Letter from the CEO

By Rosalind Featonby-Marsh

2025 has been a year of consolidation for Hate Matters. We have published. We have submitted. We have written. We have, in the matter of formal recognition by the bodies we have written to, made measurable but limited progress.

We have not litigated. The Funding Envy Working Group has met twice and continues its work. The litigation reserve, established in March 2025, stands at £4,212. We are grateful to those donors who have contributed to the reserve. We are grateful, with reservations, to those who have not.

I commend this Annual Review to readers. I commend it to our trustees. I commend it, in particular, to the bodies who have not yet replied substantively to our correspondence.

— Rosalind

Key achievements, 2025

• Published the Manifesto on Single-Hate Spaces (June 2025; eight pages).
• Submitted the Digital ID briefing for the seventh time (March 2025; the eighth submission was made in November 2025).
• Held seven sessions of the School Guidance Working Group. Adopted the Schools and Hate guidance (November 2024 — included here for completeness).
• Released the third edition of the position paper on single-hate spaces.
• Published six issues of the Hate Matters Quarterly. We acknowledge that "Quarterly" and "six issues" remain in tension. The vote on a possible name change has been on the agenda for thirty-six months.
• Added forty-eight new entries to the Register. The Register now stands at one hundred and seventy-one entries (public version) and a larger number (private version).

Emerging threats

We identify the following as emerging threats in the year ahead:

1. Continued expansion of evidence-based policymaking. Bodies that previously gave informal weight to common-sense observation have, increasingly, declined to do so. We are monitoring this.
2. The persistence of the view that experts in relevant fields ought to be consulted on matters within those fields. Duncan continues to address this view in his writings.
3. The non-emergence of any organisation prepared to formally cite the Hate Maturity Model. We are working on this.
4. The continued existence of the Charity Commission, with which we maintain a courteous and limited correspondence.

The Register: an update

The Register, in its public form, is available at Who We Are Up Against. The private form is held by the Senior Fellow. The private form contains additional entries and additional notes. We have, on occasion, been asked whether the private form will be made public. The trustees have considered this question. The trustees have not yet voted on it. The vote has been added to the agenda.

The name-change vote

The vote on a possible change to the title of the Hate Matters Quarterly remains on the agenda. It has been on the agenda since March 2023. We anticipate that the vote will be held at a future trustees' meeting. The trustees have not yet identified the meeting at which it will be held.

Financials, in summary

A full breakdown is available in our financial statements (currently being prepared). Headline figures:

• Income: £58,400 (donations and grants; one major aspirational pledge from an unnamed US foundation, declined for reasons of operational caution)
• Expenditure: £53,180 (reports, postage, the Senior Fellow's stipend, biscuits)
• Litigation reserve: £4,212 (untouched)
• Reserves overall: modest

Looking ahead to 2026

In 2026, we will continue. We will publish. We will submit. We will write. We will not, on current planning, litigate. We will continue to maintain the litigation reserve, on the grounds that aspirations, like positions, are entitled to be held without immediate execution.

We thank our supporters, our donors, and our trustees. We thank, with reservations, those who have not yet replied to our correspondence. We expect 2026 to be a productive year.