Charity Accounts Intelreading the accounts so you don’t have to

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON STUDENTS' UNION

Registered charity 1148683 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Promoting the interests and welfare of members at the University of Southampton representing, supporting and advising members being the recognised representative channel between members and the University and others providing social, cultural, sporting activities and forums for discussions and debate for its members; involving members in their wider community and raising funds for other charities.

Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Amateur Sport · Economic/community Development/employment · Human Rights/religious Or Racial Harmony/equality Or Diversity · Recreation · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£7.6m
Latest spending
£7.7m
Registered
2012
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity operated at a deficit of £110,349 for the year ended 31 July 2025, resulting in a decrease in total reserves to £1,208,236. The trustees report that unrestricted free reserves of £449,307 are below the stated policy target range of £500,000 – £900,000, a situation attributed to capital expenditure and increased employer National Insurance costs. Despite the deficit, the independent auditor confirmed that the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate with no material uncertainties identified.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves position: below the charity's own stated reserves policy (held: £449k)
“SUSU currently has free reserves, as defined by the Charities Commission, of £449,307 (2024: £759,015). Whilst this figure is below the values defined in the policy, this is a result of capital expenditure to create new fixed assets during the year, and the increased deficit compared to prior year.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Note 20
“The Union is in receipt of a recurrent grant from the University of £3,280,992 (2024: £3,280,996) together with other grants of £nil (2024: £Nil). Transactions throughout the year resulted in a trading balance as at 31 July 2025 of £84,369 (2024: £124,757) owed to the University. SUSU Social Enterprises Limited The Union had transactions with the SUSU Social Enterprises Limited a 100% owned subsidiary of £29,726 (2024: £61,678) being gift aid paid, and as at 31 July 2025 the Union had a debtor balance of £788 (2024 £485) owed by the subsidiary.” — page 35
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Pension scheme deficit: £435k
“In accordance with FRS102, the net present value of the future contributions required over 8 years to clear the funding deficit is £435,265 (2024: £491,515).” — page 34
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: SUSU Social Enterprises Limited
“The charity has a wholly owned non-charitable subsidiary, SUSU Social Enterprises Limited, which was incorporated to carry out the non-member trading activities of SUSU.” — page 5
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Crowe U.K. LLP. Discloses 3 of 6 completeness components.

Corporate structure

SUSU SOCIAL ENTERPRISES LTD — per its own Companies House accounts
  • Turnover: £120k
  • Profit before tax: £58k
  • Donated/gift-aided to the charity: £30k
  • Creditors include £788 owed to group undertakings (2024: £485).
“No provision for corporation tax has been made on the company's profit for the year due to its policy of donating all its tax adjusted profits available for distribution under gift aid to its ultimate charitable parent undertaking within nine months of the year end date.”

Leadership, per the charity’s website

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.

Company officers (Companies House)

Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.

Official officers record.

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

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

Total income
£7.6m
Total spending
£7.7m
Reserves (reported)
£449k
Employees
188

Reported reserves equal ~0.7 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 (52% 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: 0.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Hampshire · Isle Of Wight · Southampton City

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/07/2025£7.6m£7.7m
31/07/2024£7.6m£7.6m
31/07/2023£6.8m£7.1m
31/07/2022£6.3m£5.6m
31/07/2021£3.6m£3.6m

Common questions

Is UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON STUDENTS' UNION financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity operated at a deficit of £110,349 for the year ended 31 July 2025, resulting in a decrease in total reserves to £1,208,236. The trustees report that unrestricted free reserves of £449,307 are below the stated policy target range of £500,000 – £900,000, a situation attributed to capital expenditure and increased employer National Insurance costs. Despite the deficit, the independent auditor confirmed that the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate with no material uncertainties identified. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Crowe U.K. LLP.

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.

FunderSimilar charities fundedAmount to them
QUINTIN HOGG TRUST1£540k
BRITISH UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES SPORT LIMITED1£296

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with FALMOUTH & EXETER STUDENTS' UNION.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON STUDENTS' UNION£7.6m——below—no doubt
FALMOUTH & EXETER STUDENTS' UNION FY2025£941k—0above—no doubt
TRINITY SAINT DAVID STUDENTS’ UNION FY2025£1.2m£60,001 - £70,0001above739684.0%noted
NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' UNION FY2025£7.6m£90,000 - £100,0004unclear—no doubt
ASTON STUDENTS' UNION FY2025£3.7m——unclear—no doubt
LEAGUE OF FRIENDS OF UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL SOUTHAMPTON NHS FOUNDATION TRUST FY2025£335k—0unclear—no doubt

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