Annual reports and financial statements 2020/21
Our annual report and accounts celebrate our achievements over the last financial year. The report shows the research we've funded and how we're striving for the day when everyone lives free from kidney disease.
Looking back at the past year
Our chief executive Sandra Currie introduces our annual report for the last financial year. As well as reporting on the charity’s financial performance, it examines what impact we were able to make after the most difficult year.
“We’ve come back stronger in many ways, and more committed than ever to a day when everyone lives free from kidney disease."
How we responded to Covid-19.
The last year has been like no other for the entire kidney community. We had to make tough decisions and act quickly to respond to need. We funded vital vaccine research and tentatively restarted our research funding schemes.
Patient power.
We cannot transform kidney treatments until researchers and health professionals understand what it’s really like to live with kidney disease. In our strategy, we pledged to boost patient involvement in everything we do. This year we took some major steps towards that goal.
New research funded by your support.
Covid-19 forced us to pause our research funding, but by June 2020 we were beginning to re-start. We invested nearly £2 million over 15 projects and fellowships. We launched a new approach to funding research, to help us do more, more quickly.
The Andy Cole Fund.
We launched the Andy Cole Fund, which aims to raise £500,000 for research to improve kidney transplants and patient wellbeing. It came after he’d faced the toughest battle of his life when his own kidneys failed, and when the Covid-19 pandemic brought home to him just how vulnerable he is as a kidney patient.
Getting results.
Every piece of research brings us one step closer to transforming treatments and freeing lives from kidney disease. Here are just a few of the important discoveries that your donations made possible last year.
Mind and body.
Living with chronic kidney disease makes every day a challenge. It affects every aspect of a person’s life. As part of our ongoing priority to improve holistic (physical and emotional) care for kidney patients, we made progress to get the issue on the agenda.
Amazing support in extraordinary times.
At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, every one of our income streams was under threat. We suffered an immediate and significant downturn in fundraising, and had to act fast to secure the future of our vital work.
Delivering on our aims.
We revised our annual plans to ensure we could embark on our new strategy, while being realistic about the challenges ahead. Thank you to our staff, volunteers, supporters and partners for adapting and helping in the most difficult circumstances.
Looking ahead.
In the coming year we will get all our activities affected by the Covid-19 crisis back on track, as rapidly as possible. We will drive progress against our strategic priorities, using what we learned in the extraordinary past year where it can help us to work smarter.
Past annual reports and grant awards
View the annual reports, accounts and grants from previous years.