THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH (SOUTH WESTERN SYNOD) INCORPORATED

Registered charity 275364 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The provision of funds for the work of the South Western Synod of the United Reformed Church.Acting as property holding trustee of local churches.Acting as trustees of endowments of local churches.Acting as trustee for 'earmarked' funds not reflected in the accounts.Acting as trustee of various Charity Commissioners' schemes.

Causes: Religious Activities · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£1.0m

Latest spending

£1.3m

Registered

1978

Accounts read

FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that unrestricted reserves stood at £19,744,799, with residual free reserves of £631,697, which exceeds the stated policy target of approximately £600,000. The charity reported a net income of £1,194,721 for the year, driven largely by investment gains, while total charitable expenditure including grants reached £1,241,083.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: approximately 12 months i.e. £600,000 (held: £632k)

“The Charity considers it appropriate to retain a minimum level of free reserves of equivalent to resources expected to be expended in approximately 12 months i.e. £600,000.” — page 10

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Payments to trustees: Revd R Gray receives £1,000 honorarium in respect of Bookkeeping activities.

“Trustee Revd R Gray receives £1,000 honorarium in respect of Bookkeeping activities in addition to expenses (2023 - £1,000). The above remuneration paid to Trustees is permitted in accordance with Section 185 of the Charities Act 2011.” — page 37

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Pension scheme deficit: £45.0m

“The Synod has committed a grant of up to £3 million with payments spread over a period of seven years to meet the deficit in the Fund which totals around £45 million.”

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Bishop Fleming Audit Limited. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Corporate structure

Registered company of the charity Companies House 01328728

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Rev'd David Downing — Synod Moderator (source)
Revd Dick Gray — Synod Treasurer (source)
Ms Rachel Leach — Synod Clerk (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.

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.

POPE, Richard Keith, Rev — director, appointed 14/03/2026on trustee list
DOWNING, David Michael, Rev — director, appointed 05/10/2024on trustee list
HARRISON, Ian Bishop — director, appointed 20/07/2012on trustee list
GRAY, Richard Gillies, Revd — director, appointed 17/11/2004on trustee list
PHILLIPS, Diane Christine — secretary, appointed 09/09/2021
HARRISON, Ian Bishop, Dr — secretary, appointed 20/07/2012

Official officers record.

Property (HM Land Registry)

132 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (131 freehold); recorded price paid £5.1m. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2024)

Total income

£1.0m

Total spending

£1.3m

Cost of raising funds

£9k

Reserves (reported)

£991k

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~9.5 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Investments (43% 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: 0.9% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Received assets from another charity (06/04/2022) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

Dr IAN BISHOP HARRISON
Rev David Michael Downing · trustee of 1 other charity
Rev Richard Gillies Gray · trustee of 1 other charity
Rev Richard Keith Pope

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

Operates in: Scotland · Throughout England

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/12/2024	£1.0m	£1.3m
31/12/2023	£4.3m	£1.1m
31/12/2022	£1.4m	£736k
31/12/2021	£1.7m	£3.7m
31/12/2020	£749k	£565k

Common questions

Is THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH (SOUTH WESTERN SYNOD) INCORPORATED financially healthy?

Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that unrestricted reserves stood at £19,744,799, with residual free reserves of £631,697, which exceeds the stated policy target of approximately £600,000. The charity reported a net income of £1,194,721 for the year, driven largely by investment gains, while total charitable expenditure including grants reached £1,241,083. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Bishop Fleming Audit Limited.

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH (SOUTHERN SYNOD) TRUST LIMITED.

THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH (SOUTHERN SYNOD) TRUST LIMITED income £7.4m
THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH (EASTERN PROVINCE) TRUST income £3.9m
THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH (NORTH WESTERN PROVINCE) TRUST LIMITED income £1.6m
CROSSWAY UNITED REFORMED CHURCH CHARITY income £264k
THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH (WESSEX) TRUST LIMITED income £10.6m
THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH ( NORTHERN PROVINCE) TRUST LTD. income £2.0m

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH (SOUTH WESTERN SYNOD) INCORPORATED	£1.0m	—	unclear	—	no doubt
THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH (SOUTHERN SYNOD) TRUST LIMITED FY2024	£7.4m	—	unclear	—	no doubt
THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH (EASTERN PROVINCE) TRUST FY2025	£3.9m	—	unclear	—	no doubt
THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH (NORTH WESTERN PROVINCE) TRUST LIMITED FY2024	£1.6m	—	below	—	no doubt
CROSSWAY UNITED REFORMED CHURCH CHARITY FY2024	£264k	—	above	—	no doubt
THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH (WESSEX) TRUST LIMITED FY2024	£10.6m	—	unclear	—	no doubt

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