THE MYALGIC ENCEPHALOPATHY ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Registered charity 801279 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as MYALGIC ENCEPHALOMYELITIS ASSOCIATION, THE ME ASSOCIATION, THE ME SOCIETY, THE MYALGIC ENCEPHALOMYELITIS ASSOCIATION, THE MYALGIC ENCEPHALOPATHY ASSOCIATION

To provide information and support for people with ME/CFS/PVFS

Causes: Education/training · The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives · Disability · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£895k

Latest spending

£1.2m

Registered

1989

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that total funds decreased by £341,053 to £3,520,817, with unrestricted funds falling to £2,904,690. Free reserves stood at £1,558,840, which the trustees consider sufficient to continue as a going concern despite a net expenditure for the year. The charity operates on a sustainable basis with current reserves while focusing on income generation to support long-term stability.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: 12 months of unrestricted operating costs estimated at £945,000 (held: £1.6m)

“The Trustees aim to maintain reserves equivalent to a minimum of 12 months of unrestricted operating costs estimated at £945,000.” — page 9

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Wenn Townsend. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Property (HM Land Registry)

1 registered title in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (0 freehold). All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

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

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

Total income

£895k

Total spending

£1.2m

Cost of raising funds

£122k

Reserves (reported)

£1.6m

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~15.1 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 13.6% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.9%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Received assets from another charity (25/03/2024) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
Received assets from another charity (11/05/2023) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
Received assets from another charity (26/11/2018) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

David Allen
Dr CHARLES BERNARD SHEPHERD
EWAN STUART DALE
MARTINE AINSWORTH-WELLS
Michael Mitchell · trustee of 1 other charity

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
31/12/2025	£895k	£1.2m
31/12/2024	£1.1m	£865k
31/12/2023	£1.0m	£754k
31/12/2022	£861k	£631k
31/12/2021	£1.3m	£486k

Common questions

Is THE MYALGIC ENCEPHALOPATHY ASSOCIATION LIMITED financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that total funds decreased by £341,053 to £3,520,817, with unrestricted funds falling to £2,904,690. Free reserves stood at £1,558,840, which the trustees consider sufficient to continue as a going concern despite a net expenditure for the year. The charity operates on a sustainable basis with current reserves while focusing on income generation to support long-term stability. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Wenn Townsend.

Who funds THE MYALGIC ENCEPHALOPATHY ASSOCIATION LIMITED?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE MYALGIC ENCEPHALOPATHY ASSOCIATION LIMITED as a grant recipient include THE SYLVIA AND COLIN SHEPHERD CHARITABLE TRUST, THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST PETER, IGHTHAM, THE REED FOUNDATION.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
THE SYLVIA AND COLIN SHEPHERD CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£2k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST PETER, IGHTHAM	FY2023	£382	Away Giving (Coffee Shop)
THE REED FOUNDATION	FY2021	—

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 ANTON JURGENS CHARITABLE TRUST	2	£14k
THE INMAN CHARITY	2	£13k
THE SIR JAMES ROLL CHARITABLE TRUST	2	£2k
DORIS FIELD CHARITABLE TRUST	2	£2k
THE FIDELITY UK FOUNDATION	1	£150k
PEACOCK CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£85k
PETER SOWERBY FOUNDATION	1	£63k
ROBERT LUFF FOUNDATION LIMITED	1	£60k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with ACTION FOR ME.

ACTION FOR ME income £1.4m
INVEST IN ME RESEARCH income £121k
MYOSITIS UK income £140k
THE CIRCLE BRIGHTON LIMITED income £176k
MY MITO MISSION income £132k
Encephalitis International income £1.3m

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
THE MYALGIC ENCEPHALOPATHY ASSOCIATION LIMITED	£895k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
ACTION FOR ME FY2025	£1.4m	—	—	within	—	material uncertainty
INVEST IN ME RESEARCH FY2025	£121k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
MYOSITIS UK FY2025	£140k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
THE CIRCLE BRIGHTON LIMITED FY2025	£176k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
MY MITO MISSION FY2024	£132k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt

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