BRITISH LIMBLESS EX-SERVICE MEN'S ASSOCIATION (BLESMA)

Registered charity 1084189 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as BLESMA · also registered in Scotland as SC010315 (OSCR)

Blesma supports all serving and ex service men and women who lose limbs or the use of limbs, or one or both eyes in service or as a result of service. It also supports those ex service men and women who lose limbs not as a result of service or loss of use of limbs as a result of a traumatic incident. Blesma also supports widows and dependents of the above.

Causes: General Charitable Purposes · The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives · Disability · Armed Forces/emergency Service Efficiency · website · Get email alerts

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity operated at an overall deficit of £2,216,163 for the year, which was fully covered by strong investment gains of £3,140,070. The trustees report that total funds increased to £42,531,284, with unrestricted reserves standing at £41,845,899, providing a solid financial foundation for future commitments.

Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Crowe U.K. LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Regulator actions

Corporate structure

• Registered company of the charity Companies House 04102768

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Blesma The Limbless Veterans (matched by registered charity number).

Company officers (Companies House)

Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.

• BLAIR, Laura Catherine — director, appointed 07/06/2026not on trustee list
• BULL, Spencer Howard — director, appointed 07/06/2026not on trustee list
• JOHNSTON, Lisa Anne Pearl — director, appointed 29/06/2024on trustee list
• DAVIS, Edward Grant Martin — director, appointed 29/06/2024not on trustee list
• WHITWORTH, Colin — director, appointed 20/08/2023on trustee list
• HERITAGE, Neil — director, appointed 01/08/2023on trustee list
• MISTLIN, Alan — director, appointed 01/08/2023on trustee list
• GILBERT, Richard Frank William — director, appointed 19/06/2022on trustee list
• KERRIGAN, Robert Daniel — director, appointed 04/11/2021on trustee list
• WHITE, Stephen — director, appointed 13/06/2020on trustee list
• AMBLER, Miles Courtenay — director, appointed 10/06/2018on trustee list
• BUCK, Vivienne Wendy — secretary, appointed 12/10/2023

Official officers record.

CQC provider record: British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association — Deregistered, 1 registered location, last inspected 03/11/2015.charity number confirmed by CQC CQC record

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~75.5 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 29.9% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 5.2%) (benchmarks).

Register events

• Received assets from another charity (12/05/2025) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
• Received assets from another charity (06/07/2023) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
• Received assets from another charity (05/05/2023) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
• Received assets from another charity (20/06/2022) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
• Received assets from another charity (21/03/2017) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

• Edward Grant Martin Davis CB CBEchair
• Alan Mistlin · trustee of 1 other charity
• COLIN WHITWORTH
• Lisa Johnston
• Miles Courtenay Ambler
• Neil Heritage
• Richard Gilbert
• Robert Kerrigan
• Stephen White

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Northern Ireland · Scotland

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with BLIND VETERANS UK.

• BLIND VETERANS UK income £27.8m
• LIMBLESS CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL LIMITED income £116k
• VETERANS ASSOCIATION income £986k
• BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT income £231k
• VETERANS AID income £2.2m
• CARE FOR VETERANS income £5.9m

Side by side with its peers

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.