INTERNATIONAL SPINAL RESEARCH TRUST

Registered charity 1151015 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · Wikidata: Q30264679 · also known as SPINAL RESEARCH · also registered in Scotland as SC050578 (OSCR)

Spinal Research, the UK's leading and most influential spinal cord repair charity, sets the standard for spinal cord research across the world and is at the forefront of developing strategies for repair. With the aid of our nationwide supporters we fund more research than any other charity in the UK and will continue until we find an effective treatment for paralysis caused by spinal cord injury.

Objects

1.1 OBJECTS1.1 THE OBJECTS ARE TO WORK FOR THE RESOLUTION OF THE NON AND PARTIAL FUNCTION OF THE SPINAL CORD IN PATIENTS WHO HAVE SUFFERED SPINAL CORD INJURY BY:(1) PROMOTING OR ASSISTING THE PROMOTION OF RESEARCH (2) PUBLISHING OR ENSURING THE PUBLICATION OF THE USEFUL RESULTS OF SUCH RESEARCH(3) EDUCATING THE MEDICAL PROFESSION, OTHER HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS, PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES AND THE PUBLIC AT LARGE ABOUT SPINAL CORD INJURY, ITS TREATMENT AND ASSOCIATED RESEARCH(4) ADVISING AND ASSISTING PERSONS WITHIN GOVERNMENTS,HEALTH SERVICES AND ELSEWHERE WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR FORMULATING POLICY IN RELATION TO MEDICAL RESEARCH AND THE ESTABLISHMENT AND DESIGN OF RESEARCH FACILITIES

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

Causes: The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Southwark, London, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a net movement in funds of £1.28 million for the year, driven by significant growth in legacy income and volunteer-led fundraising. Free unrestricted reserves stood at £402,000, which the trustees deem adequate to cover their stated prudent reserve target of £65,000 for unforeseen administrative expenses. The charity confirmed there are no material uncertainties regarding its ability to continue as a going concern.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Buzzacott Audit LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

• Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
• Complaints handling
• Complaints policy and procedures
• Conflicting interests
• Financial reserves policy and procedures
• Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
• Internal risk management policy and procedures
• Investing charity funds policy and procedures
• Investment
• Paying staff
• Risk management
• Safeguarding policy and procedures
• Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
• Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
• Social media policy and procedures
• Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
• Trustee expenses policy and procedures
• Volunteer management

From the charity’s annual return (Part A, self-declared)

Answers and figures the charity gave in Part A of its annual return to the Charity Commission. They are self-declared: not verified by the Commission or by this site. Only positive answers and figures are listed; items not listed are simply not shown.

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Annual return filing dates (Charity Commission record)

Of its last 5 annual returns with a recorded received date, 1 was received after the due date: year ending 31/03/2025 (received 19/05/2026, 108 days after the 31/01/2026 due date).

Due and received dates as recorded in the Commission’s annual-return data; the data does not say whether an extension was agreed. Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Corporate structure

• Trading subsidiary: SPINAL RESEARCH (TRADING) LIMITED Companies House 02469133
• Registered company of the charity Companies House 08409361

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Spinal Research (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.

• JAMES, Robert William — director, appointed 29/10/2025on trustee list
• KRISHNAN, Anjali Devaki — director, appointed 30/07/2025on trustee list
• LUND, Mark George — director, appointed 08/02/2023on trustee list
• BAXTER, David Judo, Dr — director, appointed 17/03/2022on trustee list
• SMITH, Sue, Prof — director, appointed 09/02/2022on trustee list
• BROWNSTONE, Robert Morris, Professor — director, appointed 21/07/2021on trustee list
• HOWELL, Tara — director, appointed 20/07/2020on trustee list
• SHELTON, William Robert — director, appointed 19/02/2013not on 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)

Reported reserves equal ~2.3 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 19.0% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 5.3%) (benchmarks).

Register events

• Received assets from another charity (15/09/2023) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
• Received assets from another charity (19/12/2018) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
• Received assets from another charity (31/07/2014) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

• Tara Howellchair
• Anjali Krishnan
• Dr David Judd Baxter
• MR R SHELTON · trustee of 1 other charity
• Mark Lund
• Professor Robert Brownstone
• Professor Sue Smith
• Robert James

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

Operates in: Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

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

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 THE NICHOLLS SPINAL INJURY FOUNDATION.

• THE NICHOLLS SPINAL INJURY FOUNDATION income £457k
• STOKE MANDEVILLE SPINAL RESEARCH income £167k
• SPIRIT (SPINAL PARALYSIS AND INJURIES RESEARCH INFORMATION AND TRAINING) income £186k
• SPINE income £29k
• WINGS FOR LIFE UK SPINAL CORD RESEARCH FOUNDATION income £7.0m
• THE INSPIRE FOUNDATION income £282k

Side by side with its peers

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