A year of impact: What we achieved in 2025/26

Every year, 4.6 million people worldwide experience a haemorrhagic stroke, and only three in five survive past the first month.

At The Natalie Kate Moss Trust, changing that statistic is what gets us up in the morning.

Our 2025/26 Impact Report is now out, and it tells the story of a year where our reach, our research funding and our prevention work all grew significantly.

Here's a look at what we achieved together, or you can read the full 2025/26 Impact Report here for all the detail.

The year in numbers

It's been a big one.

Over the past 12 months:

• We raised £280,885 in funds

  
  

• We committed £290,104 to the University of Manchester over the next three years, funding groundbreaking research into brain haemorrhage

  
  

• 1,366 people had their blood pressure tested at our events, with 499 of those readings coming back high, meaning up to 499 lives potentially saved

  
  

• 73 runners took on races for NKMT

  
  

• We partnered with 11 corporate partners

As our Director, Fiona Moss, put it in her message this year:

"This year, our impact has grown significantly."

Our team has expanded too, bringing in new expertise across fundraising, outreach and awareness, and that growth is already paying off in the results above.

Funding research that matters

This year marks our 14th year of partnership with the Geoffrey Jefferson Brain Research Centre at the University of Manchester, and we're proud to still be at the table shaping what comes next. We're currently supporting two major projects:

Using brain imaging and machine learning to improve prognostic models in intracerebral haemorrhage, a three-year Postdoctoral Research Fellowship held by researcher Olivia Murray, aimed at improving survival rates and reducing disability after a brain bleed.

Developing prehospital diagnosis tools for intracerebral haemorrhage, exploring a diagnostic tool that combines clinical signs with a blood test marker to help identify haemorrhagic stroke in the ambulance, before a patient even reaches a scanner. Early treatment saves lives, and this project is working to make that possible.

We've also committed to funding a brand new research project starting in September 2026, continuing our promise to keep pushing this field forward.

Prevention: reaching more people than ever

Roughly a third of UK adults have high blood pressure, and half of them don't know it. That's the gap our prevention campaign exists to close.

Through community awareness days and workplace lunch and learns, we tested 1,366 people this year alone. Of those:

• 499 people (37%) had high blood pressure

• 851 people (62%) had normal readings

• 16 people had low blood pressure

  
  

We also introduced a new blood pressure results calculator this year, sending people their readings directly along with tailored next-step advice.

78% of everyone we met has now signed up for ongoing support through it.

Behind these numbers are real people.

Les, 77, had no idea he was living with Stage 3 hypertension until we recorded a reading over 212/114 at one of our events. He saw his doctor straight away and started medication that his GP says has almost certainly extended his life.

Helen, in her 40s, discovered a critical reading of 197/111 at a conference and left to seek emergency care on the spot. Neither of them had any symptoms. That's exactly why hypertension is called the silent killer, and exactly why these checks matter.

Trialling new ways to reach people

This year we launched two pilot programmes designed to catch high blood pressure earlier:

Blood pressure checks in opticians, in partnership with Suzanne Dennis Optometrists, putting monitors directly into a setting people already visit regularly. The trial ran through March and April 2026, with a second phase planned for July ahead of a possible wider rollout.

Blood pressure education in the PSHE curriculum, bringing age-appropriate lessons on diet, exercise and blood pressure into schools. Following sign-off from the PSHE Association, this is now being expanded with the goal of becoming a national resource.

Telling the story, one episode at a time

Series two of our podcast, Prevent the Preventable, launched this year with support from Hugh James and Colony Coworking. Across YouTube, streaming platforms, Instagram and TikTok, it's been watched or listened to 114,898 times, helping more people understand the risk factors behind haemorrhagic stroke and, hopefully, prevent one.

What's next

None of this happens without the people who run for us, donate to us, host us at their workplace for a lunch and learn session, or simply take 2 minutes to have their blood pressure checked.

Thank you for being part of this year's story.

We're already looking ahead to what 2026/27 will bring, and with new research funding secured and our prevention work reaching further than ever, we're excited for what's next.

Want to get involved? Get in touch to find out how you can support NKMT.