Annual Account 2023–2024

The Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31st March 2024.

“I live with a complex bowel  disease. Knowing that St Mark’s Hospital is actively engaged in research to improve patient outcomes gives me hope for a healthier future.” – a St Mark’s patient

A MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR OF TRUSTEES AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE

We are extremely proud of the clinicians at St Mark’s Hospital who continue to deliver specialist care for patients from across the UK, as well as lead groundbreaking research and a unique education programme, both of which we are honoured to support. One of our projects in the area of earlier diagnosis of cancer was instrumental in influencing a change to the NHS England Bowel Cancer Screening Programme to include patients with Lynch syndrome. Another diagnostic project continued to develop into a UK-wide training programme for gastroenterology radiologists.

Total income for the year was £2,143,500 while total expenditure was £2,539,041.

Total income decreased by 20% when compared to the previous year, the difference was driven by lower legacy income. Excluding income from legacies, this year’s income was £2,040,726, which was 14% higher than last year’s like-for-like income of £1,766,288. Fundraising for restricted projects raised £1,166,326, compared to last year’s income of £1,283,208.

Income generated by St Mark’s Academic Institute continued to grow and this year’s income of £671,344 was 24% higher than last year. This was mainly due to the continued high level of sponsorship support for our signature conferences, and our popular postgraduate teaching terms, which we re-started during the year. This led to a small surplus for the Academic Institute; the first time the Foundation has achieved this for many years.

Total expenditure was 11% higher, reflecting an increase in spend on research projects. At over £2.3m, this is the highest spend on our charitable activities ever achieved. The cost of raising funds as percentage of total expenditure fell slightly to 9% from 10% last year.

We are pleased to report that our unrestricted reserves continue to maintain a healthy level at £849,889, which is equivalent to just under 11 months of total unrestricted expenditure. In addition, the Foundation also holds a healthy balance of designated funds of £421,611 and restricted research funds of £2,612,494.

We are very grateful to Professor Ailsa Hart who completed her term as Dean of the Academic Institute at the end of 2023 and we welcome the new Dean, Professor Naila Arebi. We also welcomed Catherine Haumesser, who was appointed to the Board of Trustees on 6th December 2023.

One of our most impactful achievements this year has been the funding of the training and education facilities in the new endoscopy centre. We thank the whole Foundation team and our existing and new supporters for their commitment and contributions.

Sir Tom Troubridge
Jason Bacon