2025-10-31-accounts - Arthritis Action

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Company registration number: 01914825 Charity registration number: 292569

ARTHRITIS ACTION TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2025

Arthritis Action Contents

	Page
Trustees' Report	1—12
Independent Auditor's Report	13—15
Statement of Financial Activities (including Income and Expenditure Account)	16
Statement of Financial Position	17
Statement of Cash Flows	18
Notes to the Statement of Cash Flows	19
Notes to the Financial Statements	20—32

Arthritis Action Company No. 01914825 Trustees' Report For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

The Trustees who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 October 2025. The Trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).

Objectives and Activities

Arthritis Action was founded in 1942 and is a charitable company limited by guarantee as defined by the Companies Act 2006. It is governed by its Articles of Association, which were last amended on 8 July 2025.

Vision, Objectives and Priorities

Our vision is for people to live active lives, free from the impact of arthritis. We will relieve and promote the relief of people with arthritis and associated musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions by:-

Helping and supporting people through the provision of the best available evidence-based approaches and techniques;
Monitoring arthritis related developments and initiatives, and promoting efforts to gain a better understanding of the conditions and their impact on people's lives; and
Raising awareness and disseminating evidence-based information about all matters relating to those conditions

Overview of Activities

The Trustees have carefully considered the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit, as well as its general advice, when determining the activities Arthritis Action should undertake.

During the year ended 31 October 2025, the Charity spent £580,408 (2024: £648,268) on delivering its self-management health programme, £169,944 (2024: £199,640) on raising awareness of arthritis and £51,666 (2024: £20,607) on research.

Arthritis Action is the UK charity giving hands-on, practical help to improve the quality of life of people affected by arthritis. We offer an integrated self-management approach, which looks at both the physical and mental health impact of living with arthritis. Whilst we are a membership charity, we have transformed our services to benefit our membership and wider communities affected by arthritis and associated MSK conditions across the UK.

Our 2024-2026 strategy builds upon our previous strategy and elevates our efforts to support more adults affected by arthritis across the country.

Our 2024-2026 strategic priorities are:

To empower people living with arthritis to better self-manage their condition.
To reach more young adults across the UK and support more people in work of all ages.
To have a self-management approach that attracts referrals from healthcare professionals.
To raise awareness of the Charity and that of arthritis and MSK conditions.
To actively reach out to and make a difference for diverse communities affected by arthritis across the UK.
To achieve long-term financial sustainability.

Self-Management Approach

Although over 10 million people live with arthritis in the UK, each person is unique in the way they manage their symptoms. Our approach enables people to choose the techniques that work best for them.

Our self-management approach includes:

A Personalised Member Pathway, a service that helps Members access the services that meet their needs;
• Nutrition and weight management consultations with our registered Dietitian;
Self-management educational events and courses to learn about various techniques for managing both the physical and mental health impact of arthritis;

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Arthritis Action Trustees' Report (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

Online Arthritis Action Groups;
Online exercise classes and providing resources for exercising safely, Movement Snacks, signposting to activities in communities and collaborations with activity providers;
Free, easy to follow online self-management videos;
Quarterly webinars and a monthly podcast with expert speakers, covering a wide range of topics;
Subsidised clinical appointments with our registered osteopaths, physiotherapists and acupuncturists; and
• Factsheets, our Members' magazine, electronic newsletters and informational leaflets on a variety of topics including self-management, physical activity, and mental wellbeing.

Raising Awareness of Arthritis

During the past year, we worked hard to raise awareness of arthritis and of the Charity’s work in supporting people with the condition, through our efforts in securing media exposure in top tier publications; digital campaigns on the website and social media platforms.

Our prominence in the MSK sector was amplified through our networking activity and supporting the influencing and policy work of umbrella organisations including the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance (ARMA) and National Voices, of which we are charity members.

We attended meetings to discuss policy developments; took part in influencing activities such as signing joint letters to policy makers to raise awareness of issues affecting people with arthritis; and represented patients by feeding into reports that look at how MSK conditions affect health, work and wellbeing.

We also reached out to a diverse audience to raise awareness of Arthritis Action and its self-management approach. This included lunch clubs in low-income areas across Surrey; community health meetings in East Sussex and LGBTQ + events in the Midlands. We would like to thank our Trustee, Colin Beevor, for his continued support in delivering presentations to healthcare professionals and community groups.

We continued to connect with healthcare professionals through our awareness training sessions for NHS Talking Therapy Teams. Alongside this, we delivered presentations to Physician Associates, Patient Participation Groups and professionals within the British Society of Rheumatology and the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR). Our team and volunteers helped us achieve this through their intensive research and networking efforts.

Achievements and Performance

We are proud of our achievements in 2024/25 please see our Impact Report for information (https://www.arthritisaction.org.uk/who-we-are/our-impact/attachment/arthritis-action-impact-report-2024-2025/).

Our achievements and performance, against our six strategic priorities, are:

- Empowering people living with arthritis to better self manage their condition

We continued to grow both the reach and depth of our services, broadening how and where we provide trusted information to our Members and to people living with arthritis who are seeking guidance and support.

We are pleased that 96% of our Members are satisfied with our services, based on our 2025 survey. In the words of a Member: “All of the services I have used have been very well run and of lasting benefit to me”.

Demand for our services continues to rise, driven by an ageing population and modern lifestyles that are contributing to increasing numbers of people living with arthritis. In response, we are proud to have directly supported more than 12,000 people this year.

This support spanned our community Groups and self-management events and courses; clinical appointments through our network of physiotherapists, osteopaths and acupuncturists; webinars; ‘Home Strength’ exercise classes; nutrition and weight management consultations; and our relaunched Personalised Member Pathway service. Importantly, 94% of attendees reported that our self-management events and courses helped them better understand how to manage their arthritis, demonstrating the tangible difference our work is making.

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Arthritis Action Trustees' Report (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

We have continued to run our Online Arthritis Action Groups which meet on a regular basis and enable like-minded people to share their experiences of living with arthritis. These Groups continue to support people who are isolated at home, giving them a space to meet and learn from each other and our speakers. We are pleased that 90% of attendees felt the Groups helped improve their confidence in managing their condition, and 100% would recommend Arthritis Action Groups to a friend. We look forward to continuing the Groups and ensuring a safe place for attendees to share hints, tips and experiences. We ran additional successful self-management events this year with over 300 registrations across the year, exceeding our targets for the year. We also ran two successful self-management courses for those wanting more indepth learning about self-management, with 55 attendees across the two courses.

In November 2024, we introduced Movement Snacks, a newer service developed to support people with arthritis through a structured series of guided exercises. Delivered by email over five weeks, the resource focuses on key areas such as balance, core strength, upper body, and lower body exercises. The series is available in three progressive levels, with Level One launched in November. Levels Two and Three were released in April 2025 at the British Society for Rheumatology Conference to further expand the pro gramme’s reach and impact. Since launching the programme, there have been 604 sign-ups and 6,609 video views.

Our popular Self-Management Video resource includes 31 evidence-based videos which aim to help people with arthritis self-manage different aspects of their condition and improve their daily life. Over the year, the videos have had over 2,800 plays, and our recorded webinars over 2,500 plays.

Reaching more young adults across the UK and supporting more people in work of all ages

Following a strategic decision by the Executive Management Team to no longer prioritise younger adults as a core focus, we continued to deliver a targeted range of services to support those who engage with us, including delivering Young Adult Group meetings, a specialist webinar and a further series of our podcast. We also continued to produce Arthritis & Me, our quarterly newsletter, and to develop content for the Young Adult Hub on our website, which attracted over 6,500 visits from younger adults. Our digital offer remained impactful, with over 5,000 podcast listeners and strong engagement in our webinar series, which saw 439 registrations and 190 attendees.

We have consolidated our communications by moving all recipients of the Arthritis & Me newsletter to our main electronic newsletter ‘eNews’. This will reduce duplication and enable us to deliver more consistent, impactful messaging across our audiences.

Having a self management approach that attracts referrals from healthcare professionals

Our focus for 2024/25 has been to strengthen our engagement with healthcare professionals, recognising the vital role they play in supporting people living with arthritis. To inform this work, we undertook targeted research to better understand their communication needs, preferences and challenges. The insights gained are now shaping the development of more tailored, practical resources, ensuring healthcare professionals are better equipped to support their patients with relevant, accessible information and guidance.

Alongside this, we actively contributed to key sector events, raising awareness of our work and strengthening our professional networks. We attended the British Society for Rheumatology Annual Conference, which attracts over 2,000 delegates, and were proud to present at the EULAR Congress in Barcelona, a major international event attended by more than 13,500 delegates. These opportunities enabled us to share learning, showcase our impact, and engage with a wide range of professionals from across the rheumatology community.

We also significantly increased our direct engagement with healthcare professionals throughout the year. In total, we delivered 15 presentations, reaching 475 professionals, including social prescribers and physician associates, across London, the Midlands and East Anglia. In addition, we continued to maintain a presence at community-based events where healthcare professionals are active, helping to build relationships, raise awareness of our services, and ensure more patients can be signposted to the support they need.

Raising awareness of the Charity and that of arthritis and MSK conditions

We have continued our efforts to raise awareness of arthritis and that of the Charity, reaching over 1.9 million people on our social media channels, and a combined audience of 80 million through media coverage and PR activities. We secured 54 pieces of national media coverage last year, including a full-length feature on self-management in The Telegraph, several articles in the Daily Mail featuring quotes from Dr Wendy Holden, our Medical Advisor, and a feature in The Sun.

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Arthritis Action Trustees' Report (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

Our website reached over 432,000 page views this year, reflecting its importance as a trusted source of information. The ‘arthritis and disability benefits’ page alone received 43,880 visits, underscoring the significant and ongoing demand for guidance on financial support. This was particularly evident during a year in which the Government was reassessing benefits such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

We introduced a new “Work and Arthritis” section on our website to support both employees and employers in understanding and managing the impact of arthritis in the workplace. We also collaborated with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to highlight the importance of helping people of working age with arthritis remain economically active.

To improve the way we communicate with external audiences, we have continued developing our social media channels and tailoring our activity to increase engagement and grow our reach. These include Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Health Unlocked and YouTube.

After a critical look at X’s practices over the course of the year, we deprioritised X as a social media platform and set up an account on Bluesky in December 2024.

Research

We are proud to have worked with 98 leisure centres across the UK to develop local community MSK hubs, in partnership with GoodBoost, ukactive, Orthopaedic Research UK and ESCAPE-pain.

While the project formally concluded on 31 March 2024, we continue to work with partners to explore how this model can be scaled. Arthritis Action remains committed to supporting the leisure sector, with a particular focus on training staff to better meet the needs of people living with arthritis. We have since extended our training offer to include Barrow Leisure Centre and the Royal British Veterans Enterprise.

Throughout the year, we have also collaborated with universities, other charities and nonprofit organisations in order to increase our evidence base about the self-management of arthritis and to ensure we are following best practice and the latest guidance. We are also a National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) stakeholder group and engage in many of their research programmes. NICE is committed to involving national organisations that represent patients, like Arthritis Action, in the assessment of technologies.

Moreover, during the year, we were approached by 5 postgraduate researchers to help recruit for studies focused on Raynaud’s Disease, recovery following knee surgery and wider support to take up exercise. Alongside this, Leah Boylan and Martin Lau worked with the University of Derby to participate in a study to develop a digital tool for the management of Osteoarthritis.

Reaching out to and making a difference for diverse communities affected by arthritis across the UK

We are pleased to have delivered self-management presentations to over 4,300 people, with 62% of participants coming from ethnic minority groups and low-income communities. This reflects our growing success in reaching those who are often underserved.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) extends beyond these outcomes. As a core strategic priority, we have focused our efforts on ensuring our services and resources are accessible, inclusive and relevant, reaching more people through both digital and in-person delivery.

This commitment is embedded within our 2024 – 26 Strategy, which strengthens our focus on tackling inequalities and expanding our reach to underserved communities.

Our work in the community has been enhanced by a legacy gift for use in the Staffordshire area, resulting in a local project ‘Portraits of the Potteries’ featuring connected stories of arthritis telling the benefits of grassroots community support.

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Arthritis Action Trustees' Report (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

The Charity also set up a Health Inequalities Working Group in 2021, which includes the Executive Management Team and key members of staff. The Working Group helps achieve the Charity’s aims of: understanding the needs of diverse communities affected by arthritis; building a diverse and inclusive culture within the organisation; challenging racism and discrimination in its work internally and externally; and continuing to learn, improve and implement best practices in equality and inclusion. The Trustees also appointed an EDI Lead, Elizabeth Takyi on the Board to ensure we champion equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) within the charity’s leadership and help ensure the charity is welcoming, fair and inclusive for all, including staff, volunteers, service users, and the wider community.

Our Area Coordinators are actively networking with diverse communities through our self-management presentations, ensuring our resources reach those who need them most. Meanwhile, our Working Group continues to track key performance indicators to measure and enhance our impact. We remain dedicated to prioritising low-income and ethnically diverse areas, striving to make a greater difference. By working with our staff, Trustees, and partners, we are committed to expanding our reach and providing meaningful support to diverse communities living with arthritis across the UK.

- Achieving long term financial sustainability

Financial Sustainability Working Group

The Board of Trustees approved a five-year Sustainable Growth in September 2024 that looks at investing in fundraising areas, such as trusts and foundations, philanthropy and corporate partnerships, and reducing operational expenditure.

Fundraising

Arthritis Action is committed to good fundraising practice and is registered with the Fundraising Regulator. We voluntarily subscribe to the Fundraising Regulator's Code of Fundraising Practice and have a Donations Acceptance Policy approved by the Board of Trustees, which can be viewed on our website.

Our Fundraising Manager is focused on developing new fundraising activities to diversify our income streams, covering most areas of fundraising: individual giving, legacy fundraising, trust fundraising, and challenge events. Our Deputy CEO and Strategic Partnerships Lead is investing time in developing new corporate relationships and raising awareness of arthritis and its prevalence in the workplace.

Our largest income source continues to be legacies, making up 51% of our total income in 2024-2025 (23-24: 73%); therefore, we are exploring new ways of leveraging this area of fundraising alongside other activities.

We are grateful to have received funding from a range of corporate partners throughout 2025. This includes UCB, whose support enabled us to progress our secondary healthcare research project and deliver an inflammatory arthritis dietary intervention.

We were also honoured to be selected as Charity of the Year by Inner Wheel, who raised an outstanding £24,000 in support of Arthritis Action. We extend our sincere thanks for their generosity and commitment.

We are also deeply grateful to all our Members, donors, legators, and supporters for their dedication to making a difference in the lives of people affected by arthritis. Special thanks go to our fundraisers, who took part in a variety of inspiring events, including the Edinburgh, Bournemouth and London Marathons, a 100km hike across the South Downs, and the Step into Summer Challenge.

Operational Savings

As a result of exercising a break clause, new premises were secured in April 2025. This move has led to a significant reduction in fixed costs, without compromising our capacity to achieve our organisational objectives.

Volunteers

The Trustees volunteer their time and individual expertise freely to the governance and management of the Charity. The Charity also benefits from the help of a small number of volunteers. We also have a pool of expert patient volunteers who are interested in getting involved in research projects in their areas of expertise

Arthritis Action maintains an Employer Supported Volunteering scheme designed to encourage staff to engage with a wide range of community activities, supporting causes they care about. Our policy is dedicated to ensuring our team can contribute meaningfully both within and beyond our Charity.

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Arthritis Action Trustees' Report (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

Financial Review

Arthritis Action's financial performance is set out on page 16 and the key accounting policies remain unchanged. Income for the year ended 31 October 2025 was £650,886 (2024: £1,261,062), a decrease of £610,176. Expenditure amounted to £1,157,910 (2024: £1,190,892), a decrease of £32,982. Expenditure on Charitable Activities reduced by 8% compared to the previous year partially offset with a 10% increase in expenditure on fundraising activities. This shift in expenditure reflects the Charity’s focus on long -term financial sustainability and it is anticipated that this will lead to more predictable income levels in future.

The significant reduction in income is driven by legacies which reduced by £584,655 amounting to £332,753 (2024: £917,408). Legacies remain the Charity's single most important source of income, but their very nature means their timing is unpredictable. As the Charity receives a relatively small number of individual bequests, volume fluctuations have a marked effect on the total value of legacy receipts from one year to the next. Over the last 10 years annual legacy receipts have averaged £437,000 (2024: £445,000). Income from Donations decreased by £43,125 to £97,630 and income from Grants decreased by £7,384 to £41,986. The decrease in income was disappointing, especially with a renewed focus on income generation, but reflects the current highly competitive nature surrounding charity giving and grant funding requests. Increased income from investments helped to offset some of the decrease in generated income. Investments had a net unrealised gain of £398,041 (2024: £416,177 gain). This in-year growth, equating to 11.9% (2024: 11.2%) of invested capital, was significantly ahead of the objective to retain capital in real terms with inflation (CPI) at 3.5% for the year to 31 October 2025.

Overall, the net deficit for the year ended 31 October 2025 was £108,983 (2024: £486,347, surplus). This resulted in Arthritis Action's total funds decreasing to £4,424,923 (2024: £4,533,906) of which £212,298 is restricted (2024: £141,638). This outcome exceeded t he Charity’s 2025 deficit budget as gains on investments were significantly ahead of expectations.

Reserves Policy

Arthritis Action aims to utilise its reserves to help people live active lives, free from the effects of arthritis and raise awareness of the impact of arthritis both now and in the long term. The Trustees' underlying policy is, therefore, to closely monitor the reserves position to ensure that the level of cash reserves is appropriate to the operating costs and other commitments of the Charity, and to maintain an adequate level of reserves to provide security, covering the inherent volatility and uncertainty surrounding legacy income, upon which the Charity is highly dependent. This includes maintaining a level of unrestricted reserves to provide income to support a proportion of expenditure, as a secure source of income this helps enable the charity to maximise efforts on charitable activities. It also allows that income raised through other methods can be focussed on charitable activities. The Trustees review this policy at least annually to ensure that it reflects the Charity's circumstances, external climate, and future plans.

As we provide services that span several months in their delivery, the Trustees believe it is crucial to maintain a minimum level of free reserves. These reserves are intended to cover orderly wind-up costs and at least six months of operating costs if required. This approach ensures the continuity of our services, safeguards our ability to fulfil partnership commitments, and mitigates the risks associated with fluctuating income streams.

Designated Funds

Designated funds have been created to ensure that the charity complies with the Charities’ Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) and best practice, and will continue as a going concern in perpetuity, as long as those living with arthritis need our support. These designated funds are set aside by the Trustees for specific purposes.

The funding of our Health Inequalities Greater Impact programme to reach more people in low-income communities in areas of unmet needs through expansion of our regional outreach, which is expected to cost £215,428 over the next two years.
The funding for our five-year Sustainable Growth Plan as approved by the Board through investment into broadening our income streams and our underlying IT infrastructure to build organisational resilience, which is expected to cost a further £399,050 over the remaining four years.
An amount of £1m made available to support collaborative projects and initiatives that align with our strategic objectives.

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Arthritis Action Trustees' Report (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

Redirecting these resources will enable the charity to maximise impact in other areas and deliver greater benefit for people living with arthritis.

The amounts allocated to the designated funds may be adjusted in response to changing priorities or circumstances and remain at the discretion of the Board of Trustees

Investment Policy

At 31st October 2025 the Charity had approximately £4.2m of reserves for investment. A portion of these (£3.3m at 31.10.25) is held in long-term reserves, with the remainder as shorter-term cash reserves. Where long-term reserves need to be drawn down to support regular operational costs, including designated funds, this can be done in 2-3 weeks. When making investment decisions and placing deposits, careful consideration is given to credit, liquidity and cash flow risk and the Charity seeks to obtain the best financial return within an acceptable level of risk throughout the year. The investment objective for our long-term reserves was to preserve capital in real terms whilst producing a reasonable income, with an intermediate attitude to risk. Schroders, our financial advisors, have discretion to manage our investment within this framework. The Charity also required during the year that our financial advisors, as part of their investment research and analysis process, to take account of social, environmental, ethical and governance considerations in the selection, retention and realisation of investments.

In May 2025 the Trustees agreed to move to Schroder’s Multi -Asset Sustainable Fund so that no income would be incurred from companies causing a negative social, environmental or ethical impact and actively invests in positive-impact organisations. It was felt that this brought the investment policy more into line with other Arthritis Action policies while still retaining a competitive return. The investment objective for this new fund is for long-term reserves to preserve capital in real terms whilst producing a reasonable distribution, with a medium to high attitude to risk. The long-term reserves invest sustainably, excluding some sectors. There is also a separate short term reserve account which only holds cash, or close to cash, and has a low attitude to risk. During 2025 36% of investments made a material contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, reaching an estimated 356,432 people through the provision of vital social services such as healthcare, education and financial inclusion. The funds investments in clean energy, waste and water treatment resulted in 182,511 tonnes of carbon emissions being avoided through.

Risk Management

The Trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which Arthritis Action is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide effective corporate governance and reasonable assurance against fraud and error. The Trustees maintain and regularly review a risk register which has identified that the principal risks are: -

Loss of Funds: the majority of Arthritis Action's funds are managed by an accredited UK charity fund manager, and other funds are held with suitable first tier banks. As a result, there is little risk in the short term.
Loss of Income: the Charity is dependent on income from legacies, donations, and membership fees, and remains actively engaged in fundraising activities to ensure the continuing flow of income from these sources. As discussed within this report efforts are being made to broaden the income sources to further reduce this risk.
Loss of Reputation: the Charity takes great care to preserve the professionalism of the services it provides to its Members and others who seek help with their arthritis condition. It also actively monitors its interaction and relationships with third parties and other stakeholders to ensure that high standards are maintained.
Impact of Competition: As a result of other charities offering similar services, there is a risk that potential service users who would benefit greatly from our personalised approach, may instead access alternative providers or remain unaware of the support we offer. Increased competition within the sector can also reduce our visibility, limit referrals, and make it more challenging to attract service users, supporters, and funding. As part of our upcoming strategic review, the Trustees will consider our unique strengths and how these can be better communicated and leveraged to ensure our services remain accessible, relevant, and well utilised when needed.

Other identified risks include cash flow management, health & safety of staff and Members, Cyber Security, maintaining the IT infrastructure, and staff retention/development.

The Trustees are satisfied that appropriate internal control systems and risk management processes are in place to help to identify, evaluate and manage these risks. The Finance and Risk Committee and the Executive Management Team reviews key strategic and operational risks on a regular basis, and considers new and emerging risks.

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Arthritis Action Trustees' Report (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

Plans for the future

Our future plans, in relation to our strategic priorities, are:

To empower people living with arthritis to better self manage their condition

We will continue to support people living with arthritis through our integrated self-management approach, ensuring that our services remain relevant and meet the evolving needs of our Members and service users. Our support will include the ongoing delivery of our Personalised Member Pathway service, nutrition and weight management consultations, selfmanagement events, and Arthritis Action Groups. We will also continue to offer our online exercise classes, movement snacks and resources, subsidised clinical appointments, and a wealth of information through our podcast, webinars, and website resources, in order to provide practical, accessible, and impactful support for the people we serve.

To reach more young adults across the UK and support more people in work of all ages

Following a review of our young adult activities, the Executive Management Team took the decision to further reduce direct provision for this group, reflecting consistently low uptake. We will now deliver one Young Adult Group meeting per month, supported by a volunteer, reducing staff resource while maintaining a light-touch offer.

To have a self-management approach that attracts referrals from healthcare professionals

We will continue to engage with healthcare professionals, to ensure that we offer the most relevant and up-to-date information and guidance on self-management for arthritis.

In November 2024 we worked with the strategic communications consultancy, Blue Lozenge, to address the communication needs of secondary healthcare professionals working with people who have inflammatory arthritis. This project has been kindly funded by UCB, enabling us to better understand the information needs and gaps for health professionals working in secondary care, to support them in signposting patients who live with arthritis. UCB has had no influence over content or scope.

We are now exploring Stage 2 of this project, to help us develop a dedicated web-based portal for healthcare professionals, containing evidence-based self-management information for people with inflammatory arthritis. We will utilise the research conducted by volunteers to contact the relevant healthcare professionals.

Our commitment to this strategic objective also includes the ongoing delivery of our presentations in line with our key performance indicators. Examples of upcoming talks to healthcare professionals include rheumatology medical students, social prescribers and NHS Neighbourhood Initiative Teams.

In 2026, we will establish a Clinical Advisory Panel to strengthen our access to a broader network of healthcare professionals. This will enhance our ability to draw on expert, evidence-based insight, ensuring our information, services and support remain clinically robust and responsive to the needs of people living with arthritis.

To raise awareness of the Charity and that of arthritis and MSK conditions

We will continue to enhance the Charity’s profile and raise awareness of arthritis and its impact on individuals and their communities at a national and regional level.

Through our close collaborations with ARMA and National Voices, we will advocate for people living with MSK conditions, working to influence policy on equitable access to healthcare, early diagnosis and prevention, surgical waiting times, mental health impact, and workforce challenges. Additionally, we will promote the importance of supported selfmanagement, empowering those affected by arthritis to take an active role in their health and wellbeing.

In December 2025, Arthritis Action has made the decision to no longer post on Twitter/X, however our primary efforts in networking and audience engagement will focus on Bluesky, Meta (Facebook and Instagram), YouTube, Health Unlocked, and LinkedIn. This strategic shift aligns with the evolving digital landscape and the approach taken by peer organisations. We will also remain dedicated to strengthening our media presence at local, regional, and national levels to amplify awareness of arthritis and its impact on those with lived experience. By actively engaging with the media, we will ensure that the voices of those affected are heard, driving greater understanding and support for meaningful change and a better quality of life.

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Arthritis Action Trustees' Report (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

To actively reach out to and make a difference for diverse communities affected by arthritis across the UK

Our EDI strategy is driven by our ongoing commitment to creating meaningful change, both within our organisation and in the communities we serve.

Internally, we will:

create an environment where all individuals feel valued and supported to contribute to our mission.
continue to integrate equality, diversity, and inclusion into our governance structures and leadership practices, ensuring that inclusion is a fundamental consideration in all decision-making processes. By doing so, we will strengthen our accountability and create a more representative organisation that reflects the communities we serve.
continue to learn, improve and implement best practice in equality, diversity and inclusion. This will include engaging with expert guidance, listening to the voices of underrepresented groups, and evaluating our policies and practices to ensure they remain relevant and impactful.

Externally, we will:

work closely across our organisation and in partnership with other charities, community groups, and stakeholders to identify areas of greatest need. Through these collaborations, we aim to develop services and initiatives that make a meaningful difference in improving the lives of people affected by arthritis and MSK conditions.
disseminate self-management information and organise events in areas of unmet need, both online and offline.
deepen our understanding of the needs of diverse communities to further advance our work and increase our impact.

We will recruit an Engagement and Events Coordinator for the Devon and Cornwall region, funded through a legacy donation. This role will focus on reaching low-income and socially isolated communities, raising awareness of Arthritis Action and improving access to self-management support for people living with arthritis.

- To achieve long term financial sustainability

Arthritis Action’s intention is to continue operating indefinitely, as we believe it is essential that we can fulfil our miss ion of supporting as many people with arthritis as possible over the longer term. Financial sustainability is an ongoing effort that requires effective financial management, continuous fundraising, and adapting to changing circumstances. As a result, consideration is always given to the long-term financial implications of our decisions and actions.

The Trustees’ aim is to reach a break -even position by 2029, anticipated to leave the Charity with sufficient resources to provide security and income for future years. We have invested in our fundraising team, which we anticipate will lead to increased income, diversifying income sources and reduced reliance upon legacies. As part of the 2027-29 strategic review the Trustees have tasked the Executive Management Team to undertake a workforce planning exercise to consider further changes in structure to allow the Charity to keep meeting its aims in a sustainable way.

Throughout 2025, the Executive Management Team undertook a review of our IT systems and database to meet the evolving needs of our supporters, including Members, donors and prospects. This review has identified the need for a new database and website improvements as well as changes to back-office IT operations. These changes will begin with the implementation of a new database in 2026, with further developments phased and prioritised over the following three years. These changes will facilitate the development of our fundraising and membership functions and improve our ability to turn in-memory donors into legacy prospects, corporate donors into major donors, and one-off donors to repeat community fundraisers. We aim to increase our efficiency and ability to reach more people and develop long-term relationships, by automating processes that are available with improved technology.

This Plan is likely to incur some short terms costs for longer term improvements, and therefore, designated funds have been set aside for this work.

Structure, Governance and Management

Trustees

The Trustees who served on the Board of Trustees during the year are shown on page 11. The Trustees did not receive any remuneration in their capacity as Trustees during the year ended 31 October 2025; (2024: £nil) however, they have the option of being reimbursed for costs incurred in attending meetings on behalf of Arthritis Action.

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Arthritis Action Trustees' Report (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

Governance and Management

Members of the Board of Trustees (“the Board”) are responsible, on behalf of the Members and people living with arthritis, for the good governance of the Charity. The Trustees set and review the Charity's strategic objectives on a regular basis and establish policy for staff to implement in a manner that is in keeping with Arthritis Action's objectives.

The Articles of Association permit the appointment of up to 15 trustees, one of whom should be the Chair of the Board of Trustees. The Chair is elected by the Board for a period of three years and can be re-elected by mutual consent. All Trustees are elected by Members at the Charity's Annual General Meeting and are appointed for a period of three years.

On appointment as a Trustee, each trustee receives an appropriate induction. Board training sessions are held regularly and conducted by external training providers when appropriate.

The Board meets as a whole on a minimum of four occasions each calendar year. For efficient operational purposes, the Trustees delegate oversight of specific areas to two working Committees - the Finance & Risk Committee (FRC) and the Remuneration & Nominations Committee (RNC). Responsibilities are documented in the applicable Terms of Reference.

The RNC regularly appraises the employee remuneration structure and makes recommendations to the Board regarding salary reviews and any other proposals which affect pay, benefits and conditions. The RNC also leads on appraising the Chief Executive's performance and salary. A benchmarking exercise is completed annually to ensure the charity is competitive with salaries and benefits.

The Board is committed to continually improving its governance of the Charity, with regular governance and effectiveness reviews and applicable training. During the year the Board agreed upon new values which they will build on as they adopt the principles of the new Charity Governance Code (launched on 1 November 2025) during 2026. We are proud of the diversity of our board with a 55:45 female:male gender balance and representation across a diverse range of communities.

During the year the board appointed Sarah Vickerstaff as the Trustee Safeguarding Lead. As part of the Board’s desire to promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Elizabeth Takyi was appointed as the Arthritis Action EDI Trustee Lead.

The Trustees have delegated the day-to-day management of the charity to the Executive Management Team (EMT) led by Shantel Irwin, CEO of Arthritis Action.

Trustee Changes

There have been positive developments to our Trustee Board since our last report, including the welcome addition of four skilled trustees – Funmi Akinfenwa, Pille Harrison, Andrzej Kawalec and Dirk Vennix - whose skills, insights, and passion for our cause are already making a meaningful impact.

Sarah Vickerstaff, who joined the board in February 2021, was appointed as the new Arthritis Action Chair on 25th September 2025 after acting as Interim Chair since 19 May 2025. Sarah brings her professional background and lived experience as she leads the board.

Rick Borges, who joined the board in November 2023, was appointed as the new Vice Chair on 25th September 2025 after acting as Interim Vice Chair since 19 May 2025. Rick brings a wealth of professional experience in governance as he supports Sarah in leading the board.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to Dan Torjussen-Proctor, who stepped down as Chair on 10th February 2025. Since joining the Board in June 2014, Dan has generously contributed his time, wisdom, and leadership, and we are deeply grateful for his many years of service. Tom McLaughlan, who joined the Board of Trustees in February 2022, was appointed by the Board to succeed Dan on 10th February 2025. Tom stepped down from the Board for personal reasons on 13th May 2025, and we sincerely thank him for his leadership and valuable contributions to Arthritis Action during his tenure. Rob McNabb, who became a Trustee in September 2023 also stood down for personal reasons in March 2026. We thank him too for his support, specifically his strategic insight and direction.

We are always looking to recruit Trustees with a suitable skill set to maintain an efficient, effective and diverse Board of Trustees. Please contact Shantel Irwin, our CEO, if you are interested in finding out more. More information can be found about our board at www.arthrtisaction.org.uk/who-we-are/board-of-trustees.

Page 10

Arthritis Action Trustees' Report (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

Reference and Administrative Details

Trustees

S A Vickerstaff

T O McLaughlan

F Akinfenwa C Beevor R S Borges A K Kawalec C A Langley R McNabb M Myles-Brown P Harrison S Powell E Takyi D G S Torjussen-Proctor D Vennix

Interim Chair from 19 May 2025 Chair from 25 September 2025 Chair from 10 February 2025 Resigned 13 May 2025 Appointed 25 February 2026

Appointed 20 November 2025

Resigned 17 March 2026 Appointed 20 November 2025

Resigned 10 February 2025 Appointed 19 June 2025

Charity Number 292569

Company Number

01914825 (England and Wales)

Registered Office

5 Cornfield Terrace Eastbourne East Sussex BN21 4NN

Chief Executive

Miss S Irwin

Company Secretary

Mrs H Littler

Auditors

LMDB Limited t/a LMDB Accountants Statutory Auditors Railview Lofts 19c Commercial Road Eastbourne East Sussex BN21 3XE

Accountants

Cornfield Accountants Limited Chartered Accountants 5 Cornfield Terrace Eastbourne East Sussex BN21 4NN

Solicitors

So Legal 15 Gildredge Road Eastbourne East Sussex BN21 4RB

Bankers

NatWest Eastbourne Branch 96 Terminus Road Eastbourne East Sussex BN21 3LX

Financial Advisors

Schroders 1 London Wall Place London EC2Y 5AU

Page 11

Arthritis Action Trustees' Report (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities

The trustees (who are also the directors of Arthritis Action for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under company law the trustees must not approve the financial statement unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing the financial statements the trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
observe the methods and principles in the Charity SORP;
make judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in business.

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at anytime the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the accounts comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Statement of Disclosure of Information to Auditors

Each of the persons who are trustees at the time when this trustees' report is approved has confirmed that:

so far as the trustee is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company's auditors are unaware; and
they have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as trustees in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charitable company's auditors are aware of that information.

Small Company Rules

This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to companies subject to the small companies regime within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.

The trustees' report was approved by the board of trustees and signed on its behalf by:

- - - - Professor S A Vickerstaff Trustee

Date 14th July 2026

Page 12

Independent Auditor's Report to the Members of Arthritis Action

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Arthritis Action (the "charity") for the year ended 31 October 2025 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities (including Income and Expenditure Account), Statement of Financial Position, Statement of Cash Flows and the related notes, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland".

In our opinion the financial statements:

give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company's affairs as at 31 October 2025 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, 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 Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC's Ethical Standard, and the provisions available for small entities, in the circumstances set out in note 25 to the financial statements, 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 charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least 12 months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

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

Other Information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Page 13

Independent Auditor's Report (continued) to the Members of Arthritis Action

Opinions 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, which includes the Director's Report prepared for the purposes of company law, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
the Director's Report included within the Trustees' Report have 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 charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Director's Report included within the Trustees' Report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which 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 or 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; or
the trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies' exemptions in preparing the Trustees' Report and from the requirement to prepare a Strategic Report.

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the Trustees' Responsibilities Statement set out on page 12, the trustees (who are also 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 a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

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

Auditor's Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements

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

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

Enquiry of management and those charged with governance on the actual and potential litigation and claims, and also any instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations.
Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

Page 14

Independent Auditor's Report (continued) to the Members of Arthritis Action

Auditing the risk of management override of controls, including through testing journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness; assessing whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias; evaluating the business rationale of any significant transaction that are unusual or outside the normal course of business.
Performing analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that indicate risk of material misstatement due to fraud
Professional scepticism in the course of the audit and with audit sampling in material audit areas.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website 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 charitable company'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 charitable company and the charitable company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Samuel David Jaquet FCCA (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of LMDB Limited t/a LMDB Accountants Statutory Auditors Railview Lofts 19c Commercial Road Eastbourne East Sussex BN21 3XE 15 July 2026 Date

Page 15

Arthritis Action Statement of Financial Activities (including Income and Expenditure Account) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

Unrestricted funds £ 354,832 5,000 20,940 1,910 155,642 25	Restricted funds £ 75,551 36,986 - - - -	2025 Total funds £ 430,383 41,986 20,940 1,910 155,642 25	2024 Total funds £ 1,058,163 49,370 19,190 - 134,339 -
538,349	112,537	650,886	1,261,062
(344,797) (20,884) (580,408) (169,944)	(11,095) (30,782) - -	(355,892) (51,666) (580,408) (169,944)	(322,377) (20,607) (648,268) (199,640)
(1,116,033)	(41,877)	(1,157,910)	(1,190,892)
(577,684) 398,041	70,660 -	(507,024) 398,041	70,170 416,177
(179,643)	70,660	(108,983)	486,347
(179,643) 4,392,268	70,660 141,638	(108,983) 4,533,906	486,347 4,047,559
4,212,625	212,298	4,424,923	4,533,906

The notes on pages 19 to 32 form part of these financial statements.

Page 16

Arthritis Action Statement of Financial Position As At 31 October 2025

Unrestricted funds £ 2,281 33,750 3,275,956	Restricted funds £ - - -	2025 Total funds £ 2,281 33,750 3,275,956	2024 Total funds £ 4,840 33,750 3,343,963
3,311,987 70,734 918,250	- - 212,298	3,311,987 70,734 1,130,548	3,382,553 164,289 1,085,773
988,984 (86,736)	212,298 -	1,201,282 (86,736)	1,250,062 (97,032)
902,248	212,298	1,114,546	1,153,030
4,214,235	212,298	4,426,533	4,535,583
(1,610)	-	(1,610)	(1,677)
4,212,625	212,298	4,424,923	4,533,906
		212,298 2,278,057 - 215,428 398,050 1,000,000 321,090	141,638 1,849,512 90,000 250,000 550,000 1,000,000 652,756
		4,212,625	4,392,268

		4,424,923	4,533,906

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

On behalf of the board

SIGN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Professor S A Vickerstaff Trustee

R S Borges Trustee Date 13 July 2026

Date 14 July 2026 Date The notes on pages 19 to 32 form part of these financial statements.

Page 17

Arthritis Action Statement of Cash Flows For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

Notes Cash flows from operating activities Net cash used in operations 1 Provisions for liabilities Net cash used in operating activities Cash flows from investing activities Purchase of tangible assets Purchase of other fixed asset investments Proceeds from disposal of other fixed asset investments Interest received Dividends received Net cash generated from investing activities Increase in cash and cash equivalents Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year 2 Cash and cash equivalents at end of year 2	2025 £ (575,642) (67) (575,709) (1,206) (3,594,300) 4,060,348 31,230 124,412 620,484 44,775 1,085,773 1,130,548	2024 £ (163,223) (73)
		(163,296)
		(3,987) (677,245) 1,345,339 10,832 123,507
		798,446

		635,150 450,623
		1,085,773

The comparative statement of cash flows has been restated to remove other fixed asset investments as a cash balance at the year end, to reflect its true nature.

Page 18

Arthritis Action Notes to the Statement of Cash Flows For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

1. Reconciliation of (expenditure)/income to cash used in operations

. Reconciliation of (expenditure)/income to cash used in operations
Net (expenditure)/income Adjustments for: Interest income Income from investments Depreciation of tangible assets Impairment of tangible assets Profit on revaluation of fixed assets Movements in working capital: Decrease/(increase) in trade and other debtors Decrease in trade and other creditors Net cash used in operations	2025 £ (108,983) (31,230) (124,412) 3,765 - (398,041) 93,555 (10,296) (575,642)	2024 £ 486,347 (10,832) (123,507) 5,762 10,735 (416,177) (64,949) (50,602)
		(163,223)

2. Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents, as stated in the Statement of Cash Flows, relates to the following items in the Balance Sheet:

2025 £ Cash at bank and in hand 1,130,548 3. Analysis of changes in net funds As at 1 November 2024 Cash flows £ £ Cash at bank and in hand 1,085,773 44,775	2024 £ 1,085,773
	As at 31 October 2025 £ 1,130,548

Page 19

Arthritis Action Notes to the Financial Statements For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

1. General Information

Arthritis Action is a Charity registered in England and Wales. The Charity's registered number and registered office address can be found within the trustee report.

The financial statements are presented in £ Sterling.

2. Accounting Policies

2.1. Basis of Preparation of Financial Statements

The financial statements of the Charity, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention with the exception of investments which are included at market value, as modified by the revaluation of certain assets.

2.2. Going Concern Disclosure

The trustees have not identified any material uncertainties related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt about the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern.

2.3. Fund Accounting

General funds are unrestricted funds which can be used at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and have not been designated for other purposes.

Restricted funds are funds which have to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the charity for particular purposes.

Designated funds have been set aside by the Trustees for specified activities in the furtherance of the objectives of the charity, refer to the Trustees Annual Report for details of these funds.

2.4. Incoming Resources

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the Charity has entitlement to the funds and it is probable that the income will be received, except where it cannot be measured with sufficient certainty.

Donations, legacies and other forms of voluntary income are recognised as incoming resources when receivable, except in so far as they cannot be measured with sufficient certainty. Tangible fixed assets donated or left in legacies are recognised at market value at the time title passes to the Charity.

Subscriptions received and interest receivable are calculated on an accruals basis.

2.5. Resources Expended

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the Charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Grants offered subject to conditions which have not been met at the year-end date are noted as a commitment but not accrued as expenditure.

Page 20

Arthritis Action Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

2.6. Tangible Fixed Assets and Depreciation

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

Short leasehold 20% on cost Computer software 20% on cost Fixtures & Fittings 20% on cost Computer hardware 50% on cost

Tangible fixed assets are included at historical cost and assets are capitalised on a historical cost basis of value. Items costing less than £500 are generally not capitalised.

Bequeathed and donated assets are recognised at market value at the time title passes to the Charity. Gains or losses are recognised on disposal.

The Charity holds title to financial assets subject to life tenancy interests held by third parties. Therefore no values for these assets are shown on the balance sheet.

At each balance sheet date, the company reviews the carrying amounts of its property, plant and equipment to determine whether there is any indication that any items of property, plant and equipment have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of an asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss, if any. Where it is not possible to estimate the recoverable amount of the asset, the company estimates the recoverable amount of the cash generating unit which the asset belongs.

Impairment losses are recognised in the year of impairment.

2.7. Investment Properties

All investment properties are carried at fair value determined annually and derived from the current market rents and investment property yields for comparable real estate, adjusted if necessary for any difference in the nature, location or condition of the specific asset. No depreciation is provided for. Changes in fair value are recognised in the statement of financial activities.

2.8. Investments

Investments are initially recorded at cost and thereafter restated to market value as at the relevant reporting date. The aggregate value of these investments may fluctuate significantly in line with prevailing market conditions.

2.9. Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and other short term highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to a known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk to changes in value.

2.10. Financial Instruments

The Charity recognises a financial asset or liability when it becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument. It initially measures the financial instrument at fair value.

2.11. Taxation

The charity is exempt from tax as all its income is charitable and applied for charitable purposes.

Page 21

Arthritis Action Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

2.12. Provisions and Contingencies

Provisions are recognised when the company has a legal or constructive obligation at the reporting date as a result of a past event, it is probable that the company will be required to settle the obligation and the amount of the obligation can be reliably estimated.

2.13. Pensions

The Charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions payable to the Charity pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate. Pension costs are allocated to activities on the same basis as set out in the allocation and apportionment of costs policy stated above.

2.14. Allocation and apportionment of costs

The Charity's operating costs include staff costs, premises and other related costs. Such costs are allocated between different expenditure categories including fundraising, charitable activity, management and administration. Where costs cannot be directly attributable to direct charitable expenditure or other expenditure, they have been apportioned based on an estimate of time spent in each of these categories.

The cost of generating funds is the direct cost spent on fundraising activity. A proportion of central support cost is allocated to the cost of generating funds.

Governance costs are the costs associated with governance of the Charity which relate to the general running of the charity as opposed to those costs associated with fundraising or charitable activity.

Support costs, which comprise central office functions such as general management, administration, budgeting and accounting, information technology and human resources are allocated across the cost of generating funds, grant making and charitable activities costs.

2.15. Subsidiary Undertakings

Arthritis Action has two subsidiary companies, The Arthritis Association and The Arthritic Association. These subsidiaries have no assets or liabilities and are both dormant. As a result, the Charity is exempt from preparing group accounts under the Companies Act 2006 and under FRS 102.

2.16. Critical Accounting Judgements and Key Sources of Estimation Uncertainty

In the application of the company's accounting policies, management is required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates are underlying assumptions and are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods.

Following a review of the financial statements it is deemed there are no areas of estimation uncertainty.

Page 22

Arthritis Action Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

3. Income from Donations and Legacies Donations and gifts Legacies	Unrestricted funds £ 97,630 257,202	Restricted funds £ - 75,551	2025 Total funds £ 97,630 332,753	2024 Total funds £ 140,755 917,408
	354,832	75,551	430,383	1,058,163

3. Income from Donations and Legacies

Contingent legacy assets

The Charity has received notification of 19 (2024: 22) legacies which are regarded as contingent assets and for which income is expected to be received in future years but which had not met the income recognition criteria as at 31 October 2025. The actual timing of receipt and amounts to be received are unknown. The Charity maintains a record of expected legacies receivable based on the most recent correspondence received in relation to the estate. The value of legacies receivable has been estimated at £582,525 (2024: £428,000).

4. Income from Charitable Activities

. Income from Charitable Activities
Research, grants and development Membership subscriptions Grants, included above, are as follows: Abbvie Amgen Leisure Centre Project Arthritis Action UCB Biopharma Joan Ainslie Trust Good Boost	Unrestricted funds £ 5,000 20,940	Restricted funds £ 36,986 -	2025 Total funds £ 41,986 20,940	2024 Total funds £ 49,370 19,190
	25,940	36,986	62,926	68,560
	Unrestricted funds £ - - - - 5,000 -	Restricted funds £ - - - 34,986 - 2,000	2025 Total funds £ - - - 34,986 5,000 2,000	2024 Total funds £ 5,000 3,200 34,170 2,000 5,000 -
	5,000	36,986	41,986	49,370

Grants, included above, are as follows:

5. Income from Other Trading Activities

Training services

2025	2024
Unrestricted funds	Total funds
£	£
1,910	-

Page 23

Arthritis Action Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

6. Investment Income Bank interest receivable Dividends from investments	2025 Unrestricted funds £ 31,230 124,412	2024 Total funds £ 10,832 123,507
	155,642	134,339

6. Investment Income

7. Net Income/(Expenditure)

The net (expenditure)/income is stated after charging/(crediting):

	2025	2024
	£	£
Depreciation of tangible fixed assets - owned	3,765	5,761
Impairment/(Reversal of impairment) losses - tangible fixed assets	-	10,735
(Gain)/Loss on disposal of tangible fixed assets	(25)	-

8. Analysis of Expenditure

Activities undertaken directly £ 220,426 39,842 313,789 89,210	Grant funding of activities (see note9) £ - - 3,939 -	Support costs (see note10 ) £ 135,466 11,824 262,680 80,734	2025 Total £ 355,892 51,666 580,408 169,944
663,267	3,939	490,704	1,157,910
Activities undertaken directly £ 165,009 12,260 358,050 103,659	Grant funding of activities (see note9) £ - - 5,057 -	Support costs (see note10 ) £ 157,368 8,347 285,161 95,981	2024 Total £ 322,377 20,607 648,268 199,640
638,978	5,057	546,857	1,190,892

Page 24

Arthritis Action Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

9. Grants Payable

Self-management health programme

2025	2024
Grants to	Grants to
Individuals	Individuals
£	£
3,939	5,057

During the year ended 31 October 2025 subsidies paid to Members in respect of physical therapy consultations amounted to £4,006 (2024 £5,130) and the provision to cover unclaimed subsidies was decreased from £1,677 to £1,610.

10. Support Costs

Raising funds £ 58,644 29,995 21,175 1,040 24,612	Research, grants and development £ 5,099 2,619 1,868 90 2,148	Self- management health programme £ 113,678 58,166 41,099 2,014 47,723	Raising awareness of Arthritis £ 35,060 17,875 12,510 621 14,668	2025 Total £ 212,481 108,655 76,652 3,765 89,151
135,466	11,824	262,680	80,734	490,704
Raising funds £ 59,529 43,782 26,467 4,747 22,843	Research, grants and development £ 3,157 2,322 1,404 252 1,212	Self- management health programme £ 107,870 79,336 47,959 8,602 41,394	Raising awareness of Arthritis £ 36,308 26,703 16,143 2,895 13,932	2024 Total £ 206,864 152,143 91,973 16,496 79,381
157,368	8,347	285,161	95,981	546,857

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Arthritis Action Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

11. Auditor's Remuneration

Remuneration received by the charitable company's auditors and their associates during the year was as follows:

	2025	2024
	£	£
Audit Services
Audit of the company's financial statements	6,332	6,616

12. Staff Costs

Staff costs were as follows:

taff costs were as follows:
Wages and salaries Social security costs Other pension costs £80,000 to £89,999 £90,000 to £99,999	2025 £ 689,803 77,869 53,154 820,826 2025 - 2	2024 £ 701,984 59,751 59,753
		821,488
		2024 1 -

Two employee's were paid emoluments, including benefits in kind, of between £90,000 and £100,000 (2024 - One employee within the range £80,000 - £90,000).

The employee's also participated in the defined contribution pension scheme and the employer's contributions for the year total £15,110 (2024: £6,375).

The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charitable company in an independently administered fund.

During the year the charge to the statement of financial activities in respect of defined contribution schemes was £53,154 (2024: £59,753).

Included in defined contribution pension costs is an accrual for unpaid pensions of £5,766 (2024: £5,735). Pension costs are allocated between activities within the statement of Financial Activity based on staff hours dedicated to the relevant activity.

There are two employee's who are regarded as key management and this is the Chief Executive Officer and former acting up Chief Executive Officer whilst the Chief executive was on maternity leave, for the purpose of FRS102.

The total remuneration paid to these employees and associated employer costs during the year was £224,742 (2024: £101,850 paid to the acting Chief Executive Officer).

13. Average Number of Employees

Average number of employees during the year was as follows:

Executive staff Support staff Services staff	2025 4 5 7 16	2024 3 6 7
		16

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Arthritis Action Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

14. Tangible Assets

Land & Property Short leasehold £ 111,278 - (111,278)	Computer software £ 1,008 - (875)	Fixtures & Fittings £ 69,499 - (69,499)	Computer hardware £ 34,695 1,206 (13,848)	Total £ 216,480 1,206 (195,498)
-	133	-	22,053	22,186
110,079 1,199 (111,278)	1,008 - (875)	68,601 898 (69,499)	31,952 1,668 (13,848)	211,640 3,765 (195,498)
-	133	-	19,772	19,905
-	-	-	2,281	2,281
1,199	-	898	2,743	4,840

The Charity exercised a break clause on a leased property at the end of the third year into a five year agreement, with the lease on the premises coming to an end in April 2025.

15. Investment Property

5. Investment Property
	2025
	£
Fair Value
As at 1 November 2024 and 31 October 2025	33,750

Investment property comprises land bequeathed to the Charity. The land was valued at market value in July 2009 when title passed to the Charity and the Trustees are satisfied that there has been no significant change in the fair value of the land since that date.

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Arthritis Action Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

16. Investments

6. Investments
Cost or Valuation As at 1 November 2024 Additions Disposals Revaluations As at 31 October 2025 Net Book Value As at 31 October 2025 As at 1 November 2024	Listed £ 3,333,077 3,590,336 (4,060,348) 398,041	Other £ 10,886 3,964 - -	Total £ 3,343,963 3,594,300 (4,060,348) 398,041
	3,261,106	14,850	3,275,956
	3,261,106	14,850	3,275,956
	3,333,077	10,886	3,343,963

There were no investment assets outside the UK. During the year, investments were consolidated into a Sustainable Multi Asset Fund.

Listed investments are accounted for at market value. The historical cost of listed investments and unit trusts is £2,940,016 (2024 - £2,680,321).

17. Debtors

Due within one year Trade debtors Other debtors	2025 £ 440 70,294 70,734	2024 £ 76,938 87,351
		164,289

18. Creditors: Amounts Falling Due Within One Year

Trade creditors Other creditors Taxation and social security Accruals and deferred income	2025 £ 15,273 2,843 23,298 45,322 86,736	2024 £ 28,952 4,317 18,191 45,572
		97,032

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Arthritis Action Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

19. Other Commitments

The total of future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases are as following:

he total of future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases are	as following:
Not later than one year	2025 £ - -	2024 £ 60,956
		60,956

During the year the Charity moved premises and the new premises workspace is on a licence to rent, with no rights to the asset. Therefore, there are no lease commitments.

20. Provisions and Funding Commitments

0. Provisions and Funding Commitments
Balance at 31 October 2024 Reversals Balance at 31 October 2025	Physical Therapy Consultations £ 1,677 (67)	Totals £ 1,677 (67)
	1,610	1,610

All members are entitled to claim subsidies for physical therapy consultations. Everyone who was a member as at 31 October 2025 is entitled to claim for subsidies of up to £30 each for up to two physical therapy consultations until their next annual membership expiry date. The provision is an estimate, based on the latest uptake statistics, of the likely aggregate amount of subsidy claims that the Charity will be obliged to honour in respect of members as at 31 October 2025.

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Arthritis Action Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

21. Movement in Funds

Unrestricted funds General: General unrestricted fund Revaluation reserve Designated: Young Adult Fund Health Inequalities Greater Impact Programme Sustainable Growth Fund MSK Impact Fund Total unrestricted funds Restricted funds Restricted funds Total funds	As at 1 November 2024 Income Expenditure Gains & Losses Transfers As at 31 October 2025 £ £ £ £ £ £ 1,849,512 538,349 (920,851) 76,951 734,096 2,278,057 652,756 - - 321,090 (652,756) 321,090
	2,502,268 538,349 (920,851) 398,041 81,340 2,599,147 90,000 - (8,660) - (81,340) - 250,000 - (34,572) - - 215,428 550,000 - (151,950) - - 398,050 1,000,000 - - - - 1,000,000
	1,890,000 - (195,182) - (81,340) 1,613,478
	4,392,268 538,349 (1,116,033) 398,041 - 4,212,625
	141,638 112,537 (41,877) - - 212,298
	4,533,906 650,886(1,157,910) 398,041 - 4,424,923

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Arthritis Action Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

Unrestricted funds General: General unrestricted fund Revaluation reserve Designated: Young Adult Fund Health Inequalities Greater Impact Programme Sustainable Growth Fund MSK Impact Fund Total unrestricted funds Restricted funds Restricted funds Total funds	As at 1 November 2023 Income Expenditure Gains & Losses Transfers As at 31 October 2024 £ £ £ £ £ £ 3,572,368 1,119,248 (1,086,957) 108,679 (1,863,826) 1,849,512 345,258 - - 307,498 - 652,756
	3,917,626 1,119,248 (1,086,957) 416,177 (1,863,826) 2,502,268 58,952 - (32,778) - 63,826 90,000 - - - - 250,000 250,000 - - - - 550,000 550,000 - - - - 1,000,000 1,000,000
	58,952 - (32,778) - 1,863,826 1,890,000
	3,976,578 1,119,248 (1,119,735) 416,177 - 4,392,268
	70,981 141,814 (71,157) - - 141,638
	4,047,559 1,261,062 (1,190,892) 416,177 - 4,533,906

During the year realised investment gains amounted to £76,951 (2024: £108,679).

The funding of our Health Inequalities Greater Impact programme to reach more people in low-income communities in areas of unmet needs through expansion of our regional outreach, which is expected to cost £215,428 over the next two years.
The funding for our five-year Sustainable Growth Plan as approved by the Board through investment into broadening our income streams and our underlying IT infrastructure to build organisational resilience, which is expected to cost a further £398,050 over the remaining four years.
An amount of £1m made available to support collaborative projects and initiatives that align with our strategic objectives.

During the year, the trustees made the decision to discontinue the Young Adult Fund. This followed a review of engagement levels and impact, which indicated that the strategy was not delivering the intended reach or outcomes. Redirecting these resources will enable the charity to maximise impact in other areas and deliver greater benefit for people living with arthritis.

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Arthritis Action Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025

22. Transactions with Trustees

None of the trustees received any remuneration or any other benefits from an employment with the charity or a related entity during the current or previous year.

During the year the expenses reimbursed to the trustees or paid directly to third parties were as follows:

Travel Subsistence Other Expenses	2025 2024 £ £ 260 193 386 47 343 89
	989 329

23. Related Party Disclosures

There have been no related party transactions in the reporting period that require disclosure, except for those disclosed in the Transactions with Trustees note.

24. Company limited by guarantee

The company is limited by guarantee and has no share capital.

Every member of the company undertakes to contribute to the assets of the company, in the event of a winding up, such an amount as may be required not exceeding £1.

25. FRC's Ethical Standard - Provision Available for Small Entities

In common with other businesses of our size and nature we use our accountants with the assistance of auditors to prepare and submit returns to the tax authorities and assist with the preparation of the financial statements.

26. Subsidiary Undertakings

On 7 October 2014 Arthritis Action incorporated the following subsidiary companies:

The Arthritis Association The Arthritic Association

These subsidiaries, which were created to protect the trading names, have no assets or liabilities and were both dormant during the year. It is anticipated that these subsidiaries will remain dormant for the foreseeable future.

Exemption has been claimed from preparing consolidated group accounts under section 9 of FRS102.

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