OVARIAN CANCER ACTION

Registered charity 1109743 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as HELENE HARRIS MEMORIAL TRUST, OVARIAN CANCER ACTION LTD · also registered in Scotland as SC043478 (OSCR)

Ovarian Cancer Action strives to stop women dying from ovarian cancer. We fund world-class scientific research leading to innovative treatments and progressive solutions. Ovarian Cancer Action campaigns to ensure women and healthcare providers know risk factors, symptoms and treatment options to enable informed and rapid action.

Causes: The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£1.6m

Latest spending

£2.3m

Registered

2005

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity recorded a deficit of £715,121 for the year ended 31 March 2025, resulting from planned investments in charitable activities and lower-than-anticipated donation income. Total reserves decreased to £1,985,047, with free unrestricted reserves standing at £1,643,962, which the trustees consider sufficient to sustain activities amid economic uncertainty.

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

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £150,001 - £160,000 — above the 90th percentile for charities its size (median £70k)

“One (2024: no) staff member was paid in the £150,000–£160,000 band.” — page 33

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Employees paid over £60,000: 3

“One (2024: no) staff member was paid in the £150,000–£160,000 band. One (2024: one) staff member was paid in the £70,000–£80,000 band. One (2024: no) staff member was paid in the £60,000–£70,000 band” — page 33

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Fundraising cost ratio: 50.2% of fundraised income, as disclosed

“Expenditure on raising funds was £822,800 (2024 – £635,243 ) of which £822,800 (2024 – £635,243) was unrestricted and £NIL (2024 – £nil) was restricted.” — page 30

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Reserves policy: six and twelve months' expenditure excluding grants and expenditure from restricted funds (held: £1.6m)

“the Directors have established a policy to hold free reserves of between six and twelves-months’ expenditure excluding grants and expenditure from restricted funds planned for the year ahead, which equates to between £0.9m and £1.9m.”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: 17

“In 2025, amounts totalling £2,500 (2024: £23,724) were donated from trustees and their related parties. This amount was included in other income and individual giving in the SOFA as unrestricted income.” — page 39

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Moore Kingston Smith LLP. Discloses 6 of 6 completeness components.

Corporate structure

Registered company of the charity Companies House 05403443

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Ovarian Cancer Action (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.

GILLIS, Claire — director, appointed 07/01/2025not on trustee list
WILLIAMS, Sally Angela Helen — director, appointed 01/01/2023on trustee list
ANSON, John George — director, appointed 12/01/2022on trustee list
OWENS, Jacqui Lynette — director, appointed 12/01/2022on trustee list
HUNT, Richard Humphrey, Professor — director, appointed 09/01/2018on trustee list

Official officers record.

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)

Total income

£1.6m

Total spending

£2.3m

Cost of raising funds

£823k

Reserves (reported)

£1.6m

Employees

20

Reported reserves equal ~8.4 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 50.2% of total income — above the 90th percentile for charities its size (median 5.2%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Received assets from another charity (31/10/2025) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

Jacqui Lynette Owens
John George Anson
Ms Claire Gills Sable
Professor Richard Hunt
Sally Williams

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

Operates in: Northern Ireland · Scotland · Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/03/2025	£1.6m	£2.3m
31/03/2024	£2.6m	£2.3m
31/03/2023	£3.4m	£3.4m
31/03/2022	£2.3m	£2.6m
31/03/2021	£3.0m	£2.4m

Common questions

Is OVARIAN CANCER ACTION financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity recorded a deficit of £715,121 for the year ended 31 March 2025, resulting from planned investments in charitable activities and lower-than-anticipated donation income. Total reserves decreased to £1,985,047, with free unrestricted reserves standing at £1,643,962, which the trustees consider sufficient to sustain activities amid economic uncertainty. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Moore Kingston Smith LLP.

What does the highest-paid employee of OVARIAN CANCER ACTION earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £150,001 - £160,000 band, and 3 employees earned over £60,000.

Who funds OVARIAN CANCER ACTION?

Funders whose own accounts filings name OVARIAN CANCER ACTION as a grant recipient include GIVINGWORKS, THE PENNIES FOUNDATION, RICHARDSON BROTHERS FOUNDATION, THE PETER STEBBINGS MEMORIAL CHARITY, THE TOMPKINS FOUNDATION.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
GIVINGWORKS	FY2022	£455k
THE PENNIES FOUNDATION	FY2024	£33k
RICHARDSON BROTHERS FOUNDATION	FY2022	£8k	Employment costs (see note 5)
THE PETER STEBBINGS MEMORIAL CHARITY	FY2023	£5k
THE TOMPKINS FOUNDATION	FY2023	£5k
RICHARDSON BROTHERS FOUNDATION	FY2023	£5k	Charitable activities
DORIS FIELD CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£5k	Recurring grant
THE TOMPKINS FOUNDATION	FY2024	£5k
THE BENHAM CHARITABLE SETTLEMENT	FY2024	£3k
THE LANCASHIRE FOUNDATION	FY2022	£3k
THE EDGAR E LAWLEY FOUNDATION	FY2026	£2k
THE BENHAM CHARITABLE SETTLEMENT	FY2023	£2k
THE LANCASHIRE FOUNDATION	FY2024	£2k
THE BENHAM CHARITABLE SETTLEMENT	FY2022	£2k
THE A AND R WOOLF CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£1k
THE FRANK LITCHFIELD GENERAL CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£1k
THE PETER STEBBINGS MEMORIAL CHARITY	FY2024	£0
SALOMAN FOUNDATION	FY2026	—	Supporting Ovarian Cancer Research Centre at Imperial College.

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.

Funder	Similar charities funded	Amount to them
SANDRA CHARITABLE TRUST	3	£27k
THE HISCOX FOUNDATION	3	£4k
THE CHANDRIS FOUNDATION	3	£4k
THE ALBERT GUBAY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION	2	£205k
NORTH WEST CANCER RESEARCH (INCORPORATING CLATTERBRIDGE CANCER RESEARCH CCR)	2	£101k
ROBERT LUFF FOUNDATION LIMITED	2	£55k
THE ORR MACKINTOSH FOUNDATION LIMITED	2	£45k
THE WILLIAM ALLEN YOUNG CHARITABLE TRUST	2	£31k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with TARGET OVARIAN CANCER.

TARGET OVARIAN CANCER income £3.4m
GYNAECOLOGY CANCER RESEARCH FUND income £1.8m
CANCER RESEARCH WALES income £5.9m
Oracle Head and Neck Cancer UK Limited income £648k
CANCER AWARENESS TRUST income £1.1m
Blood Cancer UK Research income £21.1m

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
OVARIAN CANCER ACTION	£1.6m	£150,001 - £160,000	3	unclear	50.2%	no doubt
TARGET OVARIAN CANCER FY2025	£3.4m	£130,001 - £140,000	—	above	—	no doubt
GYNAECOLOGY CANCER RESEARCH FUND FY2024	£1.8m	—	—	above	—	no doubt
CANCER RESEARCH WALES FY2026	£5.9m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
Oracle Head and Neck Cancer UK Limited FY2025	£648k	—	—	unclear	—	material uncertainty
CANCER AWARENESS TRUST FY2024	£1.1m	£100,001 - £110,000	—	unclear	—	no doubt

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