Miricyl SCIO Scottish Charity No SC047522 Annual Report & Financial Statements For the Year Ended 30 June 2025
Trustees’ Annual Report
For the Period Ended 30 June 2025
The Trustees have pleasure in presenting their report together with the financial statements and the independent examiner’s report for the period ended 30 June 2025.
Reference & Administrative Information
Charity Name
Miricyl SCIO
Charity No
SC047522
Address
2 Eglinton Crescent Edinburgh EH12 5DH
Current Trustees
Bryn Powell – Chair (Appointed May 2020) Hannah Blackford - Secretary (Appointed November 2020) Amol Deshmukh - Treasurer (Appointed November 2020) Alex Conway (Appointed June 2017)
Structure Governance & Management
Constitution
The charity is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO). The charity was granted charitable status by OSCR on 21[st] June 2017.
Appointment of Trustees
The Management Committee, which normally meet on a quarterly basis, are the charity’s Trustees. Membership of the Management Committee is open to anyone of reasonable and relevant experience.
Trustees are elected or reelected on an annual basis at one of the Management Committee meetings. Under the constitution, there must be a minimum of three and no more than nine Trustees.
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The Trustees are responsible for the strategic direction and governance of the charity, whilst the day-to-day running of the charity is delegated to the Chief Executive Officer and founder, Alex Conway and any assistants to whom he delegates the work.
The Chief Executive Officer attends all Trustee meetings to discuss progress and developments with the charity.
Objectives & Activities
Charitable purposes
The advancement of health (including the prevention or relief of sickness, disease of human suffering for infants, children and young people (principally aged 0-25). The promotion of equality and diversity targeting all ages.
The organisation aims to protect, preserve, foster, promote and advance all or any aspects of the mental health and welfare of infants, children, young people and their families and carers and to advance and promote knowledge and education by engaging in, encouraging, funding and otherwise supporting:
(a) scientific or other research
(b) research into the societal systems that influence or may be seen to influence mental illness in infants, children and young people, including but not limited to family and carer systems,
(c) The organisation may campaign, take legal action, raise awareness, advocate and fund any such project or piece of work that will lead to the wider implementation of any research for the benefit of mentally ill infants, children, young people and their families and/or carers.
(d) The organisation will work towards: the elimination of stigma against mental health; advancing education and raising awareness of the stigma of mental health; promoting activities to foster understanding between people who do and do not suffer mental illness; cultivating a sentiment in favour of fair treatment and understanding of those living with mental illness and the organisation may campaign, advocate and use any other means appropriate to end discrimination.
Management Report
GRANTS AND DONATIONS
During the year we applied for a number of grants and continued to explore a range of funding opportunities to support the development of the charity. These included discussions with Scottish Enterprise and Techscaler, where we joined their mentoring scheme. During the
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year with spent the balance of our £15,000 ALLIANCE Self-Management Grant on redeveloping our web offering for young people.
We also engaged with Wellcome Trust and the MEXA Generative AI for Mental Health Accelerator programme as part of our ongoing efforts to secure larger-scale funding to support the next phase of platform development. In addition, we maintained our profile on Benevity and continued to receive support from private individuals.
PRO BONO SUPPORT AND TECHNOLOGY
We continued to benefit from significant pro bono and in-kind support.
Our relationship with Elastic remained a key part of our technology strategy, and we were pleased to secure a community licence to support the development of our search platform. We were also approached by consultancy Mindbridge who offered us pro bono time to implement Elastic into our new development.
This builds on previous technology grants including credits from Google Ad Grants, Microsoft Azure and Canva, together valued at over £100,000, although the reach of the Ad Words grant has decreased.
We worked with a number of volunteer developers, designers and contributors to progress the redesign of our platform, including the transition to a more advanced, search-led infrastructure. We searched for a Tech Co-Founder and worked with one who was unable to continue due to work and family commitments.
We also worked with a team of young international designers on a scheme from Develop for Good who created the ‘Mind Miles’ concept as a possible extension of our existing search platform.
PLATFORM DEVELOPMENT
During the year we made substantial progress on a full redesign of the Miricyl platform.
This included new UI/UX designs, improved search functionality powered by Elastic, and the initiation of the development of a more scalable architecture to support future growth. We are moving from Wordpress to a custom built full stack development, making the most of the falling costs of software development.
We worked closely with an external designer and our team using volunteer and paid UX/UI designers. Thank you especially to Dave at Likely Stories, Ola from Fierce Love Designs, Ryan and Leanne for the development work to bring the platform close to launch readiness. This included running a user language survey, conducting outreach across schools and universities, and working with NHS Lothian and academic partners to ensure the platform reflects real-world needs.
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We are also grateful for our partnership with The Junction, YMCA, Ripple Centre, Pilmeny Development Project, Multi-Cultural Family Base, The Citadel and the funding from Edinburgh City Council.
RESEARCH AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
We continued to engage with young people, universities and clinical partners to inform the development of the platform and attended bi-annual meetings of the Alliance of Mental Health Research Funders.
We also explored opportunities to contribute to wider research initiatives, including engagement with NIHR and related digital mental health programmes, for example at Wellcome.
INTERNS AND VOLUNTEERS
We were fortunate to work with a number of interns and volunteers throughout the year.
This included students from Heriot-Watt University through both the university’s internship programme and the Santander scheme, as well as volunteers supporting design, research and marketing activities.
We also continued to engage with school students through the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) and other outreach activities.
PARTNERSHIPS
We continued to build relationships with a range of organisations across the mental health and technology sectors.
These included Elastic, NHS partners, Wellcome Trust, SAFMH, and a number of other charities.
We also explored opportunities for collaboration with academic institutions and participated in sector events and workshops.
AFTER THE YEAR END
After the year end, the main focus has been preparing for the launch of the newly redesigned Miricyl platform.
We have also continued discussions with potential funders and partners, identified people who might white label our platform and are considering options to bring on a technical cofounder to support the next stage of development.
Non-Executive Directors
We continued to work with our industry based NED group.
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Financial Review
Receipts were £10,058. We also benefited from pro bono support by volunteers and Develop for Good. Payments for the year were £12,813. This led to a year end deficit of £2,756.
The CEO volunteered his time at a value of £60,000.
Reserves Policy
The Trustees’ policy is to maintain reserves at around 2-3 months of normal running costs in order to meet commitments and to cover any unexpected expenditure. Cash at bank and in hand at the end of the year were £23,362 which is within the target range.
Approved by the Trustees on 30 March 2026 and signed on their behalf by:
Bryn Powell
Chair
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Independent Examiner’s Report
For the Period Ended 30 June 2025
Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Miricyl
I report on the financial statements of the charity for the period ended 30 June 2025, which are set out on pages 7 to 9.
Respective responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner
The charity’s Trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the terms of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 (“the 2006 Act”) and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) (“the 2006 Regulations”). The charity Trustees consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10(1) (d) of the 2006 Regulations does not apply. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts as required under Section (44) (1) (c) of the Act and state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of Independent Examiner’s Statement
My examination is carried out in accordance with Regulation 11of the 2006 Accounts Regulations. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeks explanations from the Trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently I do not express an audit opinion of the views given by the accounts.
Independent Examiner’s Statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:-
-
1 which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the requirements:
-
to keep accounting records in accordance with section 44(1)(a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4of the 2006 Regulations, and
-
to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with Regulation 9 of the 2006 Regulations
have not been met, or
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- 2 to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Name – Charles Whelan
Charles Whelan
West Broomhill, Bannacle Hill Road, Sandhills, Godalming, GU8 5UB
Statement of Receipts and Payments – For the Period ended 30 June 2025
| Receipts | Note | Unrestricted Funds |
Restricted Funds |
Total 2025 |
Total 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voluntary Receipts Donations & Gift Aid |
£ 65 |
£ - |
£ 65 |
£ 875 |
|
| Grants ~~es~~ |
~~es~~ | 319 ~~es~~ |
9,600 ~~es~~ |
9,919 ~~es~~ |
7,900 ~~es~~ |
| Other income ~~es~~ ~~Gs~~ |
~~es~~ ~~Gs~~ |
74 ~~es~~ ~~eG~~ |
- ~~es~~ ~~eG~~ |
74 ~~es~~ |
~~es~~ |
| ~~ee~~ | 458 ~~ee~~ |
9,600 ~~ee~~ |
10,058 ~~ee~~ |
8,775 ~~ee~~ |
|
| Payments ~~ee~~ |
~~ee~~ ~~ee~~ |
~~ee~~ ~~ee~~ |
~~ee~~ ~~ee~~ |
~~ee~~ ~~ee~~ |
~~ee~~ ~~ee~~ |
| Cost of Fund Raising | ~~ee~~ | - ~~ee~~ |
- ~~ee~~ |
- ~~ee~~ |
5,063 ~~ee~~ |
| Cost of Charitable Activities | 3 | 3,561 | 9,252 | 12,813 | 16,897 |
| Governance Costs | ~~es~~ | - | - | - | - |
| Purchase of Equipment ~~es~~ |
~~es~~ ~~es~~ |
- ~~es~~ |
- ~~es~~ |
- ~~es~~ |
- ~~es~~ |
| Total Payments | ~~es~~ ~~ee~~ |
3,561 ~~ee~~ |
9,252 ~~ee~~ |
12,813 ~~ee~~ |
21,960 ~~ee~~ |
| Surplus/(Deficit) for the year ~~ee~~ |
~~ee~~ ~~ee~~ |
(3,103) ~~ee~~ ~~ee~~ |
347 ~~ee~~ ~~ee~~ |
(2,756) ~~ee~~ ~~ee~~ |
(13,185) ~~ee~~ ~~ee~~ |
| Transfers between funds | ~~ee ~~ | - ~~ee ~~ |
- ~~ee ~~ |
- ~~ee~~ |
- ~~ee~~ |
| Surplus/(Deficit) for theyear ~~ss~~ |
~~ss~~ | (3,103) ~~ss~~ |
347 ~~ss~~ |
(2,756) ~~ss~~ |
(13,185) ~~ss~~ |
The Notes on pages 9 form an integral part of these accounts
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Statement of Balances – As at 30 June 2025
Unrestricted Restricted Total
| Funds Reconciliation Funds Funds 2025 2024 |
Funds Reconciliation Funds Funds 2025 2024 |
Funds Reconciliation Funds Funds 2025 2024 |
Funds Reconciliation Funds Funds 2025 2024 |
Funds Reconciliation Funds Funds 2025 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ £ £ £ | ||||
| Cash at Bank & In Hand – Opening | 10,339 | 15,779 | 26,118 | 39,303 |
| Surplus/(Deficit) for year | (3,103) | 347 | (2,756) | (13,185) |
| Cash at Bank & In Hand Closing 7,236 16,126 23,362 26,118 |
||||
| Bank & Cash Balances | ||||
| Bank Current Account | 23,362 | 26,118 | ||
| Liabilities (Unrestricted Fund) | ||||
| Loanspayable 18,000 18,000 |
The Notes on page 10 form an integral part of these accounts. Approved by the Trustees on 30 March 2026 and signed on their behalf by:-
Bryn Powell
Chair
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Notes to the Accounts – For the Period Ended 30 June 2025
Basis of Accounting
These accounts have been prepared on a Receipts and Payments basis in accordance with the Charities and Trustees Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended).
1 Nature and purpose of funds
Unrestricted funds are those that may be used at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the objectives of the charity. The Trustees maintain a single unrestricted fund for the day-today running of the charity.
Restricted funds may only be used for specific purposes. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for specific purposes. During the year, ALLIANCE paid the balance of its restricted grant, £9,600.
2 Related Party Transactions
No remuneration was paid to the Trustees or to any person involved with the charity during the year. The Chief Executive Officer, Alex Conway, is also a related party, and travel and subsistence expenses of £21 (2024: £264) were paid on his behalf.
Loans outstanding at the year end included the following amounts owed to related parties, there was no movement on this balance in the year: Alex Conway £10,000
3 Cost of charitable activities
| Cost of charitable activities | Unrestricted Funds |
Restricted Funds |
Total 2025 |
Total 2024 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ~~DR~~ | £ |
£ |
£ |
£ |
|
| Insurance ~~DR~~ |
- |
- |
- |
498 |
|
| Travel and subsistence ~~DRes~~ |
~~es~~ | 21 ~~es~~ |
- ~~es~~ |
21 ~~es~~ |
506 ~~es~~ |
| Research ~~eG~~ |
~~eG~~ | 272 ~~eG~~ |
- ~~eG~~ |
272 ~~eG~~ |
4,621 ~~eG~~ |
| IT and website costs ~~ee~~ |
~~ee~~ | 3,262 ~~ee~~ |
449 ~~ee~~ |
3,711 ~~ee~~ |
10,806 ~~ee~~ |
| Software and design ~~es~~ |
~~es~~ | ~~es~~ | 2,098 ~~es~~ |
2,098 ~~es~~ |
- ~~es~~ |
| Outreach ~~eG~~ |
~~eG~~ | ~~eG~~ | 6,705 ~~eG~~ |
6,705 ~~eG~~ |
- ~~eG~~ |
| Entertaining and gifts ~~es~~ |
~~es~~ | - ~~es~~ |
- ~~es~~ |
- ~~es~~ |
228 ~~es~~ |
| Sundry costs ~~eG~~ |
~~eG~~ | - ~~eG~~ |
- ~~eG~~ |
- ~~eG~~ |
33 ~~eG~~ |
| Bank charges ~~es~~ |
~~es~~ | 6 ~~es~~ |
- ~~es~~ |
6 ~~es~~ |
205 ~~es~~ |
| ~~a~~ | 3,561 | 9,252 | 12,813 | **16,897 ** |
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