The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" and the Charities SORP "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)".
The charity's objects are to advance the study and application of marine science in all its disciplines though research and education.
The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.
Numerous community activities have been undertaken by the Society throughout the year. These include:
Planning for the bi-annual Challenger Conference, which will be held in Bangor, Wales, in September 2026. The organizing committee has been working on inviting keynote speakers and parallel sessions for talks and posters. Special Interest Groups continue to hold active and lively in-person meetings.
The Council is continuing to work towards the Challenger Society Strategy and Implementation Framework (2024-2029). This Strategy outlines three strategic aims: (1) Support and grow the UK marine science community; (2) Enhance connections within the marine science community and stimulate new scientific thinking and activity; and (3) Increase the dissemination and impact of UK marine science and clearly lays out the different measures of success under these three aims.
Numerous travel awards and bursaries were provided to early career researchers.
The Society continues to liaise with the Future of Marine Research Infrastructure (FMRI), and are in follow-on discussions with a new Marine Science UK group that includes stakeholders from the National Oceanography Centre, Plymouth Marine Laboratories, and other marine-facing organisations around the UK.
Prof Maeve Lohan continues as President, Prof Kate Hendry continues as Honorary Secretary, and Dr James (Alexander) Brearley continues to put an incredible amount of work into the role of Honorary Treasurer.
The Challenger Society continues to contribute strongly to the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), for which it serves as the UK affiliate body alongside the Royal Society. Prof. Alex Poulton (Heriot-Watt University) has taken over leading this engagement for Challenger, including chairing the working group that contributes to the selection of international programmes and ensures the linkages between the UK marine science community and the international SCOR community. The Council would like to thank Prof. Alessandro Taglibue for all his work in the role.
Communications with Challenger Society members include the Ocean Challenge magazine and the monthly Challenger Wave newsletter. Production of the these is enthusiastically led by Dr. Angela Colling and Dr. John Allen respectively. Digital communications are led by Dr. Anna McGregor, who oversees the growing online and social media presence that the Society has; this continues to increase in importance in terms of reaching key demographics with messages about the importance of marine science and the role of the Society.
The Early Career Researcher portfolio is led by Dr. Siddhi Joshi, who has brought enormous energy to the role and established a range of webinars and discussion forums, all of which are greatly appreciated by the ECRs engaged, working closely with the Equity Diversity Inclusivity and Accessibility (EDIA) group. Robyn Tuerena leads the Education and Outreach portfolio, and is developing a number of new outreach resources.
Dr Christopher Auckland (University of East Anglia) has taken over the administration of the Travel Grants and Stepping Stones Awards, to ensure that all applications are assessed in a fair and balanced way so that the most deserving cases are supported. The Council would like to thank the previous portfolio holder, Dr Sophie-Berenice Wilmes, for her hard work. Dr Cecilia Liszka oversees the Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and has been leading a process to reinvigorate these and support them to develop and evolve.
Dr Chelsey Baker continues to lead the Membership Portfolio in exemplary fashion, and has been actively engaged in improving the membership platform on the website, together with Dr Anthony Lucio who has been working on website and membership communications. Terry Sloane has worked enthusiastically to link Challenger with wider marine science and technology industries, and has been key in helping to raise industrial sponsorship for the Challenger Conference. He is also thanked for allowing Council to use meeting room space at SMI in London.
Dr. David Carlin (DEFRA) continues as the Council policy liaison, acting as an interface between the academic community (as represented by the Society) and Government and Devolved Administrations, with the goal of better reflecting the community’s needs and priorities to those who can direct responses, and better capturing and informing on emerging policy needs to which the Society may respond.
The results for the year are shown in the attached financial statements.
Reserve policy
The society's reserves policy has been prepared through consultation of the Charities Commission Guidance on Reserves Policies for Small Charities and has been agreed by council and will be reviewed and ratified annually at the AGM.
We hold aside:
1) an amount of £15k to cover unforeseen emergencies, including the potential failure of a prospectus meeting,
2) a sum equivalent to any potential uncertainties in future income over 3 years, estimated according to the £10k per annum difference between membership income and typical overall annual income,
3) a further contingency of £20k to meet unforeseen needs, including unexpected opportunities which might arise for the society to further its objectives, alongside any additional unforeseen changes in operational costs.
Investment policy
The company can invest moneys not immediately required for its purposes in or upon such investments, securities or property as may be thought fit subject to conditions or consents as may for the time being be imposed by law.
The trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks.
The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes a company limited by guarantee as defined by the Companies Act 2006.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
The charity has no salaried employees. In order to achieve its objectives, the Challenger Society relies on the efforts of unpaid volunteers, both on its Council and in the day-to-day operations of its Editorial Board, Special Interest Group meetings, and other networking and scientific activities.
The charity introduced a new Serious Incident Reporting policy and procedures and Investing Charity Funds policy, available on the website.
The strategic direction and management of the Challenger Society is the responsibility of its Council, which ordinarily consists of twelve elected members plus ex officio representatives of the principal committees involved in running the activities of the charity (in particular, the journal 'Ocean Challenge', and the biennial UK Marine Sciences conference). The officers and ordinary members of Council are elected by the membership of the society, which currently stands at around 520 subscribing members, at the Annual General Meeting.
Officers of the Society
Maeve Lohan President
James (Alexander) Brearley Honorary Treasurer
Katharine (Kate) Hendry (Lash) Honorary Secretary
Council Members
Cecilia Liszka Special Interest Groups
Chelsey Baker Membership and GDPR
Anthony Lucio Publications and Website
Siddhi Joshi Early Career
Anna McGregor Comms and social media
Terry Sloane Industry liaison
Alex Poulton SCOR
Christopher Auckland Travel Award and Stepping Stone Bursaries
Robyn Tuerena Education and Outreach
David Carlin Policy liaison
Co-opted Council Members
John Allen Editor Challenger Wave
Angela Colling Editor Ocean Challenge
Gillian Damerell Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Stephen Dye Chair, Ocean Challenge Editorial Board
Kerry Howell Challenger 150
Martin Solan NOC Association
Tom Rippeth Challenger conference chair, Bangor
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Challenger Society for Marine Science (the charity) for the year ended 31 December 2025.
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the charity are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act 2011.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 386 of the Companies Act 2006.
the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 other than any requirement that the financial statements give a true and fair view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
Mark Johnstone FCA
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Challenger Society for Marine Science is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is National Oceanography Centre, European Way, SOUTHAMPTON, Southamptonshire, SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" and the Charities SORP "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)". The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities not to prepare a statement of cash flows.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, [modified to include the revaluation of freehold properties and to include investment properties and certain financial instruments at fair value]. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors or grantors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.
Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation
committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
Grants offered subject to conditions which have not been met at the year end date are noted as a commitment but not accrued as expenditure.
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.
Fixed asset investments are initially measured at transaction price excluding transaction costs, and are subsequently measured at fair value at each reporting date. Changes in fair value are recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year. Transaction costs are expensed as incurred.
At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Financial instruments are recognised in the charity's balance sheet when the charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.
The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.
Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
Advancement
Advancement
Journals
Prizes and awards
Professional subscriptions
Sponsorship, events and SIG
Travel and subsistence
Meeting expenses
UKPN costs
Advancing the study and application of Marine Science
Advancement
Advancement
None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration during the year. Trustee were reimbursed a total of £nil for travelling expenses (2024- 2 were reimbursed at total of £171).
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
The restricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used.
The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year as those previously on the committee of SCOR UK are no longer trustees of The Challenger Society (The Challenger Society was and remains the UK affiliate body responsible for part payment of £13,040 in 2024 in respect of the UK's subscription to the Scientific Committee for Oceanic Research (SCOR) at this point none of the trustees of this charity were also on the committee of SCOR UK.)