THE CAMBRIDGE UNION SOCIETY

Registered charity 1136030 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Advance education by promoting debating, hosting educational events, training members and public in debating for debating competitions. Encourage the exchange of ideas and provide access by the public to the Charity's facilities and events; provide workshops for local school children to introduce them to debating and enable students and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to participate.

Objects

3.1 THE GENERAL OBJECTS OF THE CHARITY (LISTED BELOW) ARE FOR THEBENEFIT OF CAMBRIDGE UNION SOCIETY MEMBERS AND OF THE PUBLIC MOREGENERALLY. THE CHARITY'S PRIMARY OBJECT IS THE ADVANCEMENT OFEDUCATION, IN PARTICULAR BY:3.2.1 PROMOTING THE SKILL OF DEBATING AND THE CONSIDERATION OFMATTERS OF PUBLIC LIFE OR IMPORTANCE;3.2.2 HOSTING EDUCATIONAL EVENTS INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,DEBATES ON TOPICS OF IMPORTANCE AND LECTURES GIVEN BY INDIVIDUALPERSONS OF DISTINCTION;3.2.3 PROVIDING TRAINING IN THE PRACTICE OF DEBATING TO CAMBRIDGEUNION SOCIETY MEMBERS AND ALSO BY PROVIDING FOR THE TUITION OF OTHERSIN THE PRACTICE OF DEBATING BY CAMBRIDGE UNION SOCIETY MEMBERS;3.2.4 PROVIDING FOR THE ENTRANCE OF CAMBRIDGE UNION SOCIETYMEMBERS IN DEBATING COMPETITIONS, INCLUDING COMPETITIONS HELD BY THECHARITY, AND ALSO BY PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLICTO COMPETE IN THE PRACTICE OF DEBATING;3.2.5 ASSISTING CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' UNION WITH THEORGANISATION AND PROMOTION OF EVENTS AIMED AT WIDENING ACCESS TOCAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY AND THE PROMOTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION MOREGENERALLY;3.2.6 PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES TO ENCOURAGE THE EXCHANGE OF IDEASAND PROVISION OF ACCESS BY THE PUBLIC TO THE CHARITY'S FACILITIES ANDEVENTS;3.3.2 PROVIDING WORKSHOPS FOR THE PUPILS OF SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES TOATTEND TO INTRODUCE THEM TO THE PRACTICE OF DEBATING; AND3.3.3 ENABLING STUDENTS AND YOUNG PEOPLE FROM DISADVANTAGEDBACKGROUNDS TO PARTICIPATE IN ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS AIMED AT INCREASINGTHEIR CONFIDENCE, SKILLS AND ASPIRATIONS."

Area of benefit: UNDEFINED. IN PRACTICE, LOCAL

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

Causes: Education/training · website · Get email alerts

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The charity holds unrestricted reserves of £1,035,638, which are below its stated policy target of £300,000. The accounts state the charity remains in a viable position with sufficient revenue-generating capability to improve this position.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Streets Audit LLP. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

• Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
• Complaints handling
• Complaints policy and procedures
• Conflicting interests
• Engaging external speakers at charity events policy and procedures
• Financial reserves policy and procedures
• Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
• Internal risk management policy and procedures
• Investing charity funds policy and procedures
• Investment
• Paying staff
• Risk management
• Safeguarding policy and procedures
• Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
• Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
• Social media policy and procedures
• Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
• Trustee expenses policy and procedures
• Volunteer management

Property (HM Land Registry)

1 registered title in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (1 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 30/06/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~1.3 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Other trading activities (79% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 68.6% of total income — above the 90th percentile for charities its size (median 5.2%) (benchmarks).

Register events

• Received assets from another charity (05/07/2011) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

• Angela Broughton
• DAVID NICHOLAS ROBINSON
• David Henry Branch
• Dr Elisabeth Kendall
• Dr Gillian Tett OBE · trustee of 1 other charity
• Lord Stephen Graeme Parkinson OBE
• Mohammad Abdurraheem Gani Comrie
• Philip Sutton Harrison
• Professor Graham Virgo KC
• Rachel Green
• Sara Catherine Nathan OBE · trustee of 1 other charity

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Cambridgeshire

Income and spending

Common questions

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.

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON STUDENTS' UNION.

• UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON STUDENTS' UNION income £7.6m
• GREENWICH STUDENTS UNION LTD income £4.4m
• UNION OF UEA STUDENTS LIMITED income £6.9m
• DEBATE MATE SCHOOLS LIMITED income £1.2m
• TRINITY SAINT DAVID STUDENTS’ UNION income £1.2m
• NORTHAMPTON STUDENTS' UNION income £1.7m

Side by side with its peers

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