Mothers' Union

Registered charity 240531 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as THE MOTHERS' UNION

THE MOTHERS' UNION DELIVERS ITS CORE OBJECTIVES TO SUPPORT FAMILY LIFE THROUGH THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITIES:COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & DEVELOPEMENT,TRAINING AND CAPACITY BUILDING,PRAYER AND FELLOWSHIP,CAMPAIGNING,EMERGENCY RELIEF TO THOSE WHOSE FAMILY LIFE HAS MET WITH ADVERSITY,MEMBERSHIP RESOURCES - TO FACILITATE THE CHARITY'S WORK WITHIN COMMUNITIES WHERE THERE IS A MOTHERS' UNION PRESENCE.

Causes: The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Overseas Aid/famine Relief · Religious Activities · Economic/community Development/employment · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£3.1m

Latest spending

£2.9m

Registered

1965

Accounts read

FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that the charity delivered an operational surplus of £236,753 in 2024, resulting in a total surplus of £300,830 for the year. Per the trustees' report, free reserves declined to £674,747, which is slightly below the stated policy target range of £700,000 to £1,700,000, though the group remains debt-free and well-placed to meet future challenges.

Automated summary of the FY2024 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Reserves position: below the charity's own stated reserves policy (held: £675k; policy: between £700,000 and £1,700,000)

“Free reserves are presently £674,747, which is slightly below the lower end of the range the Trustees believe is appropriate.” — page 33

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Trading subsidiary: M.U. Enterprises Limited

“The charity owns the whole of the issued share capital of M.U. Enterprises Limited, a company registered in England (company number is 02848474).” — page 50

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Sayer Vincent LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Reserves position vs the charity's own policy moved from "within" (FY2023) to "below" (FY2024).

Comparing this charity’s FY2023 and FY2024 accounts as analysed by this site.

Corporate structure

Trading subsidiary: M.U. ENTERPRISES LIMITED Companies House 02848474
Registered company of the charity Companies House RC000356

M.U. ENTERPRISES LIMITED — per its own Companies House accounts

Turnover: £536k
Profit before tax: £16k
Donated/gift-aided to the charity: £21k

“At the end of the financial year £20,670 (2023: £32,141) was payable to Mothers’ Union, registered charity (no. 240531) as the Parent undertaking, as required under the Deed of Covenant dated 25 July 1995.”

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Mothers' Union (matched by registered charity number).

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Kathleen Snow — Worldwide President (source)
Sarah Salethorne — Director of Finance and Services (source)
Steph Nunn — Director of Membership (source)
Sarah Newnham — Director of Global Programmes (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.

Funders the charity credits

Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).

Trinity Church Wall Street — “Mothers’ Union is continuing its work to strengthen leadership and opportunities for women through a new project in the Democratic Republic …” (source page)

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 31/12/2024)

Total income

£3.1m

Total spending

£2.9m

Cost of raising funds

£543k

Reserves (reported)

£675k

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~2.8 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 17.4% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 5.2%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Received assets from another charity (07/02/2024) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

Kathleen Snowchair
Dorothy Siep
Dr Deborah Ann Lee · trustee of 1 other charity
Dr Lizabeth Frances Gailer
Elizabeth June Butler
Estelle Bedie Eyoh Epse Dibo Elango
JULIA JAMIESON
Joy Hla Gyaw
Lowrie Washington-Jones
Maria Van Staden
Mathilda Nkwirikiye
Phylis Ephena Matthew
Rev Kathleen Ann Wren
Rev Mercy Wanjiru Mwaniki

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

Operates in: Antigua And Barbuda · Australia · Burundi · Canada · Congo (Democratic Republic) · Guyana · Ireland · Isle Of Man · Kenya · New Zealand · Northern Ireland · Rwanda

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/12/2024	£3.1m	£2.9m
31/12/2023	£3.0m	£2.8m
31/12/2022	£2.5m	£2.5m
31/12/2021	£2.6m	£2.6m
31/12/2020	£3.3m	£2.8m

Common questions

Is Mothers' Union financially healthy?

Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that the charity delivered an operational surplus of £236,753 in 2024, resulting in a total surplus of £300,830 for the year. Per the trustees' report, free reserves declined to £674,747, which is slightly below the stated policy target range of £700,000 to £1,700,000, though the group remains debt-free and well-placed to meet future challenges. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Sayer Vincent 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.

Funder	Similar charities funded	Amount to them
THE EDGAR E LAWLEY FOUNDATION	2	£5k
LUCILLE FOUNDATION	1	£600k
PRISM THE GIFT FUND	1	£100k
THE BROOK TRUST	1	£72k
THE NORTHWICK TRUST	1	£35k
THE ORR MACKINTOSH FOUNDATION LIMITED	1	£10k
THE ELLERDALE TRUST	1	£8k
SHORESH CHARITABLE TRUST (DR RUTH BORCHARD GIFT)	1	£7k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with MOTHERS2MOTHERS (UK) LIMITED.

MOTHERS2MOTHERS (UK) LIMITED income £5.1m
CATHOLIC MOTHERS APOSTOLATE income £157k
MOTHER TO MOTHER LIMITED income £274k
TWINS TRUST LTD income £1.3m
Waypoint income £564k
POOR SERVANTS OF THE MOTHER OF GOD income £24.0m

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
Mothers' Union	£3.1m	—	—	below	—	no doubt
MOTHERS2MOTHERS (UK) LIMITED FY2024	£5.1m	£160,001 - £170,000	—	unclear	23.0%	no doubt
CATHOLIC MOTHERS APOSTOLATE FY2025	£157k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
MOTHER TO MOTHER LIMITED FY2025	£274k	—	0	within	—	no doubt
TWINS TRUST LTD FY2025	£1.3m	£70,001 - £80,000	—	unclear	—	no doubt
Waypoint FY2024	£564k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt

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