UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE STUDENTS' UNION

Registered charity 1143101 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as UHSU

The Charity provides representational services, advice, support and services to students of the University of Hertfordshire. The charity provides a range of charitable services relating to social facilities, access to employment and volunteering opportunities as well as providing opportunities to participate in a range of cultural, sporting and other activities.

Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Amateur Sport · Recreation · Other Charitable Purposes · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£2.9m

Latest spending

£2.7m

Registered

2011

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a total surplus of £128,532 for the year ended 31 July 2025, with gross income of £2,865,678. However, the charity holds net liabilities of £654,228, primarily driven by a defined benefit pension scheme liability of £1,246,542. The trustees confirm the charity has adequate resources to continue as a going concern, supported by free reserves of £462,977 and confirmed future funding from the University.

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

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £90,001 - £100,000 — in the top quarter for charities its size (median £70k)

“One employee earned between £60,000 and £70,000 and one employee earned between £90,000 and £100,000 during the year” — page 25

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Employees paid over £60,000: 2

“One employee earned between £60,000 and £70,000 and one employee earned between £90,000 and £100,000 during the year” — page 25

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Reserves policy: at least 10% of the Union’s block grant available (held: £463k)

“The Union’s reserves policy is to aim towards the following reserves: Provide financial stability to enable the Union to achieve its objectives during challenging trading periods with a working capital reserve of at least 10% of the Union’s block grant available.” — page 6

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Payments to trustees: 11 sabbatical officers received total employee benefits of £52,983.

“The Union's 11 (2024: 13) sabbatical officers throughout the year received total employee benefits, including employer pension contributions, totalling £52,983” — page 33

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Trustee remuneration

“The Union's 11 (2024: 13) sabbatical officers throughout the year received total employee benefits, including employer pension contributions, totalling £52,983 (2024: £57,585). These payments are permitted under the charity's articles of association.” — page 33

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Godfrey Wilson Limited. Discloses 6 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Top pay band moved from £70,001 - £80,000 (FY2024) to £90,001 - £100,000 (FY2025).
Employees paid over £60,000: 1 (FY2024) → 2 (FY2025).

Comparing this charity’s FY2024 and FY2025 accounts as analysed by this site.

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — University of Hertfordshire Raise and Give (matched by registered charity number).

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Rebecca — Chief Executive Officer (source)
Sean — Director of Community Operations (source)
Leena — Director of People and Resources (source)
Phill — Director of Advocacy and Education (source)

Listed on the charity’s own website when we last crawled it; roles may have changed. Pay-band disclosures above are anonymous statutory disclosures and are not attributed to any named individual.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): instagram

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/07/2025)

Total income

£2.9m

Total spending

£2.7m

Cost of raising funds

£880k

Reserves (reported)

£463k

Employees

137

Reported reserves equal ~2.0 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (71% 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: 30.7% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

robert walderchair · trustee of 1 other charity
Dr Charmagne Barnes
Esther Moronfoluwa Adesina
Furqan Miah
Hauwa Abubakar Jijwa
Judith Albert
Rajiv Sudan
Rudo Cynthia Bryan
Umar Mohamad

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

Operates in: Hertfordshire

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/07/2025	£2.9m	£2.7m
31/07/2024	£2.8m	£2.6m
31/07/2023	£2.6m	£2.6m
31/07/2022	£2.6m	£2.6m
31/07/2021	£1.5m	£1.4m

Common questions

Is UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE STUDENTS' UNION financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a total surplus of £128,532 for the year ended 31 July 2025, with gross income of £2,865,678. However, the charity holds net liabilities of £654,228, primarily driven by a defined benefit pension scheme liability of £1,246,542. The trustees confirm the charity has adequate resources to continue as a going concern, supported by free reserves of £462,977 and confirmed future funding from the University. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Godfrey Wilson Limited.

What does the highest-paid employee of UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE STUDENTS' UNION earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £90,001 - £100,000 band, and 2 employees earned over £60,000.

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

Funder	Date	Amount	Purpose
Sport England	05/10/2016	£3k	Project Invert
Sport England	19/02/2014	£10k	Pongathon University Challenge (PUC)

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE HARPER ADAMS UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' UNION.

THE HARPER ADAMS UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' UNION income £1.5m
STUDENTS' UNION ROYAL HOLLOWAY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON income £6.9m
UNIVERSITY OF DERBY STUDENTS' UNION income £2.7m
UNIVERSITY OF CHICHESTER STUDENTS' UNION income £1.2m
FALMOUTH & EXETER STUDENTS' UNION income £941k
UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD STUDENTS' UNION income £2.4m

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE STUDENTS' UNION	£2.9m	£90,001 - £100,000	2	unclear	—	no doubt
THE HARPER ADAMS UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' UNION FY2025	£1.5m	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
STUDENTS' UNION ROYAL HOLLOWAY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON FY2024	£6.9m	—	—	above	—	no doubt
UNIVERSITY OF DERBY STUDENTS' UNION FY2025	£2.7m	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
UNIVERSITY OF CHICHESTER STUDENTS' UNION FY2025	£1.2m	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
FALMOUTH & EXETER STUDENTS' UNION FY2025	£941k	—	0	above	—	no doubt

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