CHURCH URBAN FUND

Registered charity 297483 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Church Urban Fund works to catalyse social action and bring about positive change in lives and communities across England. Through a combination of community-based projects, capacity-building support and research and policy activity, we work with churches and a wide range of partners towards our goal of seeing people and communities flourish and enjoy life in all its fullness.

Causes: General Charitable Purposes · The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£3.0m
Latest spending
£3.8m
Registered
1987
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that unrestricted free reserves were £2,679,000 at year-end, which is well above the Trustees' stated policy target of £600,000 to £800,000. The charity reported a net deficit of £691,000 for the year, resulting in a decrease in total net assets from £4,049,000 to £3,358,000. Despite the deficit, the Trustees confirmed adequate resources to continue as a going concern.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: between £600k and £800k (held: £2.7m)
“They have considered a target level for unrestricted free reserves of between £600k and £800k” — page 16
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Transactions with Near Neighbours
“Near Neighbours paid CUF a grant of £168k (2024: £176k) to administer the Small Grants programme. Near Neighbours made a contribution of £213k (2024: £169k) to CUF for the administration of the overall programme. Near Neighbours transferred its reserves of £142k to CUF on 31 December 2025.” — page 14
“During the year Just Finance Foundation made a contribution of £50k (2024: £50k) to CUF towards the shared central service costs provided by CUF. At the end of the year intercompany balance of £17k was owed to CUF” — page 38
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Transactions with Just Finance Foundation
“Near Neighbours paid CUF a grant of £168k (2024: £176k) to administer the Small Grants programme. Near Neighbours made a contribution of £213k (2024: £169k) to CUF for the administration of the overall programme. Near Neighbours transferred its reserves of £142k to CUF on 31 December 2025.” — page 14
“During the year Just Finance Foundation made a contribution of £50k (2024: £50k) to CUF towards the shared central service costs provided by CUF. At the end of the year intercompany balance of £17k was owed to CUF” — page 38
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Forvis Mazars LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Corporate structure

NEAR NEIGHBOURS — per its own Companies House accounts
  • Turnover: £604k
  • Profit before tax: £-38k
  • Donated/gift-aided to the charity: £169k
  • Balance owed by parent charity
“Near Neighbours made a contribution of £169k (2023: £187k) to CUF for the administration of the overall programme.”
JUST FINANCE FOUNDATION — per its own Companies House accounts
  • Donated/gift-aided to the charity: £50k
  • Intercompany balance of £17k owed to parent charity Church Urban Fund.
“Just Finance Foundation paid £50k (2024: £50k) to Church Urban Fund towards the shared central service costs provided by CUF on behalf of JFF.”

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Church Urban Fund (matched by registered charity number).

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 31/12/2025)

Total income
£3.0m
Total spending
£3.8m
Cost of raising funds
£460k
Reserves (reported)
£3.4m
Employees
36

Reported reserves equal ~10.7 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 15.3% of total income — above the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Throughout England

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/12/2025£3.0m£3.8m
31/12/2024£3.8m£3.6m
31/12/2023£4.0m£3.4m
31/12/2022£4.6m£3.3m
31/12/2021£5.1m£6.3m

Common questions

Is CHURCH URBAN FUND financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that unrestricted free reserves were £2,679,000 at year-end, which is well above the Trustees' stated policy target of £600,000 to £800,000. The charity reported a net deficit of £691,000 for the year, resulting in a decrease in total net assets from £4,049,000 to £3,358,000. Despite the deficit, the Trustees confirmed adequate resources to continue as a going concern. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Forvis Mazars LLP.

Who funds CHURCH URBAN FUND?

Funders whose own accounts filings name CHURCH URBAN FUND as a grant recipient include THE LIZ AND TERRY BRAMALL FOUNDATION, THE ARCHBISHOPS' COUNCIL, NEAR NEIGHBOURS, THE ALBERT GUBAY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, SIR HALLEY STEWART TRUST.

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
THE LIZ AND TERRY BRAMALL FOUNDATIONFY2025£250k
THE LIZ AND TERRY BRAMALL FOUNDATIONFY2024£250k
THE ARCHBISHOPS' COUNCILFY2025£209kA More Diverse Church
NEAR NEIGHBOURSFY2024£176kCreating Engagement: Small Grants (Administration)
THE ALBERT GUBAY CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2023£172k
NEAR NEIGHBOURSFY2025£168kto administer and make awards under the Small Grants Programme
NEAR NEIGHBOURSFY2022£110kCreating Engagement: Small Grants (Note 4 and 12)
SIR HALLEY STEWART TRUSTFY2022£60k
THE ALBERT GUBAY CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2023£50k
THE ALBERT GUBAY CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2022£25kGeneral Fund
THE LIZ AND TERRY BRAMALL FOUNDATIONFY2022£20k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ALL HALLOWS ALLERTON, LIVERPOOLFY2022£19kHome missions and Church Organisations
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF HOLY TRINITY, UPPER TOOTINGFY2024£6kWider ministry grant
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF HOLY TRINITY, UPPER TOOTINGFY2025£5kWider ministry - grants
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST PAUL WITH ST LUKE FINCHLEYFY2022£4kMission and Other Giving
NEAR NEIGHBOURSFY2023£4kCreating Engagement: Small Grants
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ALL SAINTS', THELWALLFY2022£4kMission giving and donations
GIVE A GIFTFY2022£3kGrants Breakdown
THE K.P LADD CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£3k
THE K.P LADD CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£3k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF CHRIST CHURCH, CHORLEYWOODFY2024£3k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF CHRIST CHURCH, CHORLEYWOODFY2022£3k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF HOLY TRINITY, UPPER TOOTINGFY2023£2kWider Ministry
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MATTHEWS, SURBITONFY2022£2k
THE BISHOP RADFORD TRUSTFY2023£2kPromote the Growing Good Toolkit, a six-session course for churches.
THE S M B TRUSTFY2022£2k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MATTHEWS, SURBITONFY2023£2k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MATTHEWS, SURBITONFY2021£2kCharitable Donations
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF HOLY TRINITY, UPPER TOOTINGFY2022£2kWider ministry grants
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MICHAEL HIGHGATEFY2022£2k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS HARROW WEALDFY2022£2kSupport for urban mission
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF CHRIST CHURCH, CHORLEYWOODFY2023£2k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF HOLY TRINITY, COVENTRYFY2024£1kMissionary and charitable giving
THE WYNDHAM CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2025£1k
THE WYNDHAM CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£1k
THE WYNDHAM CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£1k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST STEPHEN WITH ST JOHN, WESTMINSTERFY2022£1kChristian Causes
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST STEPHEN WITH ST JOHN, WESTMINSTERFY2023£1kChristian Causes
THE WYNDHAM CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2024£1k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST STEPHEN WITH ST JOHN, WESTMINSTERFY2021£1kChristian Causes
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARY WITH HOLY TRINITY ULVERSTONFY2021£816Home Mission and Secular
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARY'S PRESCOTFY2021£600Other
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MICHAEL HIGHGATEFY2023£535
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF BROADSTONE, POOLEFY2023£500Home Missionary Societies
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF BROADSTONE, POOLEFY2024£500Home Missionary Societies
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF BROADSTONE, POOLEFY2025£500Home Missionary Societies
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARY SPRING GROVEFY2022£410Charitable giving
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST NICHOLAS, GUISBOROUGHFY2023£400
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST. MICHAEL'S, BETCHWORTHFY2024£400
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST NICHOLAS, GUISBOROUGHFY2024£400Charitable Giving from Unrestricted Funds

Government & lottery funding

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

FunderDateAmountPurpose
UK government01/04/2019£1.3mCG-NEAR NEIGHBOURS INITIATIVE
UK government01/04/2019£460kWindrush
UK government01/04/2018£21kLIBOR (Lifesavers)
UK government01/04/2018£1.9mCG-NEAR NEIGHBOURS INITIATIVE
UK government—£191kLIBOR (Lifesavers)

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 DERBY URBAN CHURCH.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
CHURCH URBAN FUND£3.0m——unclear—no doubt
DERBY URBAN CHURCH FY2025£219k—0unclear—no doubt
NOW CHURCH FY2024£180k——unclear—no doubt
CITY CHURCH ( CAMBRIDGE ) FY2025£657k—0unclear—no doubt
City Life Church Truro FY2025£238k—0above—no doubt
CHURCH SOCIETY FY2025£301k—0within—no doubt

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