through our website donation page. 20 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** ## **5. Our Future Plans** 2025 marks FORWARD 40th anniversary. We will do a series of events over the 202526 financial year on “Seeds of Change; 40 Years of Transformation” to showcase the impact of FORWARD’s work over the 40 years of our existence. This will include a fundraising campaign, community conference as well as an anniversary event. We will strengthen the implementation of our strategic plan focusing on the 6 Es 1. **Engage decision makers** - provide evidence base to influence and engage key decision makers and explore the unfinished FGM policy agenda. A number of research studies are underway which will be finalised in 2025/26. We will initiate new work on faith, culture and VAWG to develop evidence to inform our policy work. Our advocacy work in Africa will focus on child motherhood issues. 2. **Educate professionals** - we plan to enhance our professional training and tailor our school-based advocacy and awareness work to suit different needs of professionals and communities. We will collaborate with University of Birmingham on a project to explore appropriate language to use in educational and campaign materials relating to FGM and help inform production of evidence-based guidance. 3. **Expand partnerships** - we will build on existing partnerships and target new partnerships especially with young women-led organisations, academics and funders to deliver better for women and girls. We plan to strengthen partnerships with the End FGM European Network and member organisations working with diaspora communities in Italy and Spain to share learning. 4. **Elevate young women** - scale up our young women’s leadership training in the UK and in Africa and support existing Tuwezeshe Fellows who have set up organisations to strengthen their networks and organisations. We will support young women-led organisations we work with in Africa to build their systems and organisational capacity, providing funding and technical support. We are excited about strengthening our partnership work in Ghana with Tuwezeshe Global and ActionAid and expanding our young women’s leadership training to a second region in Ghana. We will plan activities towards the 10[th] anniversary of the Tuwezeshe Programme in 2026. We will pilot our University Ambassadors Programme, UNIFied, in five London universities. 5. **Empower communities** - We will continue to provide specialist support services with a focus on trauma informed and survivor centred services through virtual and in person services. We will scale up our collaboration with PanLondon partners and build on the partnership with NHS services around community women’s health, using community research and lived experience to share women’s experience of accessing cancer services. We will build on our Community Champions Programme, including new ‘Step Up’ training to champions who have already been trained and set up a network of Community Champions. 6. **Enhance organisational resilience-** We will continue to prioritise our staffing and human resources development, particularly staff capacity, staff resilience and well-being, and consolidate our programme evidence and learning. Staff capacity and wellbeing and management were identified in our staff Away Day and senior staff surveys as areas that needed attention. Finally fundraising will be strengthened and scaled up with our new staff and systems to improve and diversify our income, develop policies on financial sustainability and resilience. 21 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** ## **6. Structure, governance and management** FORWARD was established in 1983 and registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales in August 1985 as a charity with registration number 292403. FORWARD is also incorporated as a charitable company limited by guarantee (Company No. 01921508), governed by a Memorandum and Articles of Association; its incorporation came into force on 11[th] June 1985. ## **6.1. The Board of Trustees** In accordance with the charity's Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Board of Trustees have the responsibility to oversee the business of the organisation. The minimum number of trustees on the Board - also known as Directors - is five; the maximum number is fifteen members. We currently have seven Board members. One member resigned in the year due to work demands and the board is currently recruiting new board members with expertise in fundraising and strategy. In line with the Articles of Association, the Board should be comprised of individuals with knowledge of the socio-economic factors faced by BME women and girls. It should be made up of three-fifths (i.e. 60 percent) of members of African descent and have at least a 75 percent representation of women. This ensures the effective participation in decision-making by those who are most affected by the issues that FORWARD works on. The Board of Trustees meet four times a year. Seven Trustees served on the board in this reporting year. FORWARD's Trustees can co-opt new board members during the year, where needed, to fill vacancies or to meet any skills deficit identified by the Board. There are currently two honorary officers on the Board; the Chair and the Treasurer. All the Trustees are full members of FORWARD. The Board of Trustees' work is governed by the seven principles of the Charity Governance Code. This includes organisational purpose, leadership, decision-making, risk and control through the monitoring of financial and operational systems and annual planning, risk analysis and risk management. The Board ensures that FORWARD complies with all relevant financial policies, regulations and good practices, and conducts an annual review of its work. The Board now has three functioning sub-committees: Finance and Human Resources; Fundraising and Communications; and a new committee, Strategy and Governance, which will ensue that the board fulfils its legal, ethical, and functional responsibilities in relation to the overall mission and vision of the organisation. The Finance Committee provides oversight on financial and risk management matters, while the Fundraising and Communications committee oversees visibility and digital funding matters. A skills audit of its members is conducted annually by the Board. For skill areas that are identified as needing further expertise, a selection process is started to identify potential new candidates, using advertisements and charity trustee recruitment organisations. The Board is currently seeking to recruit an additional male member of the Board. New trustees are required to serve for a period of up to a year in an observer status. The induction training for new trustees addresses their legal obligations under charity and company law, the Charity Commission's guidance on the meaning of public benefit, and in general the duties and responsibilities of the Board. This induction process includes the provision of relevant statutory documents and reports, including copies of the charity's Memorandum and Articles of Association, its latest finance and annual reports, and an overview of current trustee roles. 22 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** ## **6.2. Organisational management, staffing and volunteers** The Executive Director is appointed by the Board of Trustees to manage FORWARD's operations efficiently. The Executive Director holds delegated authority from the Board to manage operational matters, including finance, employment and programme planning and execution. This role is performed with the support of the Senior Management Team (SMT), together they are responsible for the implementation of the organisation's strategic plan and for realising FORWARD's mission and vision. The salaries of the Executive Director, Senior Management Team and members of staff are reviewed annually by the Board of Trustees. Provided that the necessary funding is available, the Board normally raises them in accordance with the annual change in average earnings within the Charity Sector. 16 members of staff worked with FORWARD in this reporting year, comprising 11 parttime and four full-time employees. Additionally, we worked with four sessional workers and two consultants supporting finance and monitoring and evaluation. We have been successful in continuing to recruit Community Champions, permitting them to transition to staff members and sessional workers. Additionally, over the course of the year, four interns and five volunteers supported the organisation with a wide range of tasks. Our youth work is supported by 10 volunteers who are members of the Young Women’s Advisory Committee, who provide oversight and guidance to our youth programme. FORWARD recruits new volunteers and interns through adverts published on our website and through recommendations from stakeholders and community advocates. We continue to improve our on-boarding procedures to ensure all new staff members are adequately supported and to facilitate their settling in at FORWARD. Our current organisational structure is made up of - Programmes and Support Services - covering the community, youth, and Africa work; Business Development & Strategy - made up of business development, fundraising, communication, monitoring and evaluation - Technical, Training and Commissioning Services - which oversees our training and commissioned work and - Central Operations Office - supports overall operations, administration, finance and human resources. 23 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** ## **6.3. Related party transactions** In our operations over the past year, there were no related party transactions to disclose as at the end of March 2025. ## **6.4. Risk management** The Board of Trustees undertake periodic analyses of the major risks that the organisation faces, or is exposed to, in line with FORWARD's risk management policy and risk register. The risk analysis is reviewed twice a year during Board meetings. The analysis includes: - The six-monthly review of FORWARD's risk matrix and the principal risks; the Board of Director's reports to each board meeting, which also include a review of key risks to the organisation. - The development of appropriate policies, procedures and actions to mitigate any risks identified (including programme risk areas, which are reviewed every quarter). - The development of procedures, plans and actions to minimise, mitigate and manage potential and identified risks to the organisation. The principal risks that faced FORWARD this past year included financial risk, governance risks, operational risks and risks pertaining to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. The charity's Treasurer and the Board's Finance and Human Resources Committee are together tasked with regularly reviewing the financial risks to which FORWARD could be exposed while we conduct our work, both internally and externally. Oversight of the risk register more generally is delegated by the Trustees to the Executive Director, who is tasked with reporting on it to the Board on a regular basis. As a further element of our approach to effective risk management, external consultants are contracted to undertake end–of-project evaluations for every project, focusing on the choice of programme areas, project outcomes, value-for-money and budgetary considerations. We have also started to work with external learning partners on some of our projects, who provide on-going support to enhance the effective monitoring and evaluation of our work. The external consultants' reports confirm our adherence to financially sound practices, in line with SORP guidelines, and ensure transparency and scrutiny. Finally, we continue to monitor the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and recent far right riots nationally on staff well-being; FORWARD continues to prioritise these risk areas. We have put in place a policy on safety measures to protect staff and volunteers, which aims to address potential risks associated with staff working remotely and helps us to provide staff and volunteers with ongoing support, including well-being supervision and flexible working, as well as professional training. 24 **FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** ## **RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE TRUSTEES** The Board of Trustees is responsible for preparing the Trustees' Annual Report, the Chairman's Statement and the financial statements, in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations. Company law requires the Board of Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Accordingly, the Trustees have prepared the financial statements in compliance with the United Kingdom's Generally Accepted Accounting Practice and the law applicable to charities in England and Wales. The financial statements are required by law to provide a true and fair view of FORWARD's financial situation, including incoming resources and the application of these resources by the charity. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to: - Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; - Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and - Prepare the financial statements on a going-concern basis, unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation. The Board of Trustees is responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy, at any time, the financial position of the charity and for ensuring that the annual financial statements comply with the Companies Act of 2006. The Trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the charity's assets and, hence, for taking reasonable steps to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities. ## **The Board of Trustees** The members of the Board of Trustees are FORWARD's directors for the purposes of company law and its trustees for the purposes of charity law, serving during the past financial year and up to the date of this report, as set out on page 3. In accordance with company law, as the company's directors, we certify that: So far as we are aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the company's auditors are unaware, and that, as the directors of the company, we have taken all the steps that we ought to have taken in order to make ourselves aware of any relevant auditor information and to establish that the charity's auditors are aware of that information. ## **Auditors** The trustees have considered the auditor’s performance, independence, and the requirements of good governance regarding auditor rotation. Having concluded that continued appointment may be in the best interests of the charity, A proposal to reappoint Goldwins as auditors for the forthcoming year will be put forward at the next trustees meeting in January 2026. Approved by the Board of Trustees and Signed on its behalf by: .......................................... Trustee - Dr Lisa Smith > 15 November 2025 25 ## **INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)** ## **Opinion** We have audited the financial statements of the Foundation for Women's Health Research and Development for the year ended 31 March 2025, which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the statement of cash flows and the related notes. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is the applicable law and the United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). ## **Opinion on financial statements** In our opinion the financial statements: - give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company's affairs as of 31 March 2025 and of its income and expenditure for the year then ended; - have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and - have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006. ## **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 section of our report entitled Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements. 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 FRCʼs 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 a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue. Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the directors with respect to the going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report. ## **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 auditor's report 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, to 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 there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material 26 ## **INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)** misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard. ## **Opinion on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006** In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit: - the information given in the Trustees' report (incorporating the directors' report) for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and - the Trustees' report (incorporating the Directors' report) has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements. ## **Matters on which we are required to report by exception** In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees' Annual Report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters, where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion: - adequate accounting records have not been kept or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or - the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or - certain disclosures of trustees' remuneration specified by law are not made; or - we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit. ## **Responsibilities of the trustees** As explained more fully in the Trustees' Responsibilities Statement, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give an accurate and fair view and for such internal control as they 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 the 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. ## **Our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements** Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements in their entirety are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance. However, it is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with the 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. Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect to irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our 27 ## **INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)** procedures can detect irregularities, including fraud, is set out below. In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following: - We enquired of management, which included obtaining and reviewing supporting documentation, concerning the charity's policies and procedures relating to: - Identifying, evaluating, and complying with laws and regulations, and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance; - Detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they had knowledge of any actual, suspected, or alleged fraud; - The internal controls that are established to mitigate fraud risks or noncompliance with laws and regulations. - - We inspected the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance. - We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that the charity operates in, focusing on those laws and regulations that had a material effect on the financial statements or that had a fundamental effect on the operations of the charity from our professional and sector experience. - We reviewed the financial statement disclosures and tested these against supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations. - We performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud. - In addressing the risk of fraud through management overriding of controls, we tested the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments, assessed whether the judgements made in establishing accounting estimates were indicative of a potential bias, and tested significant unusual transactions or those outside the normal course of business. A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report. ## **Use of our report** This report is made solely to the charitable company's members as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity's members those matters that we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity's members as a body for our audit work, this report, or the opinions we have formed. ………………………………. **Anthony Epton (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of Goldwins Limited Statutory Auditor Chartered Accountants 75 Maygrove Road West Hampstead London NW6 2EG** 28 Foundation For Women's Health Research And Development (Limited By Guarantee) Statement of Financial Activities Ilncorporating An Income and Expenditure Account} For the ear ended 31 March 2025 2025 2024 Unrestricted Restricted funds funds Total funds Total fund5 Note Income from.. Donations and legacies Charitable acrivities.. Africa programme Capacity building Community programme Youth programme Public education, training & other Other trading activities Investments Other 68,958 68.958 92,594 27,978 50,000 477,896 30,400 16,562 20,000 12,500 132,907 589,583 29,812 152.907 602.083 29.812 10.010 10,010 7,640 7.640 7,652 Total income 119,108 752,302 871.410 703,082 Expenditure on- Raising funds Charitable activities Africa programme Capacity building Community programme Youth programme Other 1,089 1.089 1,254 20,000 17,557 12,500 20.000 141.901 636.807 29,812 107.725 192,105 39,530 513,966 36,204 88,448 124,344 624,307 29,812 107,725 Total expenditure Net income l (expenditure) before net gains l (losses) on investments 158,871 778,463 937.334 871,507 139.763) 126,1611 165.924) 1168.42 5) Net gains l (losses) on investments Net income l (expenditurel for the year 139.763) (26,1611 (65.924) 1168,42 5) Transfers between funds 14.5571 4,557 Net income l (expenditure) before other recognised gains and losses 144.3201 (21 .6041 165.924) 1168.42 5) Net movement in funds 144,3201 121 ,6041 165.924) 1168,42 5) Reconciliation of funds: Total funds brought forward 574,661 40,637 615.298 783,723 Total funds carried fO￿ard 530,341 19,033 549.374 615,298 All of the above results are derived from continuing activitie5. There were No other recognised gains or losse5 other than those stated above. Movements in funds are discloseil in Note 18 to the financial statements. 29 Foundatlon For Women's Health Research And Developmeni (Llmlied By Guarantee) Balance Sheet Company no. 1921508 As at 31 March 2025 2025 2024 Note Fixed assets- Tangible a55ets 3,818 6,494 3.818 6,494 Current assets.. Debtors Cash at bank and in hand 101,609 511,340 83,185 604,439 612,949 687,624 Liabilities.. Creditors.. amounts falling due within one year 14 67,393 78,820 Net current assets 545.556 608,804 Total assets less current liabilities 549,374 61 5.298 Creditors.. amounts falling due after one year Net assets 549,374 615,298 Total net assets 549,374 615,298 The funds of the charity.. Restricted income funds Unrestricted income funds.. Designated funds General funds 19.033 40,637 203,580 326,761 206,187 368,474 Total unrestricted funds 530,341 574,661 Total charlty funds 549,374 615,298 The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions for small companies under Partl 5 of the Companies Act 2006. Approved by the trustees on 15 November 202 5 and signed on their behalf by Dr Lisa Smith Treasurer 30 Foundation For Women's Health Research And Development (Limited By Guarantee) Statement of Cash Flows For the year ended 31 March 2025 Note 2025 2024 Cash flows from operating activities Net cash provided by l (used in) operating 189.819) 1142.942) Cash flows from investing activities.. Dividends, interest and rents from investments Proceeds from the sale of fixed assets Purchase of fixed asset5 Proieed5 from Sale of investments Purchase of investments 13,2801 14,8931 Net cash provlded by l (used In) Investlng 13.280) 14.893) Net cash provlded by l (used In) flnanclng activities Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year 193.099) 1147,835) Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year Change in cash and cash equivalents due to exchange rate movements 604.439 752,274 Cash and cash equlvalenis ai ihe end of the year 20 511,340 604,439 31 Foundation For Women's Health Research And Development (Limited By Guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements For the year ended 31 March 2025 l Accountlng pollcles a) Basis of prepararion The financial siatemenis have been prepared in accordance with Accouniing and Reponing by Chariiies.. Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their aCCOLJnts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland IFRS 102 effective l January 20151 Icharities SORP FRS 1021 and the Companies Acr 2006. The charitable company meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Asset5 and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless othenwise stated in the relevant accounting poliiy or note. b) Golng concern The trustees consider thar there are no material uncertainties about the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern. The trustees do not consider that there are any Sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significanr risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of asset5 and liabilities within the next reporting period. c} Income Income 15 recogni5ed when the charity has entitlement to the fund5, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that rhe income will be received and rhat the amounr can be measured reliablv. Income from government and other grants, whether 'capital' grants or 'revenue' grants. is recognised when the chariiy has eniitlemeni to the funds, any performance conditions atiached 10 ihe grants have been met, it Is probable that the income will be received and the amoLJnt can be measLJred reliably and is not deferred. For legacie5, entitlement is taken as the earlier of the date on whiih either.. the charity 15 aware that probate has been granted. the estate has been finalised and notificarion has been made by the executorlsl to the charity that a distribution will be made. or when a distribution is received from the estate. Receipt of a legacy, in whole or in pan, is only considered probable when the amount can be measured reliably and the charity has been notified of the executor's intention to make a distribution. Where legacies have been notified to the charity, or the Iharity 15 aware of the granting of probate, and the criteria for income recognition have not been met, then the legacy is a treated as a contingent asset and disclosed if marerial. Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met. d} Donations of gifts, services and facilities Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the Item or received the service, any conditions associated with the donation have been met, the receipt of economii benefit from the use by the charity of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP IFRS 1021. volunreer time is not recognised so refer to the trustee5' annual report for more information about their contribution. On receipt, donated gifts, professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalenr economic benefit on the open market,. a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt. e) Interest receivable Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the chariiy., this is normally upon notification of the interesi paid or payable by the bank. 32 Foundation For Women's Health Research And Development (Limited By Guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements For the year ended 31 March 2025 l Accounting policies Icontinuedl Fund accounting Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expendirure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund. Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charitable purpose5. Designaied funds are unresiricied funds earmarked by the trustees for particular purposes. gl Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT Expenditure 15 recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party. it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings-. Costs of raising fund5 relate to the costs incurred by the charitable company in inducing third parties to make voluntary conrributions to it, as well as rhe cost of any acriviries with a fundraising purpose Expenditure on charitable activities includes the costs of delivering services, undertaken to further the purposes of the charity and their associated support Costs. Other expenditure represents those items not falling into any other heading Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred. h) Allocation of supporr costs Resources expended are allocared to the particular activity where the cost relares directly to that activity. However. the cost of overall direction and administrhtion of each activity. comprising the salary and overhead costs of the cenrral funciion, is apportioned on the basi5 which are an estimate, based on staff time, of the amount attributable to each activity. Where information about the aims, objectives and projects of the charity is provided to potential beneficiaries, the costs a550ciated with this publicity are allocated to charitable expenditure. Where such information about the aims, objectives and projects of the charity is also provided to potential donors. activity costs are apportioned between fundraising and charitable activities on the basis of area of liierature occupied by each aciiviiv. 11 Operating leases Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of rhe lease. Jl Tangible fixed assets liems of equipment are Capiialised where the purchase price exceeds £600. Depreciaiion cosis are allocated 10 activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities. Assets are reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying value may exceed their net reali5able value and value in use. Depreciatloll Is provided at rates calculated to write down the c05t of each a55et to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rares in use are as follows.. Website development Over 3 years Computer equipment 33.33%straight line Fixtures. fittings and equipment 25% straight line k) 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. 33 Foundation For Women's Health Research And Development (Limited By Guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements For the year ended 31 March 2025 l Accounting policies Icontinuedl 11 Cash at bank and In han(i Cash at bank and cash IN hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposir or similar account. Cash balances exclude any funds held on behalf of service users. ml Creditors and provisions Crediiors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a preseni obligaiion resuliing from a pasi 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 recogni5ed at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due. n) Financial instruments The charity only ha5 financial asset5 and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement valLJe with the exception of bank loans which are subseqLJently measured at amortised cost Using the effective interest method. ol Pensions The charity operares stakeholder pension scheme. 2 Detalled comparatlves for the statement of flnanclal actlvltles (Prlor year-2024) Restated 2024 Total Unrestricted Restricted Income from.. Donarions and legacies Chariiable aciiviiies.. Africa programme Capacity building Community programme Yourh programme Public education, training & other Other trading activities Investments Other 77.594 Is,000 92,594 27,978 50,000 474,896 30,400 27,978 50,000 477,896 30.400 16,562 3.000 16,562 7.652 7,652 Total income 104,808 598,274 703,082 Expen(Jlture on.. Raising funds Charitable activities.. Africa programme Capacity building Community programme Yourh programme Other 1.254 1.254 85,709 106,397 39,530 507,267 36,204 192,105 39,530 513.966 36,204 88,448 6.700 88.448 Total expenditure 182.110 689,397 871,507 Net income l expenditure Transfers between funds 177,3021 14.6341 191,1231 4,634 1168,4251 Net movement in funds Total funds brought forward 181.9361 656.597 186,4891 127,126 1168,4251 783,723 Total funds carried forward 574.661 40,637 615,298 Foundation For Women's Health Research And Development (Limited By Guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements For the year ended 31 March 2025 3 Income from donations and legacies 2025 total Total 2024 Total Unrestricted Restricred Donations Legacies Gaskell & Wilkinson Gift Aid 47,016 11,060 47,016 11,060 40,055 28,803 15.000 8,736 10,882 10.882 68,958 68,958 92,594 4 Income from investments 2025 Total 2024 Total Unresrricted Restricred Investment income 7.640 7,640 7,652 7.640 7,640 7,652 5 Income from charitable activitie5 2025 Total 2024 Total Unrestricted Restricted Afrlca Programme Comic Relief - Manda 2 Children'5 Dignity Forum- Haki Ya Binti Phase 2 Capacbty bulldlng Comic Relief Barrow Cadbury Trust Key510ne CAF Fund Community programme London Councils National Lottery Communiry Fund GLA-Ascenr NRPF GLA-Refuge - NRPF London Borough of Ealing MOPAC - Prevention & Action EHP Tudor Trust Royal Marsden Partners RMP BME Health Forum Youth programme London Councils-AVA Schs February Foundation WRC End Harmful Practices Public education & training Imperial College Training, consultancy and event 25,000 2,978 32.907 i 00.000 32.907 i 00,000 20,000 50,000 20,000 48.130 231.157 69.244 93,949 42,250 40.853 64.000 48,130 231.157 69,244 93,949 42,250 40,853 64.000 10,000 2,500 48.130 180,236 48,604 78,073 39,000 40.853 40.000 500 2,500 10,000 2,500 15.300 10.000 5,100 29.812 29,812 io,010 io.010 15,434 Total income from charitable activities 42,510 752,302 794,812 602,836 35 Foundatlon For Women's Health Research And Development (Llmlted By Guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements For the ear ended 31 March 2025 6 Analysis of expendlture Charitable Activities C05t of raising Africa Capacity Cornmunity Youth funds Programme Building Programme Programme Support costs 2025 Toral 2024 Total Staff costs (Note 81 Direct projecr cosr Partnership and networking Consultant and research fee5 Monitoring and evaluation Campaigning and advocacy Training outreach & event Publicaiion and media Travelling and subsistence Support cosr Organisational development Membership & Subscription5 Accounting and professional Rent, uiiliiie5 and rates Printing and stationery Insurance Capital costsllT Fundraising and marketing Depreciation Audit fees Sundry Governance cost5 Bank charges 7,000 46,900 353,330 25,000 90,313 522,543 505,656 5,927 33,865 1,169 1,000 68,653 7,922 27,095 108,445 9.091 28.095 105,255 37,414 7,254 4,240 71,162 14,463 10,257 2,700 1,559 2,814 40,261 2,116 637 92,975 9,170 5,167 434 1,878 136,370 14.723 8,969 351 5,726 15,519 335 21.245 567 354 53.979 2,326 3.840 6,266 8.039 5,650 5.000 21,393 1,758 794 48,256 4,783 3,654 6,431 2,586 10,502 5,500 12.7901 2,006 933 232 354 15,883 5,750 197 1,840 29,846 2,129 2,000 6,266 5,750 5,650 5,000 2,500 1,089 1,200 1,240 1.240 592 592 Totsl expenditure 2025 1,089 20,000 141,901 636.807 29,812 107.725 937,334 871,507 Total expendlture 2024 1,254 192,105 39.530 513,966 36,204 88,448 871,507 Of the total expendiiure, £158,871 was unrestricted 12024. £182,110) and £778,463 was restricted 12024.. £689,397). Analysls of expendlture Iprlor yearl Charitable Activities Cost of raising Africa Capacity Cornrnunity Youth funds Programme Building Programme Programme Support COS15 2024 Total Staff costs (Note 81 Direct project cost Partnership and networking Consultant and research fee5 Monitoring and evaluation Campaigning and advocaol Training outreach & event Publicaiion and media Travelling and subsistence Support cost Organisational development Membership & Subscriptions Accounting and professional Rent, uiiliiies and rates Printing and stationery Insurance Capital cosrsllT Fundraising and marketing Depreciarion Audit fees Capacity Building costs Sundry Governance costs Bank charges Total expenditure 2024 71,648 i 0,000 313,971 27,965 82,072 505,656 47,584 15.843 14,900 4.240 2,881 5.353 7,337 36,546 21.536 2,354 105,255 37.414 17,254 4.240 71,162 14.463 10,257 35 7,711 600 94 56,423 4.221 1,755 4,147 661 34 3.628 1,037 8,373 13,020 1.570 21,393 1.758 794 48.256 4,783 3.654 6,431 2.586 10,502 5.500 188 794 1.865 10.300 32.815 4,697 1.500 5,431 932 10,502 5.000 3,276 86 2.154 1,000 400 1,254 1,000 15001 12,7901 12,7901 2,006 933 871,507 1,134 872 821 513,966 1,254 192,105 39,530 36,204 88,448 36 Foundation For Women's Health Research And Development (Limited By Guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements For the year ended 31 March 2025 7 Net incoming resources for the year This is stated after charging I crediting.. 2025 2024 Depreciation Operating lease rentals.. Propertv Auditors, remuneration (excluding VAT). Audit 5,650 10.502 22,272 22.272 4,167 4,000 Analysis of staff costs. trusree remuneratlon and expenses. and the cost of key managemenr personnel Staff cosis were a5 follows.. 2025 2024 Salaries and wages Social security Costs Employer's contributlon to defined contrlbutlon pension schemes Freelance sraff5 Other staffs costs 412.957 37,778 10,748 58,060 3,000 399,975 30.412 10,469 54.900 9,900 522.543 505,656 No employee earned rnore than £60,000 during the year 12024". nill. The total Èmployee benefits including pension and national Insurance contrlbutions of the key management personnel were £69,410 12024 £66,855). The charity trustees were not paid or received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year 12024-. £nill. No Charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity 12024.- £nill. 9 Staff numbers The average number of employees (head count based on number of sraff employed) during the year was as follows.. 2025 No. 2024 Charitable activitie5-. Africa programme Capacity Building Community programme Youth programme Support 13.S 13.0 20.0 22.0 l O Related party transactlons There are no related party tran5action5 to disc105e for 2025 12024.. none). There are no donatlOn5 from related partie5 which are outside the normal course of business and no restricted donatlOn5 from related partie5. I l Taxation The chariiable Company is exempt from corporation tax as all it5 income 15 charitable and 15 applied for charitable purposes. 37 Foundation For Women's Health Research And Development (Limited By Guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements For the year ended 31 March 2025 12 Tanglble flxed assets Website Developrnent Computer Fixture5 Equipment and fitiing5 Total Cost At the start of the year Additions in year 60,090 72,919 3,280 31,751 164,760 3.280 At the end of the year 60,090 76,199 31,751 168.040 Depreciation At the start of the year Charge for the year 60.090 66,425 5,956 31,751 158.266 5.956 At the end of Ihe year Net book value At the end of the year 60,090 72,381 31,751 164.222 3,818 3.818 At the start of the year 6,494 6.494 All of the above assets are used for charitable purpose5. 13 Debtors 2025 2024 Trade debtors Other debtors Prepayment5 96,161 1,205 4,243 78,167 806 4,212 101,609 83,185 14 Credltors.. amounts falllng due wlthln one year 2025 2024 Trade creditor5 Other creditors Accruals Deferred Income 25,622 16.370 15,271 26,500 32.450 30,000 67,393 78,820 I S Deferred income Deferred grant income comprises Keystone CAF Fund £20,000 and London Borough of Ealing £6,500. 2025 2024 Balance at the beginning of the year Amount released to Income in the year Amouni deferred in the year 30,000 130.0001 26,500 45,000 145,0001 30.000 Balance at the end of the year 26,500 30,000 16 Penslon scheme The chariiy operaies stakeholder pension scheme and ha5 no pension liabiliiy a5 at the year end. 38 Foundation For Women's Health Research And Development (Limited By Guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements For the year ended 31 March 2025 17 Analysis of net assets between funds General unrestricted Designated Resiricied Total funds Tangible fixed assets Net currenr a55et5 3.818 322,943 3.818 545.556 203,580 19,033 Net assets at the end of the year 326,761 203,580 19,033 549,374 18 Movements In funds At the start of the year At the end of the year Incorne Expenditure Transfer5 Restricted funds.. CapacSty bulldlng Comic Relief Barrow Cadbury Trust Communiry programme London Councils National Lottery Community Fund GLA-Ascent NRPF GLA-Refuge - NRPF London Borough of Ealing MOPAC - Prevention & Action EHP Tudor Trust Comic Relief MOJ Fund Lotrery Community Fund-cost of Living Youth programme WRC End Harmful Practices 32.907 i 00,000 127.9071 196,4371 5,000 14.033 10,470 48,130 231,157 69,244 93,949 42,250 40,853 64,000 148,1301 1257,2571 26100 4067 193,9491 142,2501 140,8531 164,0001 12,9261 2,926 1,631 29,812 129,8121 1778,4631 Total restrftted funds 40,637 752,302 4,557 19.033 Unrestricted funds.. Designated funds. Capaciiy Building Fund Keystone CAF Fund Fixed A55et designated Fund5 Total designated fund5 General fund5 200,000 200,000 1.950 1.630 203.580 20,000 118,0501 6,187 206,187 14,5571 14,5571 20,000 118,0501 368,474 99,108 1140.8211 326.761 Total unrestricted fund5 574,661 119,108 14,5571 530.341 Total funds 615,298 871.410 1937,3341 549.374 Purp05e5 of designated funds Designated funds are unre5tri£ted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular purposes Stated as above. Purp05e5 of restricted fund5 Income, whlch is recelved for speciflc projects, as - for example - grants, donatlons and earned Income - Is accounted for as restricted funds. If project funds are projected to be overspent, we take action early to reduce expenditure andlor raise more fund5 to cover the potential shortfall. If we continue to project and incur an unavoidable overspend. a transfer is made from unre5tri£ted funds. The balances on restricted fund5 arise from income received for specific projects on which some expenditure is still to be incurred in the coming financial year. Each of the project5 15 described in more detail below.. 39 Foundation For Women's Health Research And Development (Limited By Guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements For the year ended 31 March 2025 Movements in funds Icontinuedl Purposes of restricted funds Africa Programme.. The Africa Programme supports our inrernarional developmenr work of FORWARD, providing opportunities for the dlaspora to have a voice in development conversatlons. This programme operates through local partner5 in Africa and through collaborations in the UK. Community Prograrnrne.. FORWARD'S vision is to support iornmunitie5 to Say no to FGM and end all forms of violence against women and girls and to take the lead in campaigning against FGM, child Marriage and all forms of domestic and sexual violence and discrimination enabling African women and girls everywhere enjoy equality, live in dignity, be healthy. and thrive free from fear of violence. Youth Prograrnrne.. FORWARD'5 youth team provide5 FGM awarene55 5e55ions in primary and secondary 5chool5, colleges, other higher education institutions and universities nationwide. Through the TuwezÈshe Leadership Prograrnme, FORWARD seeks 10 nuriure young women to become resilient leaders and changemakers to drivelinspire social change In thelr communlties and beyond and In raking actlon on VAWG and rlghts of Afrlcan & mlnorlty ethnlc gir15 and young women. Capaclty Buildlng.. FORWARD aims to strengthen coalition building within our parrnerships to amplify their reach and community of experts working to Ènd VAWG affecting African women and girls. Our work aims to enh3nc* the capacity of partner organisarions to deliver evldence-based programmes through equipplng them with resources, tools and technical support. Our Barrow Cadbury and Lloyds Bank Foundation funded Q-SEED-A Founders, Leadership pilot initiative. previously under our Youth Programme, has the overarching aim of increasing the resilience and capabilitie5 of Global Majority IBGMI leader5 in rhe criminal justice 5e£tor IQS), Ihrough training and networking and enabling them to lead social change effort5 ai a time of greai volaiility and crise5 Wlthin the sector and help challenge and Influence the QS. 19 Reconciliation of net income I lexpenditurel to net cash flow from operatlng actiwtles 2025 2024 Net Income I lexpendlturel for the reportlng perlod las per the starement of financlal acuvltlesl Depreciation charges Ilncrea5elldecrea5e in debtor5 Increaselldecreasel in creditor5 16S.9241 1168,4251 5,955 118,4241 111.4271 10,808 29.079 114,4041 Net cash prowded by I (used inl operating activities 189.8191 17 42,9421 20 Analysis of cash and cash equivalents At l April 2024 Other At31 hange5 March 2025 Cash flow5 Cash In hand 604.439 193,0991 511.340 Total cash and cash equlvalents 604,439 193,0991 511.340 21 Operating lease commitments Total future minirnum lease paymenr5 under non-cancellable operating lea5e5 are as follow5-. Property 2025 Equipment 2025 2024 2024 Le55 than one year One to five years 19.256 29,928 19,256 49,880 49,184 69,136 The charity has Secured three year5 property lease effected from l October 2024. 40 Foundation For Women's Health Research And Development (Limited By Guarantee) Notes to the Financial Statements For the year ended 31 March 2025 22 Legal status of the charity The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member In the event of windlng up is Ilmlted to £1. 23 a. Summary analysis of assets and liabilities by funds of prewous reporting peri(Kl 120241 General Designated Restricted Total funds Tangible fixed assets Net current assets 6,494 361,980 6.494 608,804 206,187 40,637 Net assets at the end of the year 368,474 206,187 40,637 615.298 b. Detalls of movement In funds durlng the prevlous reportlng perlod 120241 Restared Incoming re50urce5 & gains Outgoing re50urce5 & 105se5 At the start of the year At the end of the year Transfer5 Restrlcted funds.. Africa Prograrnrne Comic Relief - Manda 2 Children'5 Dignity Forum- Haki Ya Binti Phase 2 Gaskell & Wilkinson CapacSty bulldlng Barrow Cadbury Tru5r Communiry programme London Counci15 National Lottery Community Fund- Mend the Gap I National Lottery Community Fund- Mend the Gap 2 GLA-Ascent NRPF GLA-Refuge - NRPF London Borough of Ealing MOPAC - Prevention & Action EHP MOPAC - VAWG Grassroots Comic ReliefiDCMS Fund Comic Relief MOJ Fund Tudor Trust Youth programme Dr Marten5 Foundatitsn London Councils-AVA Schs February Foundation WRC End Harmful Practices 50,719 25,000 2,978 15,000 852 156 50,000 139,5301 10,470 48,130 69,868 110,368 48,604 78,073 39.000 40,853 148,1301 173,6361 184.2681 155,7721 1100,2701 148.1401 148,4131 16701 8,624 14,8561 26.100 4.067 22,197 9,140 7,560 670 17,9681 140,0001 7,968 40,000 2,416 3,388 12,4161 118.6881 11 0,0001 15.300 i 0,000 5,100 Total restricted funds 127,126 598,274 1689.3971 4,634 40.637 UnrestrScred funds.. Designated fund5'. Capacity Building Fund Fixed Assei de51gnated Fund5 200,000 9,969 200,000 6,187 13,7821 Total designated funds 209,969 13,7821 206,187 General funds 446,628 104,808 18521 368,474 Total unrestricted fund5 656,597 104,808 14,6341 574,661 Total funds 783,723 703,082 1871,5071 615,298 41