THE MEDICALERT FOUNDATION

Registered charity 233705 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as MEDICALERT · also registered in Scotland as SC044510 (OSCR)

The MedicAlert Foundation provides a life-saving, emergency identification system for individuals with hidden medical conditions and allergies. Each Member receives a bracelet, necklace or watch that is engraved with the wearers main medical condition(s), an ID number and a 24 hour emergency telephone number that can access their details from anywhere in the world in over 100 languages.

Objects

THE RELIEF OF SICKNESS INCLUDING (WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING) BY COMMUNICATING PERSONAL AND MEDICAL INFORMATION ON BEHALF OF ITS MEMBERS TO MEDICAL AND EMERGENCY PROFESSIONALS AND BY PROVIDING A MEANS WHEREBY ITS MEMBERS MAY BE IDENTIFIED AS THOSE TO WHOM SUCH INFORMATION HELD BY IT RELATES FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC AND TO SAVE AND PROTECT LIVES

Area of benefit: NATIONAL

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 · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£1.3m

Latest spending

£1.3m

Registered

1995

Accounts read

FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a loss of £137,900 for the year ended 31 December 2024, driven by increased spending on senior staff and strategy development. Per the trustees' report, free reserves stood at £1,075,326, which is equivalent to outstanding property lease costs plus 12 months of other operating costs less deferred income. The trustees identify the sustainability of membership and product income as the key long-term risk to the charity's viability.

Automated summary of the FY2024 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: outstanding property lease commitments, plus 6 to 9 months of other operating costs less deferred membership income (held: £1.1m)

“The Trustees agreed that the level of free reserves should be at a level equivalent to the outstanding property lease commitments, plus 6 to 9 months of other operating costs less deferred membership income.”

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by MHA. 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

Corporate structure

Registered company of the charity Companies House 00814000

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — MedicAlert UK (matched by registered charity number).

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Ian Fleming — Chair Trustee (source)
Dr Masha Finn — Vice-Chair Trustee (source)

Listed on the charity’s own website when we last crawled it; roles may have changed. Pay-band disclosures above are anonymous statutory disclosures and are not attributed to any named individual.

Funders the charity credits

Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).

Annabelle's Challenge — “Annabelle's Challenge fully fund a years' membership, as well as contributing towards their first MedicAlert ID.” (source page)
Brompton Fountain — “MedicAlert have partnered with Brompton Fountain supporting young people at their hospitals. They are providing 2 years MedicAlert membershi…” (source page)
Jon Shaw Foundation — “The Jon Shaw Foundation supports those with epilepsy, providing financial aid services not available from the NHS. They provide one years me…” (source page)
FOP Friends — “FOP Friends’ aim is to further research into Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva. Members can get a complimentary first years MedicAlert m…” (source page)
Muscular Dystrophy Support Centre — “MDSC offer 10% off when joining MedicAlert. A percentage of profits go back to supporting the centre.” (source page)

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.

ALDERTON, Ian — director, appointed 30/09/2026on trustee list
HEANEY, Carolyn — director, appointed 25/03/2026on trustee list
CLEAVER, Herjinder — director, appointed 25/03/2026on trustee list
FICKLING, Nicola — director, appointed 01/07/2025on trustee list
GRANT, Roma — director, appointed 01/01/2023on trustee list
TENNENT, John Charles Roger — director, appointed 12/11/2021on trustee list
FLEMING, Ian — director, appointed 22/02/2021on trustee list
FINN, Maria, Dr — director, appointed 22/02/2021on trustee list
CHURCHILL, David — director, appointed 22/02/2021on trustee list
BURBIDGE, Nick — director, appointed 22/02/2021on trustee list

Official officers record.

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

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

Total income

£1.3m

Total spending

£1.3m

Reserves (reported)

£1.4m

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~13.1 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 0.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Received assets from another charity (10/03/2016) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

Ian Flemingchair
Carolyn Heaney
David Churchill
Herjinder Cleaver
Ian Alderton
John Tennent · trustee of 5 other charities
Maria Finn
Nick Burbidge
Nicola Fickling
Roma Grant

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

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

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/12/2025	£1.3m	£1.3m
31/12/2024	£1.3m	£1.5m
31/12/2023	£1.4m	£1.5m
31/12/2022	£1.4m	£1.2m
31/12/2021	£1.3m	£1.1m

Common questions

Is THE MEDICALERT FOUNDATION financially healthy?

Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a loss of £137,900 for the year ended 31 December 2024, driven by increased spending on senior staff and strategy development. Per the trustees' report, free reserves stood at £1,075,326, which is equivalent to outstanding property lease costs plus 12 months of other operating costs less deferred income. The trustees identify the sustainability of membership and product income as the key long-term risk to the charity's viability. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by MHA.

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
THE ARDWICK TRUST	2	£300
THE REED FOUNDATION	1	—
THE POLONIA AID FOUNDATION TRUST	1	—
THE TOLKIEN TRUST	1	£130k
THE PETS AT HOME FOUNDATION	1	£86k
THE KENNEL CLUB CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£66k
THE PATRICK & HELENA FROST FOUNDATION	1	£63k
BC Partners Foundation	1	£60k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with MEDICAL DETECTION DOGS.

MEDICAL DETECTION DOGS income £2.1m
MEDACCESS TRUST income £162k
THE MEDICAL AID FOR POLAND FUND income £47k
FESTIVAL MEDICAL SERVICES income £661k
THE BRITISH ALLERGY FOUNDATION income £1.2m
MEDICAL AID FILMS LIMITED income £84k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
THE MEDICALERT FOUNDATION	£1.3m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
MEDICAL DETECTION DOGS FY2025	£2.1m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
MEDACCESS TRUST FY2024	£162k	—	0	above	—	no doubt
THE MEDICAL AID FOR POLAND FUND FY2025	£47k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
FESTIVAL MEDICAL SERVICES FY2024	£661k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
THE BRITISH ALLERGY FOUNDATION FY2025	£1.2m	—	—	above	—	no doubt

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