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2023-03-31-accounts

Independent auditor’s report to the members of Meningitis Now

Company number: 2469130 Charity number: 803016 Scottish Charity No. SC037790

Meningitis Now Report and Financial Statements

31 March 2023

saving lives, rebuilding futures

Meningitis Now Annual Report and Financial Statements

Contents

Contents ............................................................................................................................... 2
A year of renewal: introduction by the CEO and Chair of Trustees ........................................ 3
1)
Fight to defeat meningitis in the UK within a generation ................................................. 7
2)
Reaching out to everyone who needs help, support and information ............................ 17
3)
Be recognised as a centre of expertise for aftercare and support ................................. 28
Fundraising and events ....................................................................................................... 37
Finance, staff and infrastructure .......................................................................................... 46
The future ........................................................................................................................... 50
Governance ........................................................................................................................ 52
Reference and administrative details for the year ended 31 March 2023 ............................ 60
Financial statements ........................................................................................................... 63

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Meningitis Now Annual Report and Financial Statements

A year of renewal: introduction by the CEO and Chair of Trustees

Thank you for taking the time to read Meningitis Now’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2022-23.

As we sat down and thought about 2022-23, we couldn’t help but reflect on how the year can be characterised as one of renewal. This feeling stems, in part, from Meningitis Now’s emergence (along with the rest of the world) from the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic, and from a tangible and growing sense of determination to focus on our vision and purpose to save lives and rebuild futures.

This led us over the course of the year to focus with renewed vigour on Meningitis Now’s core charitable activities of research, support and awareness. This was in accordance with our long-term strategy, Making a difference, every day , although many of our day-to-day activities in 2022-23 were driven by an ongoing increase in the number of cases of meningitis in the UK following the pandemic. A growing incidence of disease, particularly amongst adolescents and adults, confirmed our fears that the reduction in case numbers caused by lockdown and social distancing during 2020-21 was temporary, at least for unvaccinated and at-risk groups within the population.

Our strategy, Making a difference, every day, therefore helped to shape and influence what proved to be a busy and impactful 2022-23. We made sure that all our activities were oriented towards three strategic priorities:

1. Fight to defeat meningitis in the UK within a generation

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2. Reach out to everyone who needs help, support and information

3. Be recognized as a centre of expertise for aftercare and support

None of this would have been possible without the generosity and support of the Meningitis Now family – the many individuals, companies and philanthropic organisations who kindly supported our cause in 2022-23. There were many notable fundraising achievements in the year, such as 8 year old Cormac running 75km during advent in 2022. He raised a remarkable £2.2k and features on the cover of this report. Other examples include:

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Meningitis Now Annual Report and Financial Statements

It was a joy to see a fuller calendar of events during 2022-23 following the Covid-19 hiatus. This included our Christmas Concerts in Gloucester Cathedral and St Paul’s in Covent Garden, London, and the return of the much-loved and much-missed Five Valleys Walk in Stroud. We were delighted to see the London Marathon return to almost normality in October 2022; a delight that was enhanced by the news that the CEO had won a ballot place for the race in April 2023. Expect to read about his exploits in next year’s report!

Our Executive Founder, Steve Dayman, MBE, deserves a special mention. Steve’s young son Spencer died in 1982 and fighting meningitis has been Steve’s life work ever since. Recognising the significance the 40[th] anniversary of Spencer’s death, in April 2022 we launched ‘Spencer’s Legacy: nobody left behind’. This campaign aimed to raise £320k to fund vital preventative research in the fields of meningococcal and pneumococcal meningitis and brought much-deserved attention to Steve and his personal journey. At the culmination of this poignant campaign, Steve left Meningitis Now with deep gratitude and best wishes for the whole Meningitis Now family.

And it was thanks to the support of the Meningitis Now family that our income in 2022-23 was £2.1m, up from the prior year. Expenditure – reflecting our renewed investment in charitable activities as well as inflationary pressures – was £2.4m, up from £2m in the prior year. This resulted in a lower-than-expected planned deficit of £328k; a deficit that we consider sustainable in the context of our long-term plans. You can read more about this on p. 52.

Sustainability remains at the forefront of the minds of the Board and the Senior Leadership Team. 2022-23 proved to be a challenging year from an economic and financial point of view. Inflation meant that pressure on the charity’s costs was considerable, as was the impact of the ‘cost of living crisis’ on our supporters and staff. As you can read in this report, we responded with measures to ensure that our support services met the diverse needs of people in the UK who have experienced meningitis and that Meningitis Now staff also felt valued at this time. Although economic and financial pressures remain, we are pleased to report that the Meningitis Now family remains as committed as ever to the fight against meningitis.

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It is this shared commitment to a future where no one loses their life to meningitis, and where all those affected get the support they need, that sits fundamentally behind our sense of renewal. It has been a joy and a privilege during 2022-23 to renew contact with the Meningitis Now family, whether joining intrepid fundraisers undertaking the Three Peaks Challenge in June, or gathering to celebrate and remember loved ones at Gloucester Cathedral at Christmas, or in convening Meningitis Now’s first in-person Community Ambassador Away Day since 2019.

As CEO and Chair of Trustees, we gratefully acknowledge the role that all the Meningitis Now family have played in 2022-23. Thank you for all your support. We hope you enjoy reading this report.

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The fight to defeat meningitis has been Meningitis Now’s driving force for nearly four decades. Thanks to the availability of five lifesaving vaccines on the NHS, the prospect of a generation of youngsters growing up in the UK vaccinated against nearly all the major causes of meningitis is potentially within our grasp.

But there is more work to be done – there is scope to improve the effectiveness of new and existing vaccines through scientific and medical research, and we must ensure that all eligible people receive the vaccines that could save their, and others, lives.

To ensure this happens, we will continue to fund research, promote vaccines, and work with policy-makers, clinicians and other experts to ensure we do all we can to defeat meningitis within a generation.

Spencer’s Legacy and Steve’s Legacy

Our inspirational Executive Founder Steve Dayman left Meningitis Now at the end of March 2023 at the culmination of ‘Spencer’s Legacy: nobody left behind’ – the campaign that recognised the 40th anniversary of the death of his young son, Spencer, and that aimed to raise £320k to fund preventative research.

Steve has dedicated his life to fighting meningitis since he and his wife Gloria lost Spencer aged 14 months in 1982. At that time, there were no vaccines that could have prevented meningitis and very little information or support to help people affected by the disease.

Steve was one of the founding parents of the Meningitis Trust and went on to set up the Meningitis Research Foundation in 1989 and Meningitis UK in 1999. In 2013, when Meningitis Now was formed by the merger of the Meningitis Trust and Meningitis UK, Steve took on the role of Executive Founder.

Along the way he has received the MBE in 2010, an honorary degree from the University of Bristol and a Pride of Britain award, both in 2014. “Without my family and friends, it wouldn’t have been possible for me to make the contribution I have. I will not stop because I want this

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dreaded disease eradicated, so no one else feels the pain I and many others have felt,” Steve said.

Steve has now set up his own charity in Spencer’s name to continue to raise funds for the Spencer Dayman Meningitis Laboratories at the University of Bristol. The laboratories were officially opened 20 years ago following earlier fundraising by Steve and have conducted several pioneering meningitis research projects. Money from ‘Spencer’s Legacy: nobody left behind’ will help provide a PhD studentship at the laboratories to continue this work.

Steve said: “Fighting meningitis has been a life’s work and we have seen incredible success. When we lost Spencer, I was told not to expect to see a vaccine in my lifetime and now we have five in the NHS immunisation schedule. I will be sad to leave Meningitis Now – the charity where it all started – but I wish to focus my efforts on preventative scientific research. This decision is right for me and will allow me to continue the fight by supporting the laboratories we founded in Spencer’s name two decades ago.”

Our CEO Dr Tom Nutt said: “No-one has done more to fight meningitis than Steve, who has never lost his determination to prevent this terrible disease. We would not be the charity we are today without him. We look forward to working with Steve as we continue the fight to defeat meningitis in the UK and to reach out to ensure people get the help, support and information they need.”

We compiled a book of memories to say farewell and thank you to Steve with messages from supporters and staff.

A programme of important research

This has been an important and successful year for Meniningitis Now’s programme of research, with progress renewed on projects that had been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. With generous donations from several trust and grant-giving bodies, including the Vandervell Foundation, White Oak Charitable Trust, Mason Le Page Charitable Trust and the Sir Samuel Scott of Yews Trust, alongside the generosity of our supporters and Spencer’s Legacy campaign, we have seen progress with two existing projects and one new vaccine focused piece of research. With a total value of £633k, our current and future research programme represents a significant ongoing investment for the charity in lifesaving research.

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New lifesaving research

A major research project is now underway to develop an improved vaccine against pneumococcal meningitis thanks to ‘Spencer’s Legacy: nobody left behind’. This project aims to develop a multivalent Streptococcus pneumoniae recombinant glycoconjugate vaccine for preventing meningitis.

Pneumococcal meningitis is a life-threatening type of bacterial meningitis. Even with prompt treatment, the outcome of pneumococcal meningitis is often poor, with about 10 to 15 per cent of cases resulting in death. A quarter of those who survive can be left with severe and disabling after-effects, such as acquired brain injury, hearing loss and epilepsy. Prevention of disease through vaccination is the most effective way of saving lives.

We recognise that medical research is key to achieving our goal of defeating meningitis and we will continue to fund research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of meningitis and sepsis. We believe this research could, one day, end the devastation caused by meningitis forever.

Developing a multivalent Streptococcus pneumoniae recombinant glycoconjugate vaccine for preventing meningitis, led by Professor Jeremy Brown at University College London and Professor Brendan Wren at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

This research commenced in July 2022 and has progressed well. Most notably, the work to engineer E coli bacteria to make the Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 1 capsule in a format that is suitable for making glycoconjugate vaccines. The research team have successfully expressed the serotype 1 capsule in E coli. In addition, there was a focus on expression and testing of selected protein antigens as vaccines. Six protein antigens were tested for their antigenicity in mice and shown which antigens are the most able to induce a strong antibody response. The researchers will now look at which of these induce protective immunity against meningitis and other types of pneumococcal infection when used as vaccines in mice.

Ongoing Research Projects

Improving treatment outcomes in tuberculous meningitis (TBM) , led by Professor Robert Wilkinson at Imperial College London and the Francis Crick Institute.

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Following disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, progress has been made on this project on several fronts. In particular, the researchers have investigated the profiling of individual cells from the cerebrospinal fluid of TB meningitis patients who do, or do not, recover. The aim is to determine new pathways that are amenable to intervention. In publications, they have documented that a new antibiotic for TB meningitis is well-tolerated and safe and is therefore a viable alternative when there is drug resistance or the standard regimen is not tolerated. As a consequence of this trial, they have also documented in greater detail than ever before the extent to which TB meningitis causes disability in the form of cognitive impairment - significant new knowledge that increases the need for better interventions in this disease.

We look forward to continuing to work with this research team as the project draws to a close in 2023-24.

SURE + DP: Improving diagnosis and prognosis for paediatric tuberculous meningitis (TBM) through the SURE treatment trial, led by Professor Robin Basu Roy at University College London Clinical Trials Unit and Queen Mary, University of London.

The SURE + DP trial is the largest ever randomised controlled trial of treatment for children with TB meningitis. Despite ongoing challenges with recruitment and subsequent collection and analysis of samples, the researchers have made significant progress this year towards their overall aim to increase understanding of tuberculous meningitis in children leading to improved diagnostic tests and outcomes.

A large number of children have been recruited into the wider SURE + DP trial across sites in the UK and Africa (Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe). During the year the researchers collected samples from over 30 children with TB meningitis and over 70 children with similarlooking illnesses. This already makes it a very large paediatric diagnostic study, as it is so difficult to conduct research in this area.

The second year of this project will focus on continued collection and analysis of samples, which will be made easier by additional funding obtained to train healthcare professionals in performing lumbar punctures. Progress on this project has been shared widely – within the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine TB Centre, International TB Meningitis Research Consortium, SURE Trial Investigators, joint LSHTM-Nagasaki Global Health symposium and European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases.

Future research projects

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In addition to our existing research projects, we have made significant progress towards the development of a project to invest in scientists of the future as part of ‘Spencer’s Legacy: nobody left behind’ . This will see Meningitis Now funding a 4-year PhD studentship at the University of Bristol.

Survival and adaptation of the meningococcus in aerosol droplets, led by Dr Darryl Hill at the University of Bristol.

Despite understanding the health, social and economic harm caused by bacteria that spreads from person-to-person via the air, we don’t know how environmental factors impact on the bacteria’s biology and survival during transmission. This is largely because it is difficult to study them in tiny droplets (aerosols), which are an environment unlike any other. Aerosol particles containing microbes are exhaled when an infected individual breathes, speaks, coughs and sneezes. To understand how different environmental factors such as heat and humidity affect bacteria, researchers will use cutting edge technology to study how well meningitis-causing bacteria survive in aerosols in conditions they would encounter outside the human body. They will also measure how those bacteria adapt under these same conditions.

Learning how bacteria can survive during transmission will help lead scientists towards new ways to prevent meningitis in the future. This project remains on track to start in the autumn of 2023.

Raising awareness of the value of vaccines

Vaccines are the only way to prevent meningitis. This is why raising awareness of the value of vaccines is a fundamental part of our everyday work. This includes regular and occasional awareness and information-sharing campaigns.

World Immunization Week

World Immunization Week, celebrated every April, aims to highlight the collective action needed to promote the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages against disease. It is an initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) and one we are happy to support.

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We used the week to call for supporters to check if they and their loved ones were up-todate with their meningitis vaccines and to arrange to get them if not. The ultimate goal of World Immunization Week is for more people – and their communities – to be protected from vaccine-preventable diseases.

The 2022 theme of the week, ‘Long Life for All’, aimed to unify people around the idea that vaccines make it possible for us to follow our dreams, protect our loved ones and live a long, healthy life. The campaign came at an especially critical time as the Covid-19 pandemic had disrupted essential health services, including routine immunisations, setting back progress by more than a decade. Unfortunately, millions of people are still missing out on the lifesaving benefits of vaccines, making it urgent to promote catch up and to reach those who have been missed.

Roundtable Awareness Campaign

A new digital campaign was launched in November by a ‘roundtable’ collective of organisations, chaired by Meningitis Now and including GSK, NHS England, the UK Health Security Agency, MRF, and a Life for a Cure. It called for young people to register with a GP, take up the offer of a MenACWY vaccination and familiarise themselves with meningitis symptoms. The campaign highlighted the uptake of the MenACWY vaccine across the UK, indicating where rates are particularly low.

The campaign targeted young adults and, in particular, university and college students. First year or returning students are at increased risk of meningitis as they mix with large numbers of other students from around the country and overseas. Low immunity levels and a lack of exposure to infections during the pandemic has left young people vulnerable to meningitis, especially those who remain unprotected against four strains of meningococcal disease by the MenACWY vaccine.

Our supporters, including Ed Cook, Tilly Lockey, Ailsa Sugrue and Tracy Hilton bravely shared their stories to help support the campaign.

Lewis Hilton, from Halifax, was just 19 when he died of meningitis in January 2018. Lewis had been working alongside his dad as a joiner when he started to feel ill and went home. He had a headache and took some tablets during the night, but by the morning it had become significantly worse.

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Lewis’s mum Tracy called 111 and recognised that the operator was asking about meningitis. She said: “I knew they were talking me through meningitis symptoms. There was no rash, he was okay with light. The only thing on the list was he couldn’t put his chin to his chest. Then we took him straight to A&E at the Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax and by the time we got there his headache was really bad.”

Lewis was treated for viral and bacterial meningitis before being transferred to intensive care at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. By 11pm he was unable to breathe on his own and was put on a ventilator. Shortly after, Lewis sadly died due to an infection caused by meningococcal group B bacteria. The “kind, loving and caring” youngster was a keen rugby player, representing Old Rishworthians from the age of 6.

Tracy said: “Nobody should go through this, and if we can help one person avoid it then we want to do that.” Lewis had received his MenACWY vaccination four months before he became ill, but this does not protect against MenB. Tracy added: “If we had been aware of the availability of the MenB vaccination at the time we would also have paid for that.” MenB is currently only given to babies on the NHS but is available to others privately. Tracy added: “I would encourage parents to make sure that their children receive their routine vaccinations. Thankfully, both the MenACWY and MenB vaccinations are now part of the free NHS routine vaccinations programme for babies.”

Our chief executive, Dr Tom Nutt, said: “Meningitis is a devastating disease that can strike anyone at any time and leave havoc in its wake. Many young people will know of someone from their community whose life, and that of their family and friends, has been torn apart by its impact.

“As vaccinations are the only way to protect yourself against the misery this disease inflicts we’d urge all those who haven’t yet taken advantage of this free MenACWY vaccination to do so as soon as possible. The good news is that by doing so you will not just be protecting your own health but that of your friends and the wider community too.”

Influencing policy makers and clinical practice

Our aim in seeking to influence policy-makers and clinical practice is to work positively with all relevant stakeholders in the pursuit of our strategic priorities. During 2022-23, this took many forms.

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Partnering with the UK Health Security Agency

Raising awareness of the risks of meningitis amongst students and young adults is an aim we share with the UK Health Security Agency, Public Health Wales, Public Health Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Public Health Agency. That’s why, in addition to our ‘Roundtable’ collaborative awareness campaign and our own student campaign (see p.23), we are also delighted to work with the UKHSA in producing their ‘Vaccine communication toolkit for universities and other higher education settings: helping to protect students from vaccine preventable infectious diseases’. This toolkit is distributed to all UK higher education institutions and provides accessible guidance for universities in supporting their students. The toolkit contains links to Meningitis Now’s awareness materials, including signs and symptoms cards and fridge magnets. During 2022-23, we distributed 119,442 student signs and symptoms cards to UK universities and over 8,000 signs and fridge magnets, thanks in part to this toolkit.

Meningococcal Working Group

Since 2017, we have been pursuing improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of meningococcal disease by working alongside health and care stakeholders and families affected by the disease through the Meningococcal Working Group (MWG). This group published a milestone report in 2018 with recommendations aimed at improving the culture and practice of diagnosis and treatment of meningococcal disease in frontline healthcare settings. Since then, we have continued to progress these aims.

We are a member of NHS England’s Acute Deterioration Board, a senior clinical committee within NHS England. Meningitis Now acts as a voice for patients and contributes to valuable work such as the ‘Worry and Concern’ project. The project focuses on how the voice of carers and patients can be better listened to by clinicians, so that signs of serious illness are not overlooked. This directly addresses cultural and clinical issues that contributed to the tragic deaths of George Zographou, Layla-Rose Ermenekli and Izzy Gentry – the three youngsters who lost their lives and whose case studies feature in the 2018 MWG Report.

In 2022-23, we sat on the Steering Group for NHS England’s ‘Worry and Concern’ Improvement Collaborative. Under this project, eight hospitals will receive £30k funding each to trial methods for ‘implementing and spreading reliable methods for patients (or their families/carers) to escalate worries and concerns about acute illness and deterioration when standard care is not meeting their needs’. We are delighted to contribute to this project and

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hope that its findings will lead to widespread adoption of improved culture and practice at the front line of care.

National Vaccine Strategy and NICE Guidelines

The proposed national vaccine strategy, planned by the Department of Health and Social Care, continues to be delayed. Meanwhile, NHS England have proposed a new strategy to shape the future delivery of NHS vaccination and immunisation services and we were happy to engage in their consultation. We look forward to the publication of the final strategy in autumn 2023.

We have continued to be involved with the development of two National Institute for Healthcare and Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The guideline: Vaccine uptake in the general population is now complete and was published in May 2022. The NICE guideline: Meningitis (bacterial) and meningococcal septicemia, recognition, diagnosis and management has been delayed and is now expected in February 2024.

Working closely with the life sciences sector

Meningitis Now’s CEO Dr Tom Nutt is a member of the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industries (ABPI) Patient Advisory Council, a group of medical charity CEOs who provide a patient and charity perspective to shape and influence the work of the ABPI. In June 2022, Tom was invited to speak at the ABPI’s Annual Conference on the subject of the UK’s Life Sciences Vision. Addressing the specific question as to whether the Life Sciences Vision would lead to improved population health, Tom spoke of the need for a joined-up strategy focused on practical vaccine development and delivery.

Proposed change to the childhood vaccination schedule

In August 2022, it was announced that the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) had proposed a change to the delivery of the Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and meningococcal group C (MenC) vaccine, currently given to infants at 12 months of age.

It is proposed that the MenC part of the vaccine will be withdrawn from the NHS routine immunisation schedule as the manufacturer, GSK, are to discontinue production. The JCVI also noted that there is currently very little disease caused by MenC and that infants are

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being protected by herd immunity due to the success of the teenage MenACWY vaccine programme. We had concerns about this proposal and therefore wrote to the JCVI to express our view, to ask for greater transparency regarding the modelling behind the decision, and for JCVI to schedule a review of the decision.

In their response, the JCVI stated that UKHSA will continue to monitor cases of meningitis and communicate any patterns of concern to the JCVI. As Meningitis Now, we will keep a close eye on this decision and we remain committed to working with all relevant stakeholders to ensure that the UK’s vaccine and immunisation schedule is optimised to save lives. We will also work to ensure that vaccine take-up is maximised wherever possible.

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2) Reaching out to everyone who needs help, support and information

Unfortunately, vaccines cannot protect everyone against all forms of meningitis, which means that Meningitis Now will continue to save lives by raising awareness of the risks of the disease, its signs and symptoms, and what people should do when it strikes.

We also want to prioritise efforts to address health inequalities and promote equality, diversity and inclusion in all our work. And since many people in the UK are unfortunately unaware of the help and support we can give, we shall try harder than ever before to reach out to everyone who needs help, support and information. We will do so using a range of impactful approaches and methods.

Our Amazing Volunteers

Community Ambassadors and volunteers are vital in the contribution they make to our work. Without their tireless efforts in communities across the UK, we would not be able to make a difference to so many lives. The ongoing drive and passion to support our charity and its aims is reflected in an incredible 1,710 volunteering hours during the year - almost double that of last year.

Community Ambassador Day

This year we’ve had a strong focus on ‘community’ and ‘reconnection’ after the challenges of recent years. Nowhere was this more evident than during our Community Ambassador Day. We held our first event since 2019 and brought together 18 Ambassadors for an excellent day full of ideas and discussion.

Here’s what our Community Ambassadors said after the event:

“I’m so pleased I was able to attend…I really enjoyed meeting everyone and taking part in today’s activities. I know how much work and planning goes into these events!”

“I enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect with everyone in person. Very motivating.”

Welcomes and farewells

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There were some significant changes to our volunteering programme this year when, after careful consideration, we brought our Young Ambassador programme to a close. Seven of our Young Ambassadors went on to become Community Ambassadors. With enormous gratitude, we said goodbye to the remaining Young Ambassadors who either continue to work with us through the Believe & Achieve programme or who, due to other commitments and their age profile, are unable to continue with us as Ambassadors.

In addition, we welcomed 18 new volunteers and two new Community Ambassadors to the Meningitis Now family. They include Barry Patrick, a new Community Ambassador. Reflecting on his new role, Barry said:

“Being a Community Ambassador is a way to work with the local community, schools and universities to provide an informed view of meningitis and the invaluable work of Meningitis Now in funding research and supporting families affected. I honestly believe that had it not been for charities like Meningitis Now, researching into treatments and vaccines for the various types of meningitis, I would not be here today.”

Over the course of 2022-23, our volunteers and Community Ambassadors have:

Outreach to universities and schools

A notable highlight for the year was working alongside NHS England to provide volunteers for university freshers events across the Southwest. We couldn’t have responded to this request without the dedication and commitment of our volunteers.

Many of our Ambassadors and volunteers know all too well the shock and devastation of losing a loved one to meningitis and others will have experienced the devastating impact of this disease firsthand. We are so grateful that they share their powerful stories and help us make a difference every day. For example, new Community Ambassador Jo Arnold gave a powerful presentation to 350 students at King Edward Grammar School in Stratford- upon-

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Avon, who committed to raising approximately £20k over the next two years. The headmaster wrote:

“We feel very lucky to have had Jo visit us. She spoke very well and pitched the talk perfectly for secondary school students. She was honest in describing the difficult times she went through following her hospitalisation and subsequent events and her story was a powerful one as a result. Nonetheless she also shared the hope that has been fostered by the work of Meningitis Now”.

A Royal Connection

Our Community Ambassadors help us achieve so much more than we would be able to without them - spreading awareness of meningitis and helping in our ultimate aim of defeating this terrible disease. It was wonderful to see this dedication rewarded when our Community Ambassador Alison Walker, who lost her daughter Hannah in 2003, was invited to a Royal Garden Party. Alison met and chatted with Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex (now The Duchess of Edinburgh), our hugely supportive Royal Patron. She reflects on her day here:

“In early February 2020 I received an invitation to attend a Buckingham Palace Garden Party. My nomination highlighted the varied ways I’ve supported Meningitis Now, being a busy ambassador and inspiring my children to follow my example. Navigating day to day life as a bereaved mother is challenging. Looking for positives fills your thoughts, so that the dark times can feel a little brighter. When I first read the nomination, after the first rush of emotion, I realised that me just getting on with things, seeking positives, supporting events, and dragging my poor children along with me had made such an impact!

“There was a lot of standing and waiting on the day of a Garden Party, but I don’t think anybody minded. We were led down to the lawn and placed in the correct place, briefed again: “Curtsy, say ‘Your Royal Highness’, Ma’am as in ham.” The National Anthem started and there was Edward, Sophie and Catherine on the steps. It was just completely surreal. We met Sophie - I don’t think I embarrassed myself!

“We took time to walk around the gardens and take in everything and made our way back to the Royal Tea Tent to see our hosts leave. The National Anthem was played just before 6pm

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to let us know it was time to leave. One last look and we were gone, back to normal life and sharing our experience with friends and family.

“I remember reading about someone going to a Royal Garden Party and thinking I’ll never get that chance. Well, I did. I have Hannah to thank for that, but as always with my life post Hannah’s death, it is entirely bittersweet. I would give it all back if I had my youngest daughter here with me, healthy, happy and living her life to the full.”

Reaching out via our website, social media and the press

Our website and social media channels are the main way we reach out to those seeking information about our work. During 2022-23, we saw significant growth in the numbers of people using our website, with 50% more people accessing our signs and symptoms information pages compared to the previous year (1,199,193 vs 797,816) – over 3,200 people every day. Again, some 9% more people downloaded our information materials compared to last year (23,395 vs 21,544).

Website statistics

Sessions (overall visits) 1,512,742 vs 1,172,442 - up 29% Unique 1,273,902 vs 992,414 - up 28% Page views 2,365,115 vs 1,833,817 - up 29% New users - 1,284,513 vs 988,295 - up 30%

Social statistics

Social statistics
Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn
Reach 5,336,377 610,156 342,481 5,333
Impressions 6,145,841 853,153 318,715 9,440
Engagement 344,524 13,012 7,411 747
Web visits 138, 648 3001 1,993 452
Followers 89,728 9,234 15,870 1247

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Website

It is very encouraging to see the number of website users rise after a turbulent couple of years affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and changes made to Google and web infrastructure. Our Google Organic traffic year-on-year has grown by 45% (873,319 vs 604,189). The top 5 most visited webpages were: ‘glass test’, ‘signs and symptoms index’, ‘signs and symptoms babies and toddlers’, ‘signs and symptoms children’, ‘signs and symptoms adults’. In the past 18 months, we have also made changes to make certain pages more accessible via searches. Traffic to our viral meningitis page, for example, increased by 57%.

We are nearing completion of a total rebuild of the website which will be delivered in 202324. This will create a more responsive site, built with our audience in mind and which will feature an enhanced donation functionality making it easier for our supporters to give to the charity.

Social media

Over the past year, new social media platforms have emerged, new features have been created and each platform has developed new ways of connecting content. We have adapted our content as the year has progressed and continue to develop our ideas about how we are reaching out to our different audiences on these platforms.

Facebook has remained our biggest audience and one that continues to engage through likes, shares and comments on posts. We have a growing community which shares our materials and supports others who have been through similar experiences. This community has grown even more through people requesting to join peer and bereavement Facebook support pages.

We are proactively posting more varied content across all platforms and have gained new Instagram followers weekly through the introduction of our 'Wednesday Weekly Shoutouts' on Instagram. This feature has been a turning point in creating a bigger community on Instagram.

Across all platforms, the informative signs and symptoms posts continue to be the most popular with our audiences, alongside other awareness posts such as FAQ's. Moving

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forward, we aim to ensure we are representing all areas of Meningitis Now and continue to inform our growing audience of all the services we have to offer.

Video

Video content has gone from strength to strength in 2022-23, with video plays reaching 75% completion on Facebook (68% higher than in 2021) and videos being watched over 130,000 times on YouTube over the year. It continues to be a major way to raise awareness about meningitis and of Meningitis Now’s important work. Video content has ranged from sharing Steve and Glora Dayman’s heart-breaking meningitis experience to our influencer community coming together to spread the message about student meningitis risk, as well as a fun animated Christmas card to spread some Christmas cheer. The number of people watching our videos grew significantly 2022-23. Video is now a powerful tool to engage our audience and create an emotional connection with viewers.

Podcasts

We started creating podcasts last year and they are slowly becoming part of our regular release schedule. In the last year, a number of case study films have been converted into podcasts, including of our supporter Jo, who shared her story of getting meningitis as a parent, Julia who lost a child to meningitis, and Holly and Louis who had two children with meningitis.

We’ve seen a steady increase in the number of listeners since we started producing podcasts, and we plan to continue producing them as part of our regular content.

Podcasts are a great way to reach a wider audience, and we are committed to creating content that is accessible and engaging for all.

Press

The traditional media continues to reflect the public’s wish to know more about meningitis and to see and hear meningitis-related stories. In 2022-23, 1,905 articles in the traditional press and broadcast media were published naming Meningitis Now (up from 928 the previous year) out of a total of 23,732 cuttings mentioning meningitis. The most successful

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story was the launch of ‘Spencer’s Legacy: nobody left behind’ which was covered in 155 media outlets, including the BBC, ITV and the Daily Mail.

Our student campaign once again featured a successful radio day, and our interviews reached an audience of 34 million listeners with 22 hours of airtime across 127 radio stations, and with interviews on Sky News radio stations including Capital FM, Smooth and Greatest Hits Radio.

In addition, we published 94 news blogs on our website, highlighting everything from supporters’ fundraising efforts to our response to the latest disease incidence figures. We also published 38 case studies, covering all ages, types of meningitis and outcomes, and a total of 132 stories, the majority of which fed into our social media posts. We regularly receive feedback that reading real-life stories on our website helps other people who have experienced meningitis feel less isolated.

Campaigns

Campaigns are an important vehicle in helping more people to become aware of the risks of meningitis and how Meningitis Now can support them.

We strive to not only improve awareness of meningitis and sepsis but also the importance of vaccines, the signs and symptoms of the disease, and the work Meningitis Now does to stop more families having to go through the devastation of losing a loved one to meningitis.

We ran a number of flagship PR campaigns throughout the year to support our aim to reach out to everyone in the UK who needs help, support and information.

Look out for your mates

We are enormously grateful to the stars who supported our ‘Look out for your mates’ student awareness campaign by posting videos on their online platforms. Lisa Snowdon, Tilly Lockey and “Dyslexic Dayna” were among those supporting our campaign to ‘Look out for your mates’ and raise awareness of meningitis for those heading off to university in the autumn.

Lisa Snowdon, who is a Meningitis Now Celebrity Ambassador, recalled her own meningitis experience and the symptoms she experienced. “You can get meningitis when you’re older –

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it doesn’t discriminate. Kids, teenagers, adults – we can all contract meningitis.” She added, “So look out for each other, because I want you to stay safe and I want you to be well educated to know when to get help.”

Speaking in her post Tilly, who had meningitis at 15 months old leading to amputations of both her hands, said: “This is such an important campaign that talks about looking after your mates, especially now when people are going to uni.” The 16-year-old winner of last year’s CBBC competition Got What It Takes, added: “ Uni is a place where there’s a high chance you could contract something like meningitis.”

In her video actress and TikTok content creator Dyslexic Dayna, who had meningitis at 8 months old, adds: “Meningitis runs rampant within the student community and we need to look out for our friends.”

The campaign aimed to raise awareness and the importance of taking quick action if meningitis is suspected. Campus-based accommodation' presents the ideal opportunity for infectious diseases to spread, putting young people at a higher risk of meningitis.

Our chief executive, Dr Tom Nutt said: “We’re really grateful to Lisa, Tilly and Dayna for helping us share these important health messages for young people off to uni.”

Viral Meningitis Awareness Week

During our annual Viral Meningitis Week campaign, we called for those who have suffered from viral meningitis to be ‘#VocalAboutViral’ to help dispel myths and misconceptions that this form of the disease is not dangerous and always mild.

As usual, we wanted to raise awareness to inform the public, health professionals and employers about the true impact of the disease and the long-term problems it can bring. Expert opinion suggests up to 6,000 people each year across the UK suffer from viral meningitis, an infection that causes inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain and the spinal cord. The majority of cases happen during the warmer months.

Bev Corbett, our Director of Information and Support, said: “It’s vital that everybody understands that viral meningitis can be serious and that those who experience it are not afraid to speak out about it and seek the support they need”.

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International Nurses Day

International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world every 12[th] May, the anniversary of the birth of perhaps the most famous nurse of all – Florence Nightingale. We took advantage of the day to sing the praises of the wonderful nurses behind our own nurse-led Helpline.

The Helpline provides vital emotional support, answers questions and explains more about the support that we can provide to those fighting back from meningitis.

Comments from those who have been in touch with the Helpline make it very clear how much they value the service:

“Thank you so much, I was given no information when I left hospital with viral meningitis. It has been so reassuring to speak with a Helpline nurse today. I feel so much better knowing that how I feel is normal. Thank you.”

“We had a few questions about the treatment of our daughter and have been getting conflicting information from the hospital. The nurse at Meningitis Now gave us clear information and suggested some questions to ask the doctors. Thank you for this service.”

“I got far more information about recovery from calling you today than I have had over the past year from my GP. So glad I found you. Thank you.”

Our Helpline is a full member of The Helplines Partnership, ensuring that we always deliver a high-quality service.

Joining the race to #DefeatMeningitis

We celebrated World Meningitis Day at the London Marathon with 48 runners making up ‘Team Tangerine’.

One runner we especially want to mention is our super-supporter Michelle Bresnahan, who took on the event for the first time, and finished in a very creditable 4 hours 51 minutes and 45 seconds. For those of you who don’t know Michelle’s story and why she’s so committed to the fight against meningitis she tells it eloquently here:

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“I’ve watched our wonderful family and friends take part in this most unique and inspiring event over the past 12 years since losing our dearest Ryan, and hoped one day I would have the mental and physical strength to take it on myself. Well, that day has come. Thirteen years ago, we were a 'normal-ish' family - John and I had two amazing children Ryan and Charlotte, who were just the perfect pair, two peas in a pod. We worked hard, played hard and had the most wonderful life.

“On 31 March 2010, our world changed forever. Ryan became seriously ill in the morning and, after every effort was made by the paramedics and doctors at our home and then later at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, nothing could be done to save him. Meningococcal Septicaemia (Men B) killed him within a few hours. We had no time to say goodbye.

“The medical team was amazing and we will forever be truly grateful for everything that was done for Ryan while he was in their care. I read somewhere that grief doesn't change you – it reveals you. Losing Ryan certainly revealed my love for my amazing family and friends and I just wanted to 'ring fence' everyone who was special to me – which I had to believe would get me through. Twelve years on and I believe it certainly has, which has given me the strength to now run a marathon.”

A charity for everyone

Our vision at Meningitis Now is a future where no one in the UK loses their life to meningitis and all those affected get the support they need to rebuild their lives. As such, we have identified EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) as an organisational priority for 2022-25. Our aim is to be a charity for everyone, building a more diverse and inclusive Meningitis Now.

Our Operational Lead for EDI, who had been working to a level 7 CMI qualification in EDI, left during 2022-23 and we had to pause certain plans and activities. However, we made progress in a number of ways including:

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We look forward to expanding these efforts in future years as we develop, adopt and embed our strategic and operational EDI plans.

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3) Be recognised as a centre of expertise for aftercare and support

We have made significant progress this year towards our strategic priority to be recognised as a centre of expertise for meningitis aftercare and support. For example, we have further developed our expertise and supported our staff, strengthened and developed our support delivery, and worked alongside others to improve best practice and understand more about the impact of the disease. We have delivered quality support services across the UK to improve the health and well-being of those whose lives have been impacted by meningitis.

Our local roots and our person-centred approach mean that we remain well placed to respond to the many challenges facing people whose lives have been affected by meningitis. We have listened and asked the right questions so that we could focus on where we could make the biggest difference. As you can read below, we remain outcomes-led in our support delivery; focusing on the best interests of the people we support.

We have continued to shine a light on the impact of the disease whatever the outcome. We know meningitis changes lives forever and that follow up and aftercare are often inadequate. People continue to tell us about the significant burden of the disease and how they face recovery alone with high levels of distress and discomfort. We have therefore continued to take a lead on improving follow-up, aftercare and support in the UK.

None of this would be possible without the growing knowledge, skill and experience of the team.

We would like to thank The Garfield Weston Foundation for their significant investment in this area of our work.

Financial support still making a difference every day

This year we have continued to provide people with much needed financial support through our Rebuilding Futures Fund for people across the UK. Some fifty-seven people of all ages have benefitted from awards totaling over £50k (which represents a 37% increase on last year) including counselling, help towards funeral costs, sports equipment and driving lessons.

Improvements to the fund saw the introduction of memorials in the Bereavement category. This has resulted in three awards for headstones, with many more families in discussion for

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a future memorial application. Evidence demonstrates that the fund continues to make a big difference to people’s lives. Of those who returned evaluation forms, everyone stated that the award made a huge difference and helped with their difficulties.

A sporting theme emerged for RFF this year:

An Adaptive Wetsuit - Jade received £515 for an adaptive wetsuit to keep her warm in the sea and realise her dreams to surf in all weathers . Jade’s mum told us: “Being able to surf in pretty much all-weather conditions was the goal and this has been achieved. The suit was tailor made and fits very well – it keeps her warm and she is able to surf for longer. 100% happy”

A Bespoke Saddle - Diana was awarded £1,500 for a bespoke saddle providing her extra security and support when in riding. She said : “Fantastic support available throughout every stage - My bespoke new saddle is fantastic. It does exactly what I had hoped and prevents my prosthetic legs swinging forwards when I'm riding, enabling me to stay in much better balance with my horse.”

Another recipient told us how we are continuing to make a big difference with this fund:

"The kindness … has made me tear up with happiness and gratitude! We are immensely touched by the kind, generous offer from Meningitis Now to pay for the radio aid in full. The ongoing use of the radio aid will make a huge difference to O, and we had felt so helpless as we were not able to fund this independently. Massive stress lifted off from us today."

We would like to thank the many funders who enabled us to deliver life changing support through our Rebuilding Futures Fund including The Masonic Charitable Foundation and the Gloucestershire Freemasons.

CSOs continue to provide much needed support

Community Support Officers (CSOs) remain the backbone of our support delivery. Our work in local communities across the UK has gathered renewed momentum this year with 94 new referrals and 82 home visits. Despite a few challenges with the departure of key staff in the second half of the year, there have been many notable highlights. For example, in June and November this year we brought together six families in Northern Ireland for get together’

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events. With 11 children attending, the mornings were full of fun, learning and sharing, and where families were able to come together and feel supported.

During the year we undertook a piece of research to better understand the CSOs’ role and activities. The results are overwhelmingly positive, demonstrating the ongoing impact of this role. 90% of people who took part in the research said that the support received from their CSO was very positive and improved at least one aspect of their mental health and emotional wellbeing.

“Having a trusted person to talk to is priceless. My CSO is like my very own security blanket. I always feel more assured after our meetings.”

In addition to this, nearly all respondents said that their CSO helped them improve their knowledge about meningitis, its causes, after-effects and how to manage these.

“The fact that they know so much about meningitis- all the different types, about all the vaccines that are available…you know what Meningitis Now say is fact, that's your gold standard, that's where you're going to get all the information."

Home visits

CSO home visits were found to be particularly valuable. People gain a lot of comfort and feel more able to open up about their experience when they are in their own home. Home visits also give CSOs the opportunity to engage with people who might struggle with remote contact, such as video or phone calls. At the same time, our evidence was clear - whilst home visits can add real value to people in some circumstances, they are not needed or wanted in every case.

The results of this research also highlighted a few areas for service improvement including reaching people of all backgrounds and ensuring consistency of people’s experience of the service. As we move into next year with a full complement of staff, these improvements will be addressed.

We would like to thank St. James’ Place Charitable Foundation for continuing to support our vital work in communities across the UK.

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Believe & Achieve – five successful years

This year marked an important five-year milestone for our amazing Believe & Achieve programme. During this time we have supported 179 young people, with evidence of positive outcomes for all those involved. We have supported young people to achieve their goals, understand their meningitis experience, meet new friends, and to learn new things.

“At the age of 22 I am now starting to find out about the after-effects it (meningitis) has had on my life such as anxiety, depression, memory loss, concentration issues, unexplained anger and other side-effects. I have been able to finally start piecing together the parts of my life that I have struggled with and understand how it’s been connected to my meningitis.”

There have been many noticeable achievements this year including securing a remarkable £480k from The National Lottery Community Fund to continue to develop and deliver this life-changing programme over the next five years. We are now pleased to be able to offer support to children aged 11-25 years.

Other achievements included our first in-person Believe & Achieve event in Scotland and a graduation event in July which celebrated the many achievements of the programme and the young people involved. Attended by 63 people, including 22 young people alongside family members, friends, funding partners and other organisations involved, this was a fantastic celebration of our work with young people.

“Can’t even begin to describe how amazing today has been. Meeting so many new people as well as people who I have only ever seen online. People who all have something in common. Sharing stories, having fun and making friends. Massive thank you to all those at Meningitis Now for organising it all".

We would also like to thank Chrysalis Research for working with us this year to undertake an in-depth evaluation of the last five years of the programme. This is an extremely important piece of work which will help us shape the next five years of Believe & Achieve. We look forward to sharing the results of this evaluation report in next year’s Annual Review.

We would like to thank The National Lottery Community Fund, The Quilter Foundation and other funders for their ongoing generosity, which enables us to deliver this life changing programme of support for young people.

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Jack Fowler Believes & Achieves

Music artist and former Love Island contestant Jack Fowler surprised and delighted young people fighting back from meningitis when he attended our Believe & Achieve social event. The 26-year-old former semi-professional footballer and social media star spent an hour chatting and posing for photos with the young people who were taking part in an escape room challenge.

Jack, who recovered from meningitis himself in 2019, then raised further awareness about the disease and its signs and symptoms when he told followers about the event on Instagram. He said: “I've just come back from a talk with Meningitis Now, a charity obviously about meningitis and as you guys may or may not know, I had meningitis in 2019 and it SUCKED. It was nasty – headache, you know, very very painful. I was lucky, I had a full recovery – but there are some people that didn't, some people have died from it, some people have lost limbs, become deaf and lost their sight and memory. So, I suppose I'm jumping on here to bring more awareness to it, to make sure you know about meningitis.

“I thought I had a bad hangover. But yeah, it wasn't a hangover. And a lot of people get meningitis when they're very young, or early 20s/late teens, and when you're late teens you're going out a lot. You're going to university, you're meeting new people, you're going to clubs, you're probably drinking, so a lot of young people think it's just a hangover and it's not – they try to go to sleep and they don't wake up. So look, I'm gonna do more for this – as much as I can – but make sure you read up on meningitis, especially if you're young and going to uni.”

Becky Hartwell, our Believe & Achieve Programme Coordinator, who organised the event, said: “Jack stayed for an hour and he was absolutely brilliant. He spent time with everyone, listened to their stories, had photos taken and gave a great speech about his own experiences of meningitis. He was completely genuine, spoke from the heart and has pledged to keep on raising awareness for us, which is wonderful news. Thanks to his support we’ll be able to reach so many more young people with our vital life-saving messages.”

Ongoing support following bereavement proves vital this year

This winter saw a significant rise in the number of newly bereaved people we supported. Many of these deaths occurred in adults of all ages and served as evidence of the need to

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continue to deliver support for those individuals and families who are going through the devastation and trauma of losing a loved one. This support can take many forms including calls to our helpline nurses, a financial grant for funeral expenses and ongoing visits form one of our CSOs and events. All of these elements help people in some small way to navigate the pain of losing a loved one.

The theme of continuing bonds runs through all our bereavement support and nowhere was this more evident this year than our online ‘Keep Connected’ event, with a talk on ‘continuing bonds’ from Compassionate Friends. Ten participants benefitted from attending the event and feedback was excellent with participants describing compassion, understanding and personal connection.

In March we held our third ‘Forever Weekend’ bringing together 27 participants including those whose grief spanned many years and several people with very recent experiences of loss. Nine families had not attended a previous support event. This was another amazing weekend full of tears as well as much laughter where the power of shared experience and connection shone through; a safe space for expressing emotions and for participants to talk openly and honestly about their loved ones. As one attendee commented:

"A huge thank you to the MN team for your time, dedication and compassion given to everyone who was in attendance. l was very apprehensive beforehand about attending and mostly afraid of resurrecting all those permanent, underlying emotions and grief. We were, however, made to feel so welcome and put at ease making it feel like a safe and comfortable place to be. It was lovely to be able to spend some time with a great group of people who are nonjudgmental, completely understand each other and share similar stories and experiences".

This event would not have been possible without the help and support of Kim Macleod, whose son died of meningitis in 2007. Kim’s talk ‘A Journey of Hope: Staying Connected to Those We Love’ was inspirational.

A generous grant from Awards for All enabled us to deliver this amazing event.

Face-to-face events continue to be popular

We know how important it is for people to come together with a shared experience of meningitis to get the support and understanding they need. This is why we continue to

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deliver a programme of in-person events across the UK. This year we have delivered 11 events, including our amazing Forever Weekend detailed above. Seven events were delivered through our Believe & Achieve programme for young people. Among the many highlights was welcoming 26 families to three Family Days full of laughter and much-needed family fun. We were delighted to be joined by eight new families - supporting our strategic aim to reach new people impacted by meningitis. In May we were joined by 39 adults and children for a great day at the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland. Feedback from the event was excellent with all of the children getting involved in activities, which included a mini Highland games!

“Well...yet another amazing day held by Meningitis Now for the family day this year. We had the best time together in memory of our son. This year was at Falkirk wheel where we had animal encounters, a ride on the boat, arts and crafts and even mini Highland games. So thankful for the amazing meningitis team.”

Online workshops gather momentum

Our online Keep Connected workshops gathered momentum as we continued to recognise the benefits of delivering these sessions for adults which overcome the barriers of time, travel and geography. In total we delivered six virtual workshops including three for young people as part of our Believe & Achieve programme. These covered a broad range of topics including ‘low mood’, ‘understanding and living with an ABI in children’ and ‘viral meningitis’ in adults.

We would like to thank The Brain Charity and Compassionate Friends for helping us deliver these sessions. Without their contribution, we would be unable to make a difference with these workshops.

As we continue to embrace digital technology to deliver impactful interventions for adults in the coming years, we worked on a new pilot project to deliver more in-depth psychoeducational courses focusing on emotional well-being and mental health. The first of these (to be piloted in June 2023) will address general anxiety, as this mood state significantly impacts the adults we support, regardless of the outcome of the disease.

Online Peer Support - a lifeline for many

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As more and more people access support online, our two Facebook groups provided much needed help and understanding for the communities that use them. Over 1,100 members across both groups contributed towards hundreds of posts and left numerous supportive comments and messages during the year. For example, one-person on our bereavement group wrote:

“Thank you so much everyone for your lovely comments and sharing your losses with me, I was feeling so lonely but all your comments have shown me I'm not alone, I'm so glad I had the courage to put a post up as this has helped massively, thank you for all your kind words.”

Alongside our online support groups, 6,493 people in the UK have benefitted from the world’s largest social network community for meningitis via the online platform ‘Health Unlocked’, this includes 267 new members.

Next year we plan to carry out an important evaluation of peer support groups as we know that they make a difference to the lives of many people who use them regularly.

Working in partnership

This year we have been lucky to work with several wonderful individuals and organisations from the voluntary and statutory sector who have supported and contributed to our work. For example, we have worked with Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF) to update several key fact sheets focusing on the after-effects and impact of meningitis. These fact sheets are important resources that provide information which can be relied upon. In addition to this, we have worked with several organisations to add depth and breadth to our online Keep Connected workshops including an informative session supported by The Brain Charity.

In communities across the UK, we continue to work with organisations including the Child Brain Injury Trust (CBIT) and the Encephalitis Society to support individuals and families at times of great need.

A national survey on aftercare and support

With over 35 years of experience in meningitis aftercare and support, Meningitis Now knows how devastating meningitis can be. The physical and psychological impact of the disease is often significant, with many people experiencing life changing after-effects and physical

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disabilities. People tell us that they leave hospital with little in the way of follow up and aftercare.

For those who are left with serious and devastating after-effects, navigating recovery can be complex, difficult and ongoing. Therefore, we were delighted this year to begin a collaboration with the Picker Institute, a leading international health and social care research charity, on a project to deepen our knowledge and understanding of the aftercare and support needs of adults in the UK.

The project aims to explore experiences of the hospital discharge process and information provision, along with longer-term information and support needs of adults with a recent experience of meningitis.

As this important research draws to a close, we look forward to sharing the findings from the 32-question survey report in next year’s Annual Review. We will use the results of this survey to drive the delivery of the highest quality after-care and support for all adults who have experienced meningitis in the UK.

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Fundraising and events

2022-23 was a much steadier year for fundraising with the renewal of face-to-face activities, meaning that Meningitis Now supporters could once again get behind our work in a host of community-focused ways. We saw the return of the Three Peaks Challenge which raised just under £20k, along with our flagship walking event, the Five Valleys Walk, with over 1,000 walkers taking part and raising over £36k.

Running events were almost back in full swing, with the Richmond Running Festival, London Landmarks Half Marathon, the Great North Run and the London Marathon all taking place. Our runners raised a combined total of over £190k. Due to a range of factors, including the timings of events as well as the ‘cost-of-living crisis’, we weren’t able to fill all available event spaces this year. However, the trend for mass participation events appears positive following the unprecedented difficulties presented by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Income within Community Fundraising as a whole has increased since the last financial year. It was wonderful to see lots of our committed supporters back out in communities throughout the UK holding their own fundraising events - from charity balls, golf days and bake sales, along with organisations such as schools and sports clubs choosing to support us as their charity of the year. We also held two successful Christmas concerts in London and Gloucester, which were well attended by many of our supporters and were a wonderful way to round off the calendar year at Meningitis Now.

There was an overall decrease within Individual Giving this year. This was a reflection of the unusual success of the previous year, when we benefitted from the BBC Lifeline Appeal. Aside from this, we ran a successful Ribbon Appeal which generated an increased income of 50% from the previous year. This was largely due to efforts to broaden our reach and by enabling people to make online donations as well as donate via more traditional means.

Ongoing technical challenges relating to our website affected Regular Giving this year. During 2022-23, we were unable to process new Direct Debits online. Sadly, economic downturn also meant that some supporters had to cancel existing Direct Debits. Plans are being made to improve our processes and, with the implementation of a new website in progress, we look forward to better results in this area in 2023 and beyond.

During the year, we commenced work to ensure that we make it easier for people to leave Meningitis Now a gift in their will. Income from legacies was at a similar level to the previous

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financial year, with a slight increase of around £12k, bringing in significant income for the charity at £340k.

We are enormously grateful for all the incredible support shown by the Meningitis Now family. What follows are just a few inspiring examples of how community fundraisers have contributed in 2022-23.

Tall stories and long anecdotes

One of our favourite fundraisers, the Grumpy Middle Aged Dad, also known as Michael Hadley, has continued to record his adventures in the third instalment of his Disneyland stories.

Michael has donated the proceeds from book sales towards our lifesaving and life-changing work. In his acknowledgments for the new book he writes: “ Meningitis Now is my chosen charity – my daughter Lottie contracted meningitis at just four weeks old. Her life was saved by a gang of real-life superhero doctors and nurses, and I will be forever grateful.

“She’s now a superhero herself, saving lives as a paramedic – that would never have been possible without the skill, dedication and expertise provided by the incredible people in the NHS, who in turn are supported by thousands of incredible charities all across the country, Meningitis Now is one of the most incredibleist of them all.”

Follow in the footsteps of Team Alexis Rose

The indefatigable bunch who fundraise and raise awareness for Meningitis Now under the banner of ‘Team Alexis Rose’ had many running events planned this year. A highlight of the dates was the Winter Warmer half marathon in Glasgow on the 5th of February - the 12th anniversary of the death of Alan and Ruth Glynn’s daughter Alexis Rose from meningitis. It’s in her memory that the couple formed ‘Team Alexis Rose’ which has supporters across the UK and around the world.

It was a tough and emotional day for team founder Alan, who took on the half marathon, but the spirit and ethos of support that runs through ‘Team Alexis Rose’ carried him forward and over the finishing line.

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The running events this year are the latest in a long line of challenges that the team have set themselves over the years. They have already raised over £115k for Meningitis Now and have no plans to stop anytime soon.

Splashing out with Turtle Tots

Our good friends at Turtle Tots swim schools have dived deep and come up with treasure, raising an amazing £37k for our lifesaving and life-changing activities. This is the second year that the team of top swimming teachers have supported our ‘Splash Now’ campaign. We’re thrilled to announce that Turtle Tots have already taken the plunge and committed to doing it all again next year.

Our ‘Splash Now’ campaign is inspired by and carried out in memory of Clara Fox, who sadly lost her life to meningitis at just 10 months old. Clara’s family and friends wanted to do something special in her memory and, as she loved to swim, her mother Claire and godmother April Prendergast worked with us to develop ‘Splash Now’. Teaming up with Turtle Tots means we get to reach lots of families of babies and toddlers, the group most at risk from meningitis, and spread even more valuable awareness.

Claire told us: "Knowing Clara’s story continues to raise awareness and may help others to recognise the signs and symptoms of meningitis means a great deal to all of us. The ‘Splash Now’ campaign is a great platform to highlight the seriousness of meningitis in a fun and creative way. We’re excited to see what next year brings.”

Overall, 18 of the Turtle Tots franchises took part in pool-based activities this year and over 3,000 children were involved. Splash Now with Turtle Tots has raised over £57k for our work since it launched in 2021, with more than 5,000 children taking part.

Charity of the Year at Shakespeare’s school

Two A-level students at Shakespeare’s old school in Stratford-upon-Avon have proved themselves worthy successors to the Bard with their persuasive way with words. Katherine Muldoon and Job Estill, who are both 18 and have family experiences of meningitis, successfully presented to get Meningitis Now selected as Charity of the Year at King Edward VI School (KES) in the town.

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Katherine told us: “I lost my grandma Sylvia suddenly overnight to the disease. What we thought was an ear infection proved to be rapidly fatal as it was misdiagnosed. This is I’m sure one of many examples where even doctors have failed to pick up on the symptoms because they so closely resemble other illnesses, and are not thought of as a disease that affects the elderly.”

Job added: “ When I was four, my Dad was hospitalised with pneumococcal meningitis, having initially been presumed to be suffering from an ear infection. Since then Dad has been keen to raise awareness of a disease that is so often undiagnosed. This has rubbed off on me too. Therefore, I felt it was important to support Meningitis Now on such a large scale at school.”

It was a competitive and complicated process to get us nominated as the school’s Charity of the Year and we are extremely grateful to Katherine and Job.

Supporting your favourite cause

We were the grateful recipients of a cheque for over £1k, the proceeds of the sale at auction of a number of books left to Meningitis Now in a legacy. Most of the books raised a small amount but one lot, a collection of JRR Tolkien books including old editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, raised nearly £500. They were in far from pristine condition and nor were they first editions, but they clearly had more than just sentimental value to the person who kindly left them to us, as well as the person who bid generously to buy them at auction.

Trevor Reid, our Director of Fundraising and Communications, said: “ This gift is a powerful reminder that even those who might not be able to support our work with a cash legacy gift, particularly in these cash straitened times, can still make a difference to our work fighting meningitis. A gift of household items, be it books, a painting, ceramics, or other everyday objects, can be just as significant. As the many antique programmes we enjoy on our television screens demonstrate time and again, any of these may have greater value than you at first realise.”

Gifts in Wills are a vital way to help us fulfil our vision of a future where no one in the UK loses their life to meningitis and everyone affected gets the support they need to rebuild their lives.

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Our Christmas Concerts

Our Christmas Concerts in London and Gloucester are among our favourite events of the year. Once again, our Christmas tree at Gloucester cathedral was adorned with white ribbons in remembrance of loved ones lost to meningitis. Dr Tom Nutt said: “Annette Bailey gave the appeal on the evening and spoke powerfully about the loss of her ‘pure of heart’ son Daniel. It was also good to see the Hull family, who featured in this year’s Ribbon Appeal who travelled a long way to be with us on the evening .”

The evening was expertly compered by Dominic Cotter from BBC Radio Gloucestershire and we’re grateful to him for his commitment, time and support.

Our London Concert took place on Monday 12[th] December at a wonderful new church, St Paul’s Church in Covent Garden. We look forward to returning there in 2023.

Our Ribbon Appeal

Parents Abi and Tom Hull kindly shared the story of their 7-month-old son Oli to support our annual Ribbon Appeal this year. In this extract the family share the impact Oli’s death had on them:

Abi said: “I remember stroking Oli’s head and registering how cold it felt. After some time, the staff stopped working on him and told us that the consultant would be doing a few more tests and would then come and chat to us. We watched in silence as he did this, but with the growing realisation that the news we had feared was about to be confirmed. And it was. Oli was confirmed to be showing no sign of brain activity and that it was now only the ventilator that was keeping him alive. Tom and I then together made the decision to turn off his life support. A decision that no parent should ever be faced with and one which we will never forget. It was clear to us though that ‘our’ Oli, our perfect 7-month-old little boy, had already left us. Oli was subsequently found to have died from pneumococcal meningitis.

“Despite being fully vaccinated he died from one of the strains for which there is currently no vaccine. In the seven months that we were so blessed to have Oli in our lives he brought our whole family joy, happiness and laughter. The impact of his unexpected death is something that cannot easily be explained. Quite simply it devastated us and changed us all forever. We will never understand why he died, though our grief has changed over the years, it has

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never lessened, and we continue to hope that something positive can come out of the journey that we find ourselves on.

“Nothing will bring Oli back to us. To the outside world we are ‘strong’. To a stranger looking in our lives we probably look like we have it all. A happy family of five, a dog, a house that feels like a home. But we are good at fooling people. We smile, but we want to cry, we talk but we want to be quiet (because no words can adequately explain what’s going on in our minds and hearts), we are so very good at being ‘happy’. But the wrongness of losing a child can never be made right. It can’t be fixed, mended or even cried away. No matter what, Oli is always missing. No matter what, our family is always achingly incomplete. We do not choose to be strong. We have no choice.”

This year our Ribbon Appeal raised £14.3k towards our ongoing work.

Corporate supporters

During the year, we renewed our Business Ambassadors programme in order to help secure new corporate support and establish new advocates for Meningitis Now.

Business Ambassadors use their role as industry or professional leaders to make introductions to prospective supporters and advocates, drawing on their personal and professional contacts. Business Ambassadors can also identify and facilitate access to financial or in-kind support, such as event sponsorship and pro-bono services. They often choose to host events or represent Meningitis Now at business gatherings.

Our Business Ambassadors include leading figures and longstanding Meningitis Now supporters such as Ian Stuart, CEO of HSBC Bank UK plc, as well emerging leaders such as Raj Tumber MBE, who works in cyber security. Others are drawn from the legal profession, construction, hospitality, and retail. Eight of our Business Ambassadors have experienced meningitis themselves or through a family member. The group is chaired by Meningitis Now Trustee, Randy Weeks.

In total, we received donations from 62 companies during the year including A & R Haulage, Tiny Lagoon Studios, Irwin Mitchell, Enable Law, Simply Sports, Carter Ruck, Cyber Five Limited, DIAGEO, Renishaw Plc, Tanna & Co Solicitors, GSK, Connexus, KLH Sustainability Ltd and Bloomberg LP.

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Thank you also to the companies whose staff selected us as their chosen charity, which include Loxley Solicitors, Dehns Partners and the Nationwide Building Society branches based in Dover and Ripley.

We benefited from a remarkable golf day by John F Hunt Hire Centres Ltd, a 10[th] Anniversary Gala evening by Zachary Daniels and a 100-mile challenge by The Worshipful Company of Butchers.

We are delighted to receive the continued support of B&A Group, Rightmove Group, Recycle4Charity, Ecclesiastical Insurance Group, Caroline Gardiner Publishing, Source Group International and DP World London Gateway.

Smashing fundraising targets

Bristol and Avon Group exceeded their £100k fundraising target set in 2014 to support essential meningitis research this year. The Bristol-based transport and recycling company pledged to fund vital vaccine research at the University of Bristol in 2014.

B&A Group’s founders Jimmy Berkely and his wife Margaret have been supporting Meningitis Now for nearly 40 years. Jimmy sadly passed away in 2004 but three of his children, Kevin, Clare and Aidan have been running B&A Group ever since.

They have exceeded their amazing target and continue to fundraise. They have approached their fundraising with flair and dedication from day one, with countless sporting challenges, cake sales, gala dinners and quizzes undertaken. B&A’s Social Value Co-Ordinator, Clare Raby has been instrumental in helping organise many of these events which have played a huge part in the company reaching this fantastic goal. Last year a team of B&A runners attending the London Marathon with one participant, Dr Rob Lewis, dressed as a B&A tipper lorry. The team raised over £5k and certainly turned a few heads! B&A Group staff members also joined MN’s Three Peaks Challenge in June.

Even the Covid-19 pandemic couldn’t stop the dedicated team from working (or walking!) towards their fundraising goal. During October 2020, staff raised £1,324 by walking 21 miles with the added benefit of keeping healthy and motivated. Proof of B&A’s lofty ambitions were made clear with the reveal of a jointly branded B&A and Meningitis Now hot air balloon.

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Commissioned by the company, the balloon, named G-Jima in honour of Jimmy Berkely, raises awareness for the charity at events across the country.

Clare Berkely, B&A Director said; “ We are so proud to have achieved such a significant milestone in our fundraising efforts for Meningitis Now. Donating in excess of £100,000 to such an important charity is a significant part of our company’s history. This fundraising milestone is testament to the dedication of our fantastic team.”

Trusts and Grants

We were delighted to be awarded a further five years of funding from The National Lottery Community Fund to help fund our Believe & Achieve programme. The National Lottery Community Fund also helped to fund our Forever Weekend for bereaved families and the support that we offer for families in Scotland.

We also received further substantial support from Garfield Weston Foundation, who are supporting our work to become a centre of expertise for aftercare and support; the Masonic Charitable Foundation and Gloucestershire Freemasons who helped to fund our Rebuilding Futures Fund for children and young people; and St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation who helped to fund the work of our Community Support Team.

We were pleased to welcome five new grant makers who supported us for the first time in 2022-23. We are incredibly grateful to all of the 73 grant makers who supported our work during the year, including the P F Charitable Trust, the Eveson Charitable Trust, John Jarrold Trust, Quilter Foundation, Hospital Saturday Fund and the Cantiacorum Foundation.

Fundraising regulation

Adhering to fundraising regulations is always a priority for Meningitis Now. We remain committed not to operate house-to-house collections or telephone fundraising campaigns. Our activities are delivered and managed by professional fundraisers employed directly by the charity, or by professional fundraising consultants who are embedded within our teams. We continue to benefit from the support and dedication of hundreds of volunteers who fundraise in aid of us every year. We are registered with the Fundraising Regulator and have paid the levy since its inception.

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Meningitis Now Annual Report and Financial Statements

All members of the Fundraising team work to agreed Fundraising Standards. We use the Chartered Institute of Fundraising’s ‘Introduction to Fundraising’ guide to inform our work. As part of our commitment to developing the team and retaining high standards of supporter stewardship, we undertake regular training courses and several members of the team have achieved the Chartered Institute of Fundraising Diploma in Fundraising or their Future Leaders Course.

We have a range of processes and protocols in place to help us protect vulnerable people, including mandatory safeguarding and data protection training for all fundraising staff. We also provide training, guidance and support when working with bereaved families. We have developed a suite of fundraising agreements which we use when companies are working with us to raise funds. This includes Commercial Participator Agreements where required.

We received 14 items of feedback/complaints related to fundraising during the year that were resolved in line with our published Complaints Policy. There were no notable trends or major issues of concern. All of the feedback/complaints received related to minor matters and all complaints were dealt with to their satisfaction.

We spent 30.8% of our total expenditure on generating funds and securing income for future years.

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Meningitis Now Annual Report and Financial Statements

Finance, staff and infrastructure

Finance

The financial focus for the year was to look forward and so a decision was made to extend the horizon of our existing 3-year financial plan to a 5-year plan. This was intended to ensure that the charity has clear financial parameters within which to deliver the strategy, Making a difference, every day. This approach was also deliberate following the prior challenging years when expenditure had been curtailed due to the Covd-19 pandemic. The cautious approach of the previous years enabled us to maintain a strong financial position and, in 2022-23, we were able to take on additional staff and invest in key charitable activities such as research.

Income

We achieved a small increase in income of 1.3%, from £2.052 million to £2.078 million. Income from donations and legacies was in-line with the previous year whilst growth was from charitable giving.

Expenditure

As planned, we increased total expenditure in the year to £2.366 million (2022: £1.956 million). We spent 69.2% (2022: 69.4%) on charitable activities and 30.8% (2022: 30.6%) on raising funds. Expenditure on research was £221k (2022: £105k).

Investment performance

Following a turbulent year in the markets, there was a loss of £40k on the investment which was originally made in April 2016 in a portfolio fund of Sarasin and Partners LLP. The original investment was £500k and as at 31 March 2023 the value was £688k – a significant return to the charity over the long term.

Overall financial outturn

Overall, Meningitis Now made a deficit of £328k (2022: surplus £115k). This was in accordance with the budget for the year, with long-term plans in place to make use of the

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additional buffer of reserves accumulated over the last couple of years. It is planned to continue to utilise some of these reserves in conjunction with new funds raised in 2023-24 to deliver our strategic and operational plans.

Cash and Investments

Cash and investments at the year end stood at £2.031 million (2022: £2.312 million). Unrestricted reserves were £1.3 million (2022: £1.6 million).

Financial planning and forecasting

During the year the charity has extended its 3-year financial plan to a 5-year plan to ensure that financial health is maintained and the aims set out in the strategic plan can be delivered in a sustainable fashion, with both appropriate resources for our day-to-day charitable activities and reserves to underpin the long-term needs of the charity.

Review of performance of our Trading Subsidiary

Meningitis Now’s wholly owned trading subsidiary, Meningitis Trust Trading Limited was set up to provide a tax efficient way to raise funds with its profits being given to Meningitis Now through Gift Aid. Over the past year the trading subsidiary has had minimal transactions (Turnover £20; 2022 : £25,411) and is planned to become dormant in the 2023-24.

Staff and infrastructure

With government restrictions no longer in place, 2022-23 brought a welcome shift in the way we were able to operate and interact as a staff team – a shift wholly in alignment with our planned aim for the year to build a strong and well-supported workforce who are capable, confident and resilient.

Over the course of the year, we did not want to underestimate the toll the pandemic had had on staff and the uncertainty around what winter could bring. As such, we delivered a range of forms of support, including:

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Meningitis Now Annual Report and Financial Statements

We consider these (and other efforts) to be effective. As one member of staff commented in feedback: ‘Meningitis Now is such a safe, reasonable, and kind place to work– thank you’.

We have continued to improve our employee experience and back-office processes, following the introduction of our HR platform, CitrusHR in 2021. The staff handbook had a full review and is now available on the platform for ease of access, we also took the opportunity to introduce some new policies such as Menopause and Fertility Treatment, and clarified our approach in some areas, such as Compassionate Leave, to ensure staff and managers feel supported during difficult times in their lives.

We commissioned an external health and safety audit in January 2022, which resulted in some remedial work being completed by our landlord at head office, and some refinements to our existing processes and procedures. We also continued to commit to staff development, with the introduction of four new courses to our mandatory training programme on topics such as Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Health and Safety, and Fire. In addition, we refined our Training & Development Policy to ensure staff can continuously develop and refine their skills and expertise.

During the winter, we closely monitored the ‘cost-of-living crisis’, and with the support of the Renumeration Committee, were able to be proactive in our approach and award a 4% costof-living award to all staff in January 2023 (in addition to a 4% cost-of-living award made in March 2023). The decision to bring forward our annual review from April was unprecedented, but wholly appropriate recognising the impact the economy was having on

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staff and our desire to retain and support them. The decision was well received by the staff team.

Our staffing establishment increased from 38 to 41, or 30 to 32 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) staff. During this period there were several changes to the team and structure, including numerous internal promotions as well as drawing in new ideas and energy through external appointments.

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Meningitis Now Annual Report and Financial Statements

The future

Our plans in 2023-24 include:

1. Fight to defeat meningitis in the UK within a generation

o Work with stakeholders from the NHS, public health authorities, charities and pharmaceutical companies to collaborate through the ‘Roundtable’ campaign on meningitis awareness.

o Undertake targeted vaccine awareness activities and review information and materials.

• Improve the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and outcomes of meningitis through influencing policy makers, public health and clinical practitioners .

2. Reach out to everyone who needs help, support and information

Now .

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Diversity and Inclusion.

3. Be recognised as a centre of expertise for aftercare and support

evidence, need and impact findings.

support, Believe and Achieve Programme, Facebook peer support, Rebuilding Futures Fund, online support and services, and programme of support events across the UK.

As an organisation we will also work hard to ensure that staff team – as well as the wider network of people and organisations who work alongside side – are supported to help us to save lives and rebuild futures:

development, and Making Meningitis Now a Great Place to Work .

(safeguarding).

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Governance

Organisational structure

Meningitis Now is based and operates in the UK, with its headquarters in Stroud, Gloucestershire. During 2022-23, we were governed by a Board of 12 Trustees who met on a quarterly and needs-basis during the year. The Trustees operate with four sub-committees that review specialist aspects of our work or that undertake work on behalf of the full Board of Trustees: Audit and Risk, Investment, Remuneration, and Nominations.

Each committee comprises a subset of Trustees with invitations to attend made to members of the Senior Leadership Team with appropriate skills or knowledge.

Members had previously agreed to a change in our Articles of Association to explicitly reference the acceptability of meeting by electronic means. This change was adopted and confirmed with the Charity Commission, OSCR and Companies House in 2022-23. This means that the Board of Trustees are now able to operate a mixture of online, hybrid and face-to-face meetings.

Day-to-day running is delegated to the Chief Executive and the Senior Leadership Team. Budgets and plans are approved by the Board with performance subsequently reported against plans and budgets via Board meetings.

Renumeration and conflicts of interest

In determining our remuneration policy and practice, the Remuneration Committee takes into account all factors which are deemed necessary. The objective of the policy is to ensure that the CEO and staff team are remunerated in line with market rates for the skills, competencies and experience they bring. To facilitate this and to ensure that we remain competitive in the employment market, the charity has created an internal Pay Review Panel comprising the CEO, Head of Finance and HR Manager. This body sits regularly to ensure that we remain sensitive to issues such as pay and employment conditions.

Delivery of our charitable vision is primarily dependent on our staff, which is the largest single element of charitable expenditure. In 2022-23, all staff were awarded an annual cost of living pay award of 4% at the start of the year and – due to external pressures from

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inflation as set out in the Risk Statement below – the pay award planned for the start of 2023-24 was brought forward with all staff awarded 4% from January 2023.

There was one member of staff who earned between £60k and £70k and one member of staff earned between £70k and £80k (excluding employer pension costs) in the year. Further information on pension arrangements and on the salary costs for the year, with comparisons with the previous year, are presented in the notes to the financial statements.

No Trustees are remunerated for their role within the Charity, receiving only out-of-pocket expenses. A Conflicts Register is maintained to ensure no Trustees receive indirect remuneration for their involvement.

Public benefit

The Trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives and in planning our future activities. In particular, the Trustees considered how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives that have been set.

Fundraising practice

We have a clear Fundraising Policy, which is approved by the Board and reviewed annually (https://www.meningitisnow.org/support-us/who-we-are/data-protection/fundraising-policy/).

This governs how we work with funders, and whilst we actively seek to work with external organisations and individuals to achieve shared objectives, we recognise that it is vital that we maintain our independence and do not allow any external partnership to bring the reputation of Meningitis Now into disrepute.

Meningitis Now’s key principles of responsible fundraising are:

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Reserves Policy and Going Concern

As noted last year, Meningitis Now began the year with higher levels of reserves than anticipated and over the upper-level set in the charity’s Reserve Policy. This has been reviewed regularly by the Audit and Risk Committee and, following advice from our auditors, the charity regards its current level of reserves as providing a valuable buffer in times of uncertainty and a source of funds for planned investments.

At the start of 2022-23, we had planned to use £666k of our reserves during the year. Due to income exceeding the budget and expenditure being below budget, the net out-turn used £328k from reserves (less than planned).

Our closing free reserves were therefore higher than anticipated at £1.3 million, including investments which are liquid and easily converted to cash; overall this was £264k less than the prior year.

Our current policy of holding six months’ operating costs in unrestricted reserves gives a target range of £692k to £886k (the latter including six months core fundraising costs), compared with £420k to £580k in 2021-22. This target range assumes that we do not have any committed long-term income, that income levels fluctuate significantly across the year, and that a proportion of costs are fixed in nature, all of which have a direct impact on the cash flow. The Trustees continue to monitor and review the position and are planning to update the policy in 2023-24 to include consideration of risk, and also to recognise that we maintain long commitments such as our research programme. This proposed change is not anticipated to significantly affect the target levels of reserves of the Charity.

As reported on p.46, the horizon of the charity’s financial planning has been extended from three years to five years. The Trustees are confident that the Charity remains a going concern and that there are no reasonably foreseeable material uncertainties within the next 12 months that would endanger our ability to continue operating and paying liabilities as they fall due.

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Investment policy and performance

The Trustees have the power to invest in such assets as they see fit. In 2016-17, the Trustees invested £500k of the reserves with Sarasin & Partners in a multi-asset, multimarket portfolio, recognising their responsibility to make the assets of the Charity work as effectively as possible. This is seen as a long-term investment. Foster Denovo were appointed as investment advisers. The investment was made in 2016 and has been overseen since then by the Investment Sub-Committee of the Board. During a turbulent year for the markets in 2022-23, the value of these investments decreased to £688k at March 2023. Despite this fall in value, overall the return on this investment represents a significant return since 2016-17.

During 2022-23, the majority of cash was held in interest bearing accounts; the yield on which was 1.0% for the year.

Risk Statement

The Board has an Audit and Risk Committee comprising five Trustees with the Chief Executive and Head of Finance in attendance. The Committee formally reviews and updates the Charity’s operational and strategic risk register at twice yearly meetings. Risk is also discussed quarterly by the Senior Leadership Team and the top contemporaneous risks (and mitigations) are reported to the Board using a quarterly KPI Dashboard.

During 2022-23, the risk environment de-escalated in comparison with prior years. In part, this was due to a reduction in severity of external risks, especially those associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. It was also due to the growing resilience of the charity to manage change and to manage risk following the manifold difficulties created by the pandemic. Our growing resilience took many forms:

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Inevitably, new risks emerged during the year. Inflation grew to unprecedented levels, precipitating what was termed a ‘cost of living crisis’ with implications for staff and the charity’s supporters. In turn, inflation placed pressure on the charity’s expenditure and future budgetary plans and forecasts.

As we look ahead to 2023-24, these risks can be seen to flow through into the present time and our primary risks can be characterised as follows:

  1. Income growth over the medium and longer term. As stated elsewhere in this report, Meningitis Now has shifted its financial planning from a three to a five-year timescale. This helps us to plan investments in research, support and awareness and to respond to inflationary pressures and other business requirements. Given the challenging external economic environment as highlighted in risks (2) and (3) below, achieving appropriate income growth remains a risk.

  2. Inflation and its compound effect on future expenditure. Inflation remains stubbornly high, making it difficult to forecast the real cost of future expenditure (especially in relation to wages and staff costs). Whilst Bank of England forecasts predict a substantial drop in UK inflation over the next 12 months, the threat of continued inflation presents a risk to the affordability of future plans.

  3. Workforce challenges. Despite the difficult economic environment over the last year, the labour market has remained tight and, in common with many commercial as well as charitable organisations, it can be difficult for Meningitis Now to recruit new staff. We anticipate some of these challenges persisting in 2023-24 and beyond.

  4. Risks to cyber security and data protection. Meningitis Now has significantly enhanced its cyber security, including achieving accreditation for Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus. Despite this, the charity remains alert to the everchanging risks within the digital environment and we recognise that a breach of

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cyber/data security could prove operationally, financially and reputationally damaging.

We consider that reasonable mitigations or plans are in place to address these principal risks, as well those identified in the charity’s Risk Register. Our five-year financial plan, alongside our annual financial and operational planning cycle, affords the opportunity to actively manage a process of change and adaptation which is designed to ensure the charity’s ongoing sustainability and impact in saving lives and rebuilding futures.

Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities

The Trustees (who are also Directors of Meningitis Now 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, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and the group and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company/group for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of

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the charitable company and the group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the Trustees are aware:

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.

The Trustees

The Trustees, who are also directors under company law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report, were as follows:

Mr R Adlington Mrs S Blackie Ms H Byrne Professor S Kroll

Miss H Marsh, Treasurer

Mrs J Marsh Mr C Philipsborn, Chair Mrs Richardson Mr S Sutcliffe

Mr J Sutherland, Vice Chair

Ms E Thomas, Deputy Treasurer Mr R Weeks

Appointment of Trustees

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Meningitis Now Annual Report and Financial Statements

The Trustees operate a Nominations Committee. This committee is made up of four Trustees and the Chief Executive in attendance. This committee is responsible for overseeing the skills mix of the Board and recruitment of new Trustees. No new Trustees were appointed in 2022-23.

Members of the charitable company guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charitable company in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees at 31[st] March 2023 was 44 (2022 – 44).

The Trustees have no beneficial interest in the group or charitable company.

Auditors

Sayer Vincent were reappointed as auditors during the year and have expressed their willingness to continue in that capacity.

The report of the Trustees has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies' regime.

Approved by the Trustees on 14[th] September 2023 and signed on their behalf by

Christopher Philipsborn - Chair

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Meningitis Now Annual Report and Financial Statements

Reference and administrative details for the year ended 31 March 2023

Status The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 12 February 1990 and registered as a charity in England and Wales on 9 March 1990. On 7 February 2007, the Charity was registered with the Office of the Scottish Regulator (OSCR). Governing document The organisation was established under a Memorandum of Association, which established the objects and powers of the organisation and is governed under its Articles of Association, which were last updated in September 2013. Company number 2469130 Charity numbers 803016 England & Wales SC037790 Scotland Registered office and operational address Fern House, Bath Road, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL5 3TJ Trustees Mr R Adlington Mrs S Blackie Ms H Byrne Professor S Kroll Miss H Marsh, Treasurer Mrs J Marsh Mr C Philipsborn, Chair Mrs Richardson Mr S Sutcliffe Mr J Sutherland, Vice Chair Ms E Thomas, Deputy Treasurer Mr R Weeks

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President

Principal staff

Andrew Harvey Dr Tom Nutt, Chief Executive Dr Steve Dayman MBE, Executive Founder

Honorary Medical Director Professor Simon Kroll MA, BM, BCh, FRCPCH, FRCP, FMedSci Scientific & Medical Dr Caroline Vipond PhD (Senior Scientific Advisor) Professor Simon Kroll Advisors Dr Xilian Bai PhD Dr Darryl Hill BSc, PhD (Wales)

Royal Patron

HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh GCVO

Patrons & Ambassadors

Dr Tim Brain OBE, QPM, BA, PhD, FRSA, CCMI Dr Ellie Cannon Baroness Corston Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham KBE, OM, HonFrEng, FMedSci Petra Ecclestone Julie Hesmondhalgh Dr Robert Hicks Seema Jaswal Denis Law CBE Dr Mark Porter MBE Tana Ramsay Ken Loach Geoff Shaw Dr Ranj Singh Ian Rush MBE Dr Chris Steele MBE Lisa Snowdon Joanna Trollope OBE Dr Jane Wells MBE

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Meningitis Now Annual Report and Financial Statements

Rt Rev. and the Rt Hon. The Lord Williams of Oystermouth

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Independent auditor’s report to the members of Meningitis Now

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Meningitis Now (the ‘parent charitable company’) and its subsidiary (the ‘group’) for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the consolidated statement of financial activities, the group and parent charitable company balance sheets, the consolidated statement of cash flows and the notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

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

Conclusions relating to going concern

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

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on Meningitis Now'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 trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

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Independent auditor’s report to the members of Meningitis Now

Other Information

The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ 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.

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 course of 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.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and the parent charitable company 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 in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 and Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

64

Independent auditor’s report to the members of Meningitis Now

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of trustees’ responsibilities set out in the trustees’ annual report, the trustees (who are also the directors of the parent 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 group’s and the parent 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 group or the parent charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and under the Companies Act 2006 and report in accordance with regulations made under those Acts.

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.

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 of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are set out below.

Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities

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:

65

Independent auditor’s report to the members of Meningitis Now

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 is available 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 and section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters 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.

66

Independent auditor’s report to the members of Meningitis Now

Jonathan Orchard (Senior statutory auditor) Date: 2 October 2023 for and on behalf of Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditor Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane, LONDON, EC1Y 0TL

Sayer Vincent LLP is eligible to act as auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006

67

Meningitis Now

Consolidated statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account)

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Restricted
£
80,174
230,524
29,500
10,000
5,000
54,590
23,708
-
-
-		 2023
Total
£
1,490,223
230,524
29,500
10,000
5,000
54,590
236,170
15,843
20
5,941		 Unrestricted
£
1,411,331
-
-
-
-
-
175,094
4,234
25,411
147		 Restricted
£
151,221
246,401
11,100
11,375
6,375
500
8,701
-
-
-		 2022
Total
£
1,562,552
246,401
11,100
11,375
6,375
500
183,795
4,234
25,411
147
1,644,315 433,496 2,077,811 1,616,217 435,673 2,051,890
674,760
51,127
-		 -
2,863
-		 674,760
53,990
-		 558,856
38,715
849		 -
155
-		 558,856
38,870
849
725,887 2,863 728,750 598,420 155 598,575
385,139
453,889
163,052
96,761
43,257		 242,282
58,845
10,600
5,300
177,974		 627,421
512,734
173,652
102,061
221,231		 234,500
418,364
129,580
80,780
25,570		 286,409
61,776
18,753
21,961
79,309		 520,909
480,140
148,333
102,741
104,879
1,142,098 495,001 1,637,099 888,794 468,208 1,357,002
1,867,985
-
(40,430)
(223,671)		 497,864
-
-
(64,368)		 2,365,849
-
(40,430)
(288,039)		 1,487,214
(6,165)
18,253
122,838		 468,363
6,165
-
(26,525)		 1,955,577
-
18,253
96,313
(264,101)
1,594,936		 (64,368)
546,871		 (328,469)
2,141,807		 141,091
1,453,845		 (26,525)
573,396		 114,566
2,027,241

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in Note 17a to the financial statements.

68

Meningitis Now

Company no. 2469130

Balance sheets

As at 31 March 2023

2023
2022
Note
£
£
Fixed assets:
10
30,346
35,855
11
688,051
728,414
718,398
764,269
Current assets:
13
43,579
142,953
1,343,650
1,583,897
1,387,229
1,726,850
Liabilities:
14
292,288
349,313
1,094,941
1,377,537
1,813,339
2,141,807
1,813,339
2,141,807
17
482,503
546,871
1,330,836
1,594,936
Total unrestricted funds
1,330,836
1,594,936
1,813,339
2,141,807
Total assets less current liabilities
Debtors
Funds:
Restricted income funds
Unrestricted income funds:
General funds
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Net current assets / (liabilities)
Total net assets / (liabilities)
Investments
Cash at bank and in hand
Tangible assets
The group
Total funds		 2023
2022
£
£
30,346
35,855
688,053
728,416
718,400
764,271
43,599
153,034
1,343,649
1,573,814
1,387,248
1,726,848
292,309
349,313
1,094,939
1,377,535
1,813,339
2,141,806
1,813,339
2,141,806
482,503
546,871
1,330,836
1,594,935
1,330,836
1,594,935
1,813,339
2,141,806
The charity		 2023
2022
£
£
30,346
35,855
688,053
728,416
718,400
764,271
43,599
153,034
1,343,649
1,573,814
1,387,248
1,726,848
292,309
349,313
1,094,939
1,377,535
1,813,339
2,141,806
1,813,339
2,141,806
482,503
546,871
1,330,836
1,594,935
1,330,836
1,594,935
1,813,339
2,141,806
The charity
718,400
43,599
1,343,649		 764,271
153,034
1,573,814
1,387,248
292,309		 1,726,848
349,313
1,094,939 1,377,535
1,813,339 2,141,806
1,813,339 2,141,806
482,503
1,330,836		 546,871
1,594,935
1,330,836 1,594,935
1,813,339 2,141,806

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

Approved by the trustees on 14 September 2023 and signed on their behalf by

Christopher Phillipsborn Chairman

69

Meningitis Now

Consolidated statement of cash flows

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Reconciliation of net income / (expenditure) to net cash flow from operating activities

2023 2022
£ £
Net (expenditure) / income for the reporting period (328,469) 114,567
(as per the statement of financial activities)
Depreciation charges 11,059 9,443
Losses/ (Gains) on investment 40,430 (18,253)
Dividends and interest from investments (5,941) (147)
(Profit)/loss on the disposal of fixed assets (6,813) 3,240
Decrease/ (increase) in debtors 99,374 (115,989)
Increase/(decrease) in creditors (57,025) 24,107
Net cash provided by operating activities (247,385) 16,968
2023 2022
£ £ £ £
Cash flows from operating activities
Net cash (used in) operating activities (247,385) 16,968
Cash flows from investing activities:
Dividends and interest 5,941 147
Purchase of fixed assets (5,594) (29,527)
Proceeds from sale of investments - 29,566
Purchase of investments - (29,738)
Disposal proceeds 6,858 -
Movement in investment cash (67) 204
Net cash provided by / (used in) investing activities 7,138 (29,348)
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year (240,247) (12,380)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the
year 1,583,897 1,596,277
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year 1,343,650 1,583,897

70

Meningitis Now

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

a) Statutory information

Meningitis Now is a charitable company limited by guarantee and is incorporated in United Kingdom. The registered office address and principal place of business is Fern House, Bath Road, Gloucester, GL5 3TJ.

Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note.

These financial statements consolidate the results of the charitable company and its wholly-owned subsidiary Meningitis Trust Trading Limited, over which the charity has control through membership, on a line by line basis. Transactions and balances between the charitable company and its subsidiary have been eliminated from the consolidated financial statements. Balances between the companies are disclosed in the notes of the charitable company's balance sheet. A separate statement of financial activities, or income and expenditure account, for the charitable company itself is not presented because the charitable company has taken advantage of the exemptions afforded by section 408 of the Companies Act 2006.

c) Public benefit entity

The charitable company meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

The trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period.

e) Income

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and that the amount can be measured reliably.

Income from grants is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.

For legacies, entitlement is taken as the earlier of the date on which either: the charity is aware that probate has been granted, the estate has been finalised and notification has been made by the executor(s) 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 part, 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 charity is 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 material.

Income from fundraising events is recognised in the period in which it is received, except where it is refundable. Where it is refundable, income is retained on the balance sheet and only released when the obligation to refund is no longer applicable. Where expenditure is incurred for an event in a future year, it is expensed to the accounts of the year in which the legal obligation arises.

Income from trading activities is the income from the Charity's trading subsidiary which is transferred to the Charity by way of a gift in accordance with a profit shedding agreement between the Charity and its subsidiary.

Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met.

f) 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 economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably.

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 equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.

g) Interest receivable

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

71

Meningitis Now

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charitable purposes.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular purposes.

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

Resources expended are allocated to the particular activity where the cost relates directly to that activity. However, the cost of overall direction and administration of each activity, comprising the salary and overhead costs of the central function, is apportioned on the following basis which are an estimate, based on staff time, of the amount attributable to each activity.

Fundraising 21.0%
Support 15.5%
Communication and awareness 15.1%
Advocacy & Engagement 10.6%
Knowledge & Info Sharing 2.5%
Research 1.1%
Support costs 30.2%
Governance costs 4.0%

Support and governance costs are re-allocated to each of the activities on the following basis which is an estimate, based on staff time, of the amount attributable to each activity.

Fundraising 38.6%
Support 31.0%
Communication and awareness 17.1%
Advocacy & Engagement 8.0%
Knowledge & Info Sharing 4.2%
Research 1.1%

Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the charity. These costs are associated with constitutional and statutory requirements and include any costs associated with the strategic management of the charity’s activities.

Financial Support Grants (i.e. Rebuilding Futures Fund) payable are accounted for in the period in which the award is communicated to the recipient, and becomes a contractual commitment. Research Grants are recognised as they become contractually due which is on production of acceptable progress reports or a final report at the end of the research project.

l) Operating leases

Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease.

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £300. Depreciation costs are allocated to 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 realisable value and value in use.

Where fixed assets have been revalued, any excess between the revalued amount and the historic cost of the asset will be shown as a revaluation reserve in the balance sheet.

Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows:

25% per annum on cost 15% per annum on cost

33% per annum on cost

72

Meningitis Now

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

1 Accounting policies (continued)

Investments are a form of basic financial instrument and are initially recognised at their transaction value and subsequently measured at their fair value as at the balance sheet date using the closing quoted market price. Investment gains and losses, whether realised or unrealised, are combined and shown in the heading “Net gains/(losses) on investments” in the statement of financial activities. The charity does not acquire put options, derivatives or other complex financial instruments.

o) Investments in subsidiaries

Investments in subsidiaries are at cost.

p) 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.

q) Cash at bank and in hand

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 deposit or similar account. Cash balances exclude any funds held on behalf of service users.

r) Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

s) Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets 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 value.

t) Foreign exchange

Transactions in foreign currencies are translated at the average exchange rate for the period. Balances denominated in foreign currencies are translated at the rate of exchange prevailing at the balance sheet date.

u) Pensions The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund. The pension cost charge represents contributions payable under the scheme by the charity to the fund. The charity has no liability under the scheme other than for the payment of those contributions.

2 Income from donations and legacies

Income from donations and legacies
Donated services
Legacies
Community fundraising
Other donations
Government Job Retention Scheme Grant		 Unrestricted
£
340,728
259,657
361,546
-
448,118		 £
-
2,863
41,945
-
35,366
Restricted		 2023
Total
£
340,728
262,520
403,491
-
483,484		 Unrestricted
£
328,026
277,501
317,123
5,966
482,715		 £
-
8,363
25,895
-
116,963
Restricted		 2022
Total
£
328,026
285,864
343,018
5,966
599,678
1,410,049 80,174 1,490,223 1,411,331 151,221 1,562,552

Gifts in kind comprise mainly pro bono advertising services and awareness campaign support. Further details of these gifts are in the trustees' report.

73

Meningitis Now

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

2023 2022
Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total
£ £ £ £ £ £
Big Lottery 72,054 72,054 - - -
Garfield Weston Foundation 35,000 35,000 - 35,000 35,000
St James's Place 40,000 40,000 - 101,569 101,569
Other Income for Support - 83,470 83,470 - 109,832 109,832
Sub Total for Support - 230,524 230,524 - 246,401 246,401
- - - - - -
Other income for Comms & Awareness - 29,500 29,500 - 11,100 11,100
Sub-total for Comms & Awareness - 29,500 29,500 - 11,100 11,100
Garfield Weston Foundation 10,000 10,000 - 10,000 10,000
Other income for Advocacy & Engagement - - - 1,375 1,375
Sub-total for Advocacy & Engagement - 10,000 10,000 - 11,375 11,375
Garfield Weston Foundation 5,000 5,000 - 5,000 -
Other income for Knowledge & Info Sharing - - - 1,375 1,375
Sub-total for Knowledge & Info Sharing - 5,000 5,000 - 6,375 1,375
UKRI-Medical Research Council 40590 40,590
Other income from research - 14,000 14,000 - 500 500
Sub-total for research - 54,590 54,590 - 500 500
- - - - - -
Other income for Fundraising - - - - - -
Sub-total for Fundraising - - - - - -
Total income from charitable activities - 329,614 329,614 - 275,751 270,751

74

Meningitis Now

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

4a Analysis of expenditure (Current year)

Charitable activities

Staff costs (Note 7)
Recruitment, training & other
Travel & subsistence
Trustee expenses
Awareness, Campaigns,
Advocacy, Engagement
Support Activity
Grants payable to individuals
Research grants
Computer related
Property
Postage, phones, stationery &
subscriptions
Auditors' remuneration
Legal, professional, bank,
insurance
Fundraising event costs
Other fundraising expenditure
Trading costs
Miscellaneous
Support costs
Governance costs
Total expenditure 2023
Total expenditure 2022		 Support
£
342,046
9,567
8,235
-
18,592
66,110
50,935
-
3,333
-
6,498
-
-
-
-
-
1,019		 Comms &
Awareness
£
182,363
5,164
4,421
-
232,688
144
-
-
3,333
-
3,489
-
-
6,749
7,062
-
545		 Advocacy &
Engagement
£
107,396
1,856
2,182
-
14,928
153
-
-
-
-
1,722
-
-
6,749
7,062
269		 Knowledge &
Info Sharing
£
53,544
2,315
1,149
-
27,377
260
-
-
-
-
907
-
-
-
-
-
142		 Research
£
15,318
216
254
-
573
81
200,255
-
-
200
-
-
-
-
-
32		 Cost of
raising funds
£
383,105
9,808
9,897
-
47,085
-
-
-
3,333
-
7,811
-
54,734
60,883
-
1,223		 Governance
costs
£
12,019
1,557
346
1,251
782
-
-
-
-
-
273
15,780
-
-
-
-
43		 Central
Support costs
£
85,675
5,090
-
-
-
-
-
-
105,651
102,297
10,989
-
48,985
-
-
-
-		 2023 Total
£
1,181,466
35,573
26,484
1,251
342,025
66,748
50,935
200,255
115,650
102,297
31,889
15,780
48,985
68,232
75,007
-
3,272		 2022
Total
£
982,193
31,966
16,210
20
386,107
36,704
37,155
87,330
114,750
101,711
30,905
13,020
43,339
21,244
48,587
849
3,486
506,335
104,267
16,819		 445,958
57,747
9,029		 142,317
26,878
4,457		 85,694
14,021
2,346		 216,929
3,784
518		 577,879
129,414
21,457		 32,051
22,576
(54,626)		 358,687
(358,687)
-		 2,365,849
-
-		 1,955,576
-
-
627,421 512,734 173,652 102,061 221,231 728,750 - - 2,365,849 -
520,909 480,140 148,333 102,741 104,879 598,574 - - - 1,955,576

Note: £497,864 of the expenditure was restricted (2022: £468,363 ). £1,867,985 was unrestricted (2022: 1,486,363).

75

Meningitis Now

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Charitable activities

Staff costs (Note 7)
Recruitment, training & other
Travel & subsistence
Trustee expenses
Awareness, Campaigns,
Advocacy, Engagement
Support Activity
Grants payable to individuals
Research grants
Computer related
Property
Postage, phones, stationery &
subscriptions
Auditors' remuneration
Legal, professional, bank,
insurance
Fundraising event costs
Other fundraising expenditure
Trading costs
Miscellaneous
Support costs
Governance costs
Total expenditure 2022		 Support
£
280,853
6,987
5,217
-
25,404
35,978
37,155
-
2,044
-
6,085
-
-
-
-
-
1,122		 Comms &
Awareness
£
146,327
4,209
2,675
-
250,718
167
-
-
1,715
-
3,119
-
-
2,109
4,859
-
575		 Advocacy &
Engagement
£
92,512
1,447
1,367
-
13,240
181
-
-
-
-
1,594
-
-
2,109
4,859
-
294		 Knowledge &
Info Sharing
£
44,884
756
714
-
39,173
294
-
-
-
-
833
-
-
-
-
-
154		 Research
£
12,072
163
154
-
750
83
-
87,330
-
-
180
-
-
-
-
-
33		 Cost of
raising funds
£
317,754
11,397
5,865
-
55,758
-
-
-
1,715
-
6,840
-
-
17,026
38,870
849
1,261		 Governance
costs
£
6,618
1,006
218
20
1,064
-
-
-
-
-
255
13,020
-
-
-
-
47		 Support costs
£
81,174
6,000
-
-
-
-
-
-
109,276
101,711
12,000
-
43,339
-
-
-
-		 2022 Total
£
982,193
31,966
16,210
20
386,107
36,704
37,155
87,330
114,750
101,711
30,905
13,020
43,339
21,244
48,587
849
3,486
400,846
105,684
14,379		 416,472
56,298
7,370		 117,603
26,964
3,766		 86,808
13,965
1,968		 100,765
3,690
424		 457,335
124,477
16,763		 22,248
22,422
(44,670)		 353,500
(353,500)
-		 1,955,576
-
-
520,909 480,140 148,333 102,741 104,879 598,575 - - 1,955,576

76

Meningitis Now

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Grant making (current year)
Cost/(recall of amounts)
University of Bristol - Prof. Finn
London School H&TP- Prof. Basu Roy
At the end of the year
Imperial College London - Prof. Wilkinson
UCL - Prof.Brown
Commissioned Research - Picker Institute Europe
University of Liverpool - Prof.Kadioglu		 Grants to
institutions
£
-
30,000
42,500
34,414
(2,037)
95,378		 Support and
other costs
£
-
3,065
4,342
3,516
(209)
9,743		 2023
£
-
33,065
46,842
37,930
(2,246)
105,121		 2022
£
57,296
-
-
-
-
47,159
200,255 20,457 220,712 104,455

The governance costs allocated for 2022/23 totalled £518 (2021/22 £424). These are described in detail in Note 4.

Commitments

Commitments in respect of grants for approved projects which have not been accrued in the accounts:

Within one year
Over one year		 2023
£
213,920
192,654		 2022
£
172,500
235,939
406,574 408,439

These commitments are not recognised as expenditure in the year as payments are subject to reviews of project progress by Meningitis Now.

5b Grant making (prior year)

Grant making (prior year)
Cost
University of Bristol - Prof. Finn
St George's - Prof. Heath
Imperial College London - Prof. Wilkinson
University of Liverpool - Prof. Kadioglua
At the end of the year		 Grants to
institutions
£
47,903
-
39,427
-		 Support and
other costs
£
9,393
-
7,732
-		 2022
£
57,296
-
47,159
-
87,330 17,125 104,455

This is stated after charging / crediting:

Net incoming resources for the year
This is stated after charging / crediting:
2023 2022
£ £
Depreciation 11,059 9,443
Operating lease rentals:
Property 66,000 60,000
Other 728 728
Auditors' remuneration (excluding VAT):
Audit 13,150 10,850
Other services 850 850

77

Meningitis Now

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Staff costs were as follows:

Staff costs were as follows:
Salaries and wages
Redundancy and termination costs
Social security costs
Employer’s contribution to defined contribution pension schemes		 2023
£
1,036,404
28,500
83,754
32,808		 2022
£
883,136
-
69,674
29,383
1,181,466 982,193

1 employee earned between £60,000 and £70,000 during the year (2021/22: 1). 1 employee earned between £70,000 and £80,000 in the year (2021/22: none). 0 employee earned between £80,000 and £90,000 in the year (2021/22: none).

The total employee benefits including pension contributions and national insurance of the key management personnel were £250,275 (2021/22: £258,936).

The charity trustees were not paid or received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2022: £nil). No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2022: £nil).

Trustees' expenses represents the payment or reimbursement of travel and subsistence costs totalling £1250.94 (2023: £nil) incurred by 12 (2022: 13) members relating to attendance at meetings of the trustees.

8 Staff numbers

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was as follows:

Raising funds
Governance
Knowledge & Info Sharing
Support
Comms & Awareness
Advocacy & Engagement
Research		 2023
No.
15.4
12.4
6.7
3.3
1.8
0.4
0.5		 2022
No.
12.9
11.4
5.9
3.0
1.6
0.4
0.5
40.5 35.7

The average number of Full Time Equivalent employees (based on number of staff employed) during the year was as follows:

Knowledge & Info Sharing
Raising funds
Support
Comms & Awareness
Advocacy & Engagement
Research
Governance		 2023
No.
11.7
9.8
5.2
2.6
1.4
0.3
0.4		 2022
No.
10.3
9.2
4.7
2.4
1.3
0.3
0.4
31.4 28.6

There are no donations from related parties which are outside the normal course of business and no restricted donations from related parties.

78

Meningitis Now

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

The charity is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes. The charity's trading subsidiary Meningitis Trust Trading Limited gift aids available profits to the parent charity. Its charge to corporation tax in the year was:


in the year was:
2023 2022
£ £
UK corporation tax at 19% (2022: 19%) - -
The group and charity
Freehold Fixtures and Computer Motor
property fittings equipment vehicles Total
£ £ £ £ £
Cost
At the start of the year 4,000 80,958 69,264 25,160 179,382
Additions in year - - 5,594 - 5,594
Disposals in year - - (1,719) (25,160) (26,879)
At the end of the year 4,000 80,958 73,139 - 158,097
Depreciation
At the start of the year - 80,958 37,409 25,160 143,527
Charge for the year - - 11,059 - 11,059
Eliminated on disposal - - (1,675) (25,160) (26,835)
At the end of the year - 80,958 46,793 - 127,751
Net book value
At the end of the year 4,000 - 26,346 - 30,346
At the start of the year 4,000 - 31,855 - 35,855

All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes.

11a Listed investments

Listed investments
Fair value at the start of the year
Additions at cost
Disposal proceeds
Net gain/loss on change in fair value
Cash held by investment broker pending reinvestment
Fair value at the end of the year		 2023
£
724,814
(40,430)		 2022
£
706,389
29,738
(29,566)
18,253
684,384
3,667		 724,814
3,600
688,051 728,414

The charity only also holds £2 (2022: £2) of shares in the Meningitis Trust Trading.

79

Meningitis Now

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

11b Subsidiary undertaking

The charitable company owns the whole of the issued ordinary share capital of Meningitis Trust Trading Limited and of Inmed Limited (dormant), both of which are companies registered in England. The subsidiaries are used for non-primary purpose trading activities. All activities have been consolidated on a line by line basis in the statement of financial activities. Available profits are gift aided to the charitable company. A summary of the results of the Meningitis Trust Trading Limited is shown below:

Liabilities
Funds
Cost of sales
Assets
Operating profit / (loss)
Profit / (loss) for the financial year
The aggregate of the assets, liabilities and funds was:
Turnover
Gross profit
Deed of covenant to parent undertaking
Administrative expenses		 2023
£
20
-		 2022
£
25,411
170
20
-		 25,581
(1,019)
20
(20)		 24,562
(24,562)
- -
22
(20)		 24,564
(24,562)
2 2

12 Parent charity

The parent charity's gross income and the results for the year are disclosed as follows:

Taxation and social security
Trade debtors
Amounts due from subsidiaries
Prepayments
Accrued income and other debtors
Debtors
Gross income
Result for the year		 2023
2022
£
£
301
5,457
-
-
170
-
42,607
29,496
500
108,000
43,579
142,953
The group		 2023
2022
£
£
301
5,457
-
-
170
-
42,607
29,496
500
108,000
43,579
142,953
The group		 2023
£
2,077,791
(328,469)		 2022
£
2,026,479
90,005
43,579 142,953 43,599 153,034

13 Debtors

80

Meningitis Now

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

14 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
The group The charity
2023 2022 2023 2022
£ £ £ £
Trade creditors 49,353 89,591 49,353 89,591
Taxation and social security - - - -
Other creditors 354 706 375 706
Accruals 139,188 163,696 139,188 163,696
Deferred income 103,392 95,320 103,392 95,320
Obligations under hire purchase contracts - - - -
292,288 349,313 292,309 349,313

15 Deferred income

Deferred income comprises income related to future fundraising events.

Balance at the beginning of the year
Amount released to income in the year
Amount deferred in the year
Balance at the end of the year
Analysis of group net assets between funds (current year)
Tangible fixed assets
Net current assets
Net assets at the end of the year
Tangible fixed assets
Investments
Investments
Net current assets
Net assets at the end of the year
Analysis of group net assets between funds (prior year)		 2023
2022
£
£
95,320
153,527
(83,057)
(117,625)
91,130
59,417
103,392
95,319
£
30,346
688,051
612,438
1,330,836
£
35,855
728,414
831,008
1,595,277
The group
General
unrestricted
General
unrestricted		 2023
2022
£
£
95,320
153,527
(83,057)
(117,625)
91,130
59,417
103,392
95,319
£
30,346
688,051
612,438
1,330,836
£
35,855
728,414
831,008
1,595,277
The group
General
unrestricted
General
unrestricted		 2023
2022
£
£
95,320
153,527
(83,057)
(117,625)
91,130
59,417
103,392
95,319
Restricted
funds
Total funds
£
£
-
30,346
-
688,051
482,503
1,094,941
482,503
1,813,339
Restricted
funds
Total funds
£
£
-
35,855
-
728,414
546,871
1,377,879
546,871
2,142,148
The charity		 2023
2022
£
£
95,320
153,527
(83,057)
(117,625)
91,130
59,417
103,392
95,319
Restricted
funds
Total funds
£
£
-
30,346
-
688,051
482,503
1,094,941
482,503
1,813,339
Restricted
funds
Total funds
£
£
-
35,855
-
728,414
546,871
1,377,879
546,871
2,142,148
The charity
103,392 95,319 103,392 95,319
£
30,346
688,051
612,438
General
unrestricted		 Restricted
funds
£
-
-
482,503		 Total funds
£
30,346
688,051
1,094,941
1,330,836 482,503 1,813,339
£
35,855
728,414
831,008
General
unrestricted		 Restricted
funds
£
-
-
546,871		 Total funds
£
35,855
728,414
1,377,879
1,595,277 546,871 2,142,148

16a Analysis of group net assets between funds (current year)

16b Analysis of group net assets between funds (prior year)

81

Meningitis Now

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

17a Movements in funds (current year)

Movements in funds (current year)
Total restricted funds
General funds
Non-charitable trading funds
Total funds
Total unrestricted funds
Research
Unrestricted funds:
Fundraising
Restricted funds
Support
Comms & Awareness
Knowledge & Info Sharing
Advocacy & Engagement		 At the start
of the year
£
50,072
6,131
-
-
490,668
-		 Incoming and
gains
£
229,624
49,500
10,600
5,300
135,609
2,863		 Expenditure
and losses
£
(242,282)
(58,845)
(10,600)
(5,300)
(177,974)
(2,863)		 Transfers
£
-
14,000
-
(14,000)
-		 At the end of
the year
£
37,414
10,786
-
-
434,303
-
546,871 433,496 (497,864) - 482,503
1,552,460
42,476		 1,644,295
20		 (1,908,415)
-		 -
-		 1,288,340
42,496
1,594,936 1,644,315 (1,908,415) - 1,330,836
2,141,807 2,077,811 (2,406,279) - 1,813,339

Support - provision of support services for indivduals and families including financial awards Comms and Awareness - general meningitis awareness raising

Advocacy & Engagement - increasing awareness of the impact of meningitis and reaching more people needing support Knowledge & Info Sharing - sharing knowledge to improve aftercare available for people affected by meningitis Research - projects related to the prevention, treatment and outcomes of meningitis

Transfers -

£14,000 was moved from research to communications for use on a student campaign as agreed by the funder.

17b Movements in funds (prior year)

Movements in funds (prior year)
At the start Incoming and Expenditure At the end of
of the year gains and losses Transfers the year
£ £ £ £ £
Restricted funds:
Support 64,657 273,484 (286,409) (1,660) 50,072
Comms & Awareness 3,608 52,440 (61,776) 11,859 6,131
Advocacy & Engagement 265 18,488 (18,753) - -
Knowledge & Info Sharing 265 21,696 (21,961) - -
Research 504,600 69,410 (79,309) (4,034) 490,667
Fundraising - 155 (155) - -
Total restricted funds 573,395 435,673 (468,363) 6,165 546,871
Unrestricted funds:
General funds 1,435,930 1,609,059 (1,486,364) (6,165) 1,552,460
Non-charitable trading funds 17,914 25,411 (849) - 42,476
Total unrestricted funds 1,453,844 1,634,470 (1,487,213) (6,165) 1,594,936
Total funds 2,027,239 2,070,143 (1,955,576) - 2,141,807

82

Meningitis Now

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Purposes of restricted funds

Support - provision of support services including grants for beneficiaries Comms and Awareness - General meningitis awareness raising

Advocacy & Engagement - increasing awareness of the impact of meningitis and reaching more people needing support

Knowledge & Info Sharing - sharing knowledge to improve aftercare available for people affected by meningitis Research - general

Transfers -

£23,336 was moved from research to communications for use on a student campaign as agreed by the funder. £13,500 transfer from prior year unrestricted to research as omitted.

£13,409 was transferred from restricted to unrestricted with agreement with the funders in light of Covid-19.

18 Operating lease commitments

The group and the charity's total future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases is as follows for each of the following periods:


of the following periods:
Less than one year
One to five years		 2023
2022
£
£
66,000
66,000
66,000
132,000
132,000
198,000
Property
132,000 198,000

19 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 winding up is limited to £1.

83