Looking back on 2024: A letter from Richard
Richard, The Scar Free Foundation's Chief Executive, looks back at his 2024 highlights.
“What a great year 2024 has been for the Scar Free Foundation!
We were able to celebrate our 25th Anniversary in London, surrounded by about 200 friends and supporters. We have developed in every area of the charity, pushing the understanding of the science, funding new research and developing exciting new prospects.
In the area of Research, following our strategy of Identify, Change and Support, reinforced in our explanation by looking to the Form, Function and Feeling that scars create, we hosted a superb 2-day international symposium at the Royal Society, where some of the most eminent researchers, physicians and academics in the field came together to present their latest research.
This has already brought about new partnerships and ideas for research, from Brazil to Europe, the USA and the UK. We are developing close links with Ukraine and the Democratic Republic of Congo, to see where our current and past research can help victims of conflict, and with the exciting prospect of a new Centre in Swansea being developed, with the full backing of our Royal Patron, HRH Duchess of Edinburgh, who visited our Swansea University researchers in September.
We are already a firm part of the thinking behind the legacy to be created from the Invictus Games in Birmingham in 2027, and are sponsoring a PhD fellowship on Bioglass with an officer of the Defence Medical Services.
We are just starting a new research project into the psychological impact of genital scarring, which will have universal applicability despite the difficult nature of the subject. We have become Associate Members of COBSEO (the Confederation of British Service Charities Organisation) and are firmly linked into the veteran space.
Our fundraising has been successful, with our best ever Christmas Appeal still ongoing, and in the week of the Big Give, raised over £71,000, above our target of £70,000 – we are extremely grateful to all those who donated!
We received a large grant from the UK Government’s Early Career Researcher Fund, and a number of other grants to increase our research breadth. And, despite the difficulty of raising funds, there are some good prospects on the horizon for more funding.
We have launched a new, easier to navigate, website and now have an entry on Wikipedia explaining what we do and who we are. We have reduced our core costs, not least by going completely remote, thus increasing the sustainability of the charity, while at the same time as increasing our staff. We are still growing our small team, particularly in the fundraising department, so we can have more impact.
As we move into 2025 we are stronger than we were, have more research in place and prospects for the future. We look forward with excitement to the coming months with a clear focus on the impact we can have.”