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2022-03-31-accounts

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Year
in review
Trustees’ annual
report & fi nancial
statements
year ended
31 March
2022
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“Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power” Psalm 145:4 (NLT)

Contents

Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ report and Strategic Report) for the year ended 31 March 2022 ............................................................................................. 1 Reference and administrative details of the charity, its trustees and advisers .......... 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 2 Aims, objectives and activities .................................................................................................... 3 Aims ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Main objectives for the year and our Strategic Plan ....................................................................................... 3 Strategic report ................................................................................................................................. 4 Review of activities and performance during the year ................................................................................... 4 Involving volunteers .................................................................................................................................... 4 Monitoring achievement ........................................................................................................................... 4 Impact of COVID-19 .................................................................................................................................... 4 Safeguarding ................................................................................................................................................. 5 Implementing our Revealing Jesus strategy ..................................................................................... 5 Mobilising others .......................................................................................................................................... 6 Developing thought leadership .............................................................................................................. 6 Creating relational opportunities for children and young people ............................................. 7 Transforming organisational efficiency ............................................................................................... 8 Supporting global partnership ................................................................................................................ 8 Plans for next year and beyond ................................................................................................................................ 9 Financial review ............................................................................................................................................................... 9 Financial position ......................................................................................................................................... 9 Reserves policy ............................................................................................................................................ 10 Principal funding sources ..........................................................................................................................11 Fundraising review ......................................................................................................................................11 Investment policy and performance ....................................................................................................12 Principal risks and uncertainties ..............................................................................................................................13 Structure, governance and management ............................................................................ 14 Governing document and constitution ................................................................................................................ 14 Objects of the charity ................................................................................................................................................. 14 Recruitment and appointment of trustees ........................................................................................................ 14 Induction and training of trustees ......................................................................................................................... 14 Organisational structure.............................................................................................................................................15 Pay policy for senior staff ........................................................................................................................................... 17 Related parties ............................................................................................................................................................... 17 Grant-making policy and principles ....................................................................................................................... 17 Appointment of external auditor ........................................................................................................................... 18

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Members of Scripture Union ...................................... 19 Statement of financial activities incorporating an income and expenditure account 22 Balance sheet ......................................................................................................................................... 23 Statement of cash flows ...................................................................................................................... 24 Notes forming part of the financial statements ......................................................................... 25

Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ and Strategic Reports) for year ended 31 March 2022

The Trustees are pleased to present their annual Directors’ report and financial statements of the Charitable Company for the year ended 31 March 2022 which are also prepared to meet the requirements for a Directors’ report and accounts for Companies Act purposes.

The financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006, the Articles of Association, and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).

Reference and administrative details of the charity, its trustees and advisers Reference and administrative details of the charity, its trustees and advisers Reference and administrative details of the charity, its trustees and advisers Reference and administrative details of the charity, its trustees and advisers
Status Scripture Union is a charitable company limited by guarantee.
It is governed by its Articles of Association adopted with effect
from 1 October 2009 and amended by special resolution passed on
17 October 2020
Registered name Scripture Union (also known as ‘SU’, ‘SU England and Wales’ and
‘Scripture Union Cymru’)
Charity registration number 213422
Company registration number 00039828
Country of incorporation England and Wales
Principal & registered office Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes MK15 0DF
Trustees Mr Richard Godden – Chair
Ms Kim Hurst – Honorary Treasurer
Mr Richard Evans
Mr Malcolm Forsyth
Rev Dr Mark Griffiths
Rev Stephen Hallett
Mr Junior Johnson
Mrs Julie Kittow
Mrs Sandra Morris (appointed 3 January 2022)
Rev Dr Edward Scrase-Field
Mr Timothy Warren (retired 9 October 2021)
Leadership Team Dr Myles MacBean – National Director
Mr Terence Clutterham – Culture & Innovation Director(until 31 July 2021)
Mr Richard Shaw – Mission Development Director
Mr Stephen Vis – Finance & Services Director
Mrs Rachel Warwick – Mobilisation Director
Company Secretary Mrs Susan Winning
Bankers HSBC Bank PLC, 4th Floor, 3 Temple Quay, Bristol BS1 6DZ
Solicitors Pothecary Witham Weld, 70 St Georges Square, London SW1V 3RD
Auditor MHA MacIntyre Hudson, 6th Floor, 2 London Wall Place, London EC2Y 5AU
Investment advisers Rathbones Investment Management Limited, 8 Finsbury Circus, London
EC2M 7AZ
Insurance brokers Zurich Municipal, 2 Gladiator Way (N2), Farnborough, Hants GU14 6GB

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ and Strategic Reports) for year ended 31 March 2022

Introduction

Our Revealing Jesus strategy was publicly launched in the Autumn of 2020, and 2021-22 was thus the first full year of its implementation. This occurred against the continuing uncertainty caused by COVID-19, which presented challenges both for Scripture Union (SU) and for the Faith Guides, churches and local mission partners with whom we work. These resulted in progress being slower than we would have liked – and yet the year saw significant progress!

Our strategy (see the Revealing Jesus box, page 3) focuses on our Mission Enablers building a network of Faith Guides who are working in churches, making contacts with children and young people over the long term. During 2021-22 the number of those Faith Guides grew to 218, from 160 churches, and we launched an online Faith Guide community with a view to assisting our Mission Enablers to support Faith Guides and helping the Faith Guides to support one another.

At the same time, the resources available to Faith Guides were enhanced by the addition of three new multi-media collections being added to the Faith Guide Hub (see Creating relational opportunities, page 7) and more widely we launched seasonal content for Christmas, Easter and Halloween, the latter being featured extensively on Songs of Praise.

In addition, we engaged with various groups with a view to consulting, testing and refining our strategy. These included some of our many local mission partners, several national and regional groups (some with which we have formed strategic partnerships) and minority ethnic church leaders in key cities. After workshops with these leaders, we launched projects with six groups of partners designed to test our strategic framework and resources in minority ethnic contexts and to build new relationships.

In-person events during the Spring and Summer of 2021 were, of course, seriously disrupted by COVID-19 restrictions but 12 in-person holidays and day-camps and ten in-person missions were held, in addition to 16 online events. In total these events engaged around 3,000 children and young people: significantly fewer than in previous years but, in the circumstances, a pleasing number.

It was also good to be able to hold an in-person conference in November 2021, which brought together over 200 people with a passion for seeing children and young people come to know Jesus: Faith Guides, local mission partners, volunteers from our holidays and missions, SU staff, and others.

We had to say goodbye during the year to some people who have worked with us for many years. These included Terry Clutterham, who retired from the Leadership Team after decades on the staff in various roles, most recently as Culture and Innovation Director fleshing out the Revealing Jesus mission framework within our new strategy, and Tim Warren who retired after completing a second period as a Trustee. The resulting Trustee vacancy was filled by Sandra Morris, who brings long experience of working with children and young people and considerable knowledge of SU both on the front line and as a member of the Council.

There remain many uncertainties in the world, but God is unchanging and we look forward with confidence. The Revealing Jesus strategy is scalable: the more money that becomes available the more Mission Enablers we will be able to employ and hence the more Faith Guides we will be able to serve and the more children and young people we will be able to reach. Owing to the generosity of many supporters (including recent legacies), we are now able to recruit eight new staff across England and Wales, who will be engaged either in sports mission or in equipping and coaching Faith Guides. We also plan to invest further in new collections of resources for the Faith Guide Hub.

The Trustees of SU recognise that we are simply members of a team that includes many other people who support the work by means of prayer, by giving their time or by giving money. We are thankful to God for them all and we pray that he would stir up his Church in England and Wales so that the 95% of children who are not connected with a church (‘The 95’) would hear about Jesus and be given the chance to respond to him.

Richard Godden Chairman

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ and Strategic Reports) for year ended 31 March 2022

Aims, objectives and activities

Aims

SU’s overarching aim is to make God’s good news known to children and young people and to encourage them to meet God through the Bible and prayer (see Objects of the Charity, page 14, for more details). We work to fulfil this aim as Revealing Jesus effectively as possible with the resources that God gives us. Accompanying ‘The 95’ on a lifelong journey of faith

Accompanying ‘The 95’ on a lifelong journey of faith

It was in October 2020 that we launched our Revealing Jesus strategy with its innovative mission framework. Building on our campaign to share the Good News of Jesus with the 95% of children and young people not connected with a church (‘The 95'), the framework aims to envision, resource and equip churches as they engage with the younger generations in their community. Setting out a four-stage journey of faith, the framework invites Christians to act as Faith Guides who accompany children and young people over the long term; creating opportunities for them to Connect, Explore, Respond and Grow in their faith in Jesus. Our Mission Enablers walk alongside the Faith Guides, using an SU-developed training programme and providing access to the Faith Guide Hub, a unique portfolio of themed Faith Guide Collections applicable to all stages of a faith journey. With much still to be done, we give thanks that in this last year we have seen significant first fruit as we work towards our vision for thousands of young people discovering a life of vibrant personal faith in Jesus. More information can be found at su.org.uk/revealingjesus

Our vision is for a new generation of children and young people who have a vibrant, personal faith in Jesus.

Our mission is to create opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith.

Our priority is to reach those who don’t yet know Jesus.

Underpinning everything that we do is the Bible: God speaks to us; prayer: God changes us; relationship: God works through us; and mission: God involves us.

In all our work, we aim to care: we’re here to understand struggles faced by children and young people, so if they ask for help, we can give it; to share: we’re not here to tell children and young people what to think, but to offer a valuable Jesus-

centered perspective; and to empower: we’re here to help children and young people discover answers in their physical and spiritual life, so that they can thrive, not just survive.

Main objectives for the year and our Strategic Plan

The Trustees confirm that they have referred to and have given due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit when reviewing the Charitable Company’s aims and objectives and when planning future activities. The following pages highlight just some of the ways in which God has been at work through SU to deliver public benefit in the past year as we have continued towards achieving our strategic goals.

As set out in SU’s operating plan, we sought, from April 2021, to fulfil our long-term vision by pursuing the following primary objectives:

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ and Strategic Reports) for year ended 31 March 2022

Strategic report

Review of activities and performance during the year

The focus of all SU’s activities is on sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with children and young people in the belief that the gospel is life-transforming and life-enhancing. It is our conviction that the gospel has a positive impact on individuals who, in turn, have a positive and transformative impact on their families and communities.

Involving volunteers

SU is a volunteer-led movement, and we are grateful to the many individuals who give their time, energy and skills in support of the Movement. Volunteering at SU comes in many forms, including at holidays and missions, regional and national events, and in governance, and volunteers join in our mission from a wide range of backgrounds, bringing a rich and diverse range of experiences, expertise and gifts. Recruiting volunteers has been a struggle as activities have restarted after the pandemic, but we continue to trust God to provide the workers for the harvest. Over the past year we have created 1,316 known opportunities for volunteer involvement, equivalent to 2,287 working weeks, or 49 full time staff. These individuals have contributed significantly to the mission activity of the Movement, which would not be possible without them. Of these volunteer opportunities, 36 related to governance of the Charitable Company (for example, trustees and Council members) and therefore could not be filled by staff. These governance volunteers contributed the estimated equivalent of 56 working weeks.

Most opportunities for volunteer involvement relate to events, but many volunteers are becoming involved in regional and national initiatives. One young adult worked with us during the year as part of our 10:2 leadership development (young leader) programme and two young adults worked with us on student placement.

In addition to SU volunteers, our local mission partnership programme involves many hundreds of volunteers working alongside 125 workers employed by 66 trusts. (See Note 4 to the financial statements, page 30, for an outline of our local mission partnership programme.)

Our Revealing Jesus strategy is also volunteer-focused; supporting local churches to raise up church volunteers as Faith Guides to be equipped by SU Mission Enablers to reach out to ‘The 95’ (see su.org.uk/revealingjesus for more information about Faith Guides and the strategy.)

We have not included in our financial statements the value that volunteers bring through the time which they dedicate to the mission of the Movement, but we thank God and we thank each one of them for it all.

Monitoring achievement

The Trustees place great importance on ensuring that progress made in achieving the Movement’s strategic objectives is measured and monitored appropriately. Key performance indicators are identified for the Movement’s objectives and, alongside relevant commentary, form the basis of a quarterly progress report: the Mission Update. The Mission Update is prepared by the Leadership Team and reviewed by the Trustees before being circulated to members of Council and the full staff team. In addition, detailed monitoring and evaluation of activities, projects and programmes takes place on an ongoing basis by the relevant teams.

Impact of COVID-19

The COVID-19 Action Team, formed in March 2020, has met regularly to manage the Movement’s response to COVID-19 constraints and opportunities. Always acting in accordance with the government guidelines applicable at any point in time for England and for Wales, we have remained flexible to meet the rapidly changing circumstances. The Trustees have been consulted on policy and informed of key executive decisions at all times.

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ and Strategic Reports) for year ended 31 March 2022

Mission activity – During the year we were pleased to make significant progress re-engaging in inperson mission (see Creating relational opportunities, page 7) despite continuing COVID-19 impact. We were, for example, encouraged that the 2021/22 Holidays and Missions program had over half the events of 2019 – 38 events ran, 22 of which were in-person, which enabled us to engage with around 3,000 children and young people. Nevertheless, despite COVID-19 constraints relaxing during the first half of the year and continued growth in engagement with churches on the Revealing Jesus framework, our wider mission context remained challenging throughout the year with many churches not ready to engage in looking outward and thinking missionally.

Mission operations – Staff continued to work from home for much of the first part of the year, with a small group attending the National Office to undertake critical IT, financial and supporter care functions. An experimental phase of ‘new norm’ working began in November, which included National Office staff having the option to work from home for part of the week, though this was disrupted by the introduction of the government’s ‘Plan B’ in England and similar in Wales. The staff perspective on our experimental new norm policies was surveyed and the results are being considered. Any changes to working patterns are anticipated to be implemented later this summer.

– Impact on income and going concern Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, God’s generosity through our many supporters has allowed us to continue our mission activity. The Fundraising team has begun to see early results from its Fundraising Strategy with improved relationship with and response from major donors, improved relationships with trusts in that we increasingly receive invitations to submit proposals, and more targeted appeals realising higher yields. We continue to monitor income on a regular basis, including rolling cash forecasts and scenario modelling to support our Going Concern assessment. Given the strength of our Balance Sheet (see page 23), we are confident that we can continue to operate in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, while compensated somewhat by strong legacy income, this year saw a reduction in gift income rather than the hoped-for increase that would allow us to sustainably scale our team of Mission Enablers over the long-term to meet the challenge of enabling churches to reach the 12 million children and young people not connected with a church.

Staff wellbeing – Staff wellbeing has remained relatively high, though long-term COVID-19 constraints inevitably began to cause background challenges. A number of self-isolations and COVID-19 infections amongst the staff were reported. No members of staff were furloughed during the year.

Safeguarding

We continue to seek to deliver high quality safeguarding policy and practices across all of SU’s work in England and Wales. Safeguarding has always held high priority in all our activities and we were pleased to be able to recruit a Safeguarding Manager during the year, allowing us to continue to improve safeguarding policy and practice across the Movement.

Following the conclusion of the Lessons Learned Review of our historic involvement with John Smyth (see page 13), we continue to work through the recommendations. A number of changes have been made, including a training needs analysis and the inclusion of a safeguarding statement in every staff role description.

Implementing our Revealing Jesus strategy

The strategic review that started in early 2019 resulted in the initial development of our new Revealing Jesus strategy and its associated mission framework. This culminated in the online launch in October 2020 (see su.org.uk/revealingjesus). It also started a multi-year program of development, field testing, and operational scaling aimed at bringing coherence across all our activity.

Key to our strategy is raising up a generation of church-volunteer Faith Guides to faith journey with the children and young people of their community. Last year the COVID-19 pandemic restricted our

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ and Strategic Reports) for year ended 31 March 2022

in-person interaction with local churches and potential Faith Guides for longer than anticipated, and local churches took longer than expected to re-engage in mission. This restricted our ability to grow the number of churches and Faith Guides registered with us (see Creating relational opportunities for children and young people, page 7). However, it also gave us the opportunity to consolidate our strategy-based work with early-adopter churches and to broaden our collections of resources in the Faith Guide Hub ready for volume adoption. We were also able to invest in critical infrastructure such as our new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database (see Transforming organisational efficiency, page 8).

This work has positioned us well for the coming season (see Plans for next year and beyond, page 9) as local churches, denominations and church networks begin their own strategic reviews of how they serve Jesus in their new ministry context.

The following sections describe progress this year, as the new strategy shaped our activity in all five of our top-level objectives, and the Movement realigned itself to equip local churches and their Faith Guides to reveal Jesus to The 95 in their communities.

Mobilising others

Our aim during the year was to mobilise the SU Movement and the wider Christian community to engage with The 95 though the Revealing Jesus strategy as donors, prayer supporters and volunteers. Most key milestones were completed although there were some delays due to recruitment taking longer than hoped, and data migration and process change as we launched our new CRM database.

Initiatives and milestones during the year included:

Developing thought leadership

During the year we sought to refine our Revealing Jesus strategy through further understanding of key aspects of engaging children and young people who are not in church. The reduced capacity for mission in the local church caused by COVID-19 resulted in less opportunity than anticipated for primary research or feedback on how well the Revealing Jesus strategy worked in the field. Nevertheless, progress has been made on many fronts.

Initiatives and milestones during the year included the following:

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ and Strategic Reports) for year ended 31 March 2022

Plans were put on hold to develop the book telling the in-depth story of the development of the Revealing Jesus framework within the distinctive history of SU. COVID-19 meant there was insufficient evidence of the framework in action. The situation will be reviewed in late 2022 based on the new Generation Z research and the outcome of the hybrid mission work (see above), and on further investment plans for 2022-23 (see Plans for next year and beyond, page 9).

Creating relational opportunities for children and young people

We continued to see good progress in pioneering, developing and multiplying opportunities for children and young people to explore the difference Jesus can make to the challenges and adventures of life. The slower-than-expected return to mission by local churches resulted in less opportunity than hoped for to grow Faith Guide and church registrations. Nevertheless, the Development Hub was able to continue creating new and exciting resources to equip Faith Guides and churches in their mission, and our Holidays and Missions team re-established in-person ministry as lockdown eased.

Key initiatives and milestones during the year included the following:

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ and Strategic Reports) for year ended 31 March 2022

Transforming organisational efficiency

We continued to transform our systems and processes to enable efficient and effective organisational growth. Our primary focus was on the introduction of our new CRM database. A major investment in terms of money and time, when fully implemented this will radically enhance our capability across our organisation with a single organisational view of relationships and funds across supporter care, communications, marketing, fundraising and regional mission. Launched in January 2022, the transition of some quarter-of-a-million database records and the necessary dedication of resources led to a knock-on effect on operations and to other projects that had to be deferred. However, while it will take some time to realise full strategic benefits, all key operational elements are now complete.

We also completed several smaller system improvements during the year which included further migration of services to cloud-based computing. We also upgraded payment aspects of our website which has enabled us to comply with the latest security and fraud standards. Donors are also now able to cover the costs of card processing, an option taken up by almost a third of donors in the first few months of operation.

Supporting global partnership

There are over 130 independent SU movements around the world working in around 120 countries, all of which are united by Scripture Union’s aims, belief and working principles. SU England and Wales is one such movement. Each national movement seeks to work through local people in ways that are appropriate to the national culture and the number of staff is typically very small compared to the number of volunteers. Facilitated by the Scripture Union International team, staff and volunteers globally pray for and support each other, share ideas and resources and have joint projects and publications. Extended partnerships have also been established between countries to provide additional support and funding.

Our aim during the year was to support and learn from SU movements globally who have a passion about working with children and young people who don’t yet know Jesus. Initiatives and milestones included the following:

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ and Strategic Reports) for year ended 31 March 2022

isiZulu did not go ahead due to the priorities of SU South Africa having to be realigned with COVID-19 realities.

Plans for next year and beyond

The Movement has revised its direction in the last few years, presenting a clear, renewed vision, mission and priority for the coming years (see page 3). The aim of the Strategic Plan is to ensure that SU operationally fulfils its renewed mission to its priority community, and hence achieves its vision. The Plan is fully integrated into SU’s annual operating plan for the coming year, as agreed by the Trustees in February 2022.

Our overall aim remains to grow the reach and impact of SU’s mission activity. To achieve this, we will continue to focus on the same primary objectives as for year ended 31 March 2022 as stated on page 3, delivering them through the Revealing Jesus strategy.

We plan to use £685,000 of the funds set aside in our Project and Development Fund (see Note 13 to the financial statements, pages 33-34) in pursuing these objectives. This includes in the region of £490,000 for creating relational opportunities, £150,000 for transforming organisational efficiency and thought leadership, and £45,000 for mobilising others and mission transformation.

Strategic investment will focus on deepening relationships with existing Faith Guides and their churches while growing the size of our Faith Guide community by increasing our pioneering work in new cities. To do this we plan to recruit eight new Revealing Jesus Pioneers and Sports Pioneers. This will also test our strategy at greater scale for further refinement through the year. The other key element of strategic investment will be the design and testing of the hybrid approaches to mission that have been identified in the last year as part of our thought leadership work.

We will continue to develop our growing relationships with minority ethnic churches and church leaders, completing the projects launched last year (see Creating relational opportunities, page 7) and feeding lessons learned into reviews of the Revealing Jesus framework and related resources.

We also aim to firmly re-establish our Easter and Summer programme of Missions and Holidays after two challenging years. We envisage upwards of 80 Missions, events and residential holidays across England and Wales. Strategically this will include the piloting of up to five new regional Faith Guide Holidays where, supported by Mission Enablers, Faith Guides provide a residential experience for the children and young people they are journeying with.

A further operational objective will be to encourage increased recurring gift income in the mediumterm to enable continued long-term sustainable expansion of our mission reach. This will involve work to grow our support base among younger generations and developing targeted propositions for support of Mission Enablers by major donors and trusts.

Financial review

Financial position

We thank God and our many supporters for their financial generosity in funding the work we were able to do in 2021-22, especially given the negative economic impact of the pandemic. We were particularly grateful for those who left legacies, which were significant in the year. However, it was disappointing that donations and gifts fell in 2021-22 as, in the longer term, our ability to expand the work among The 95 is dependent upon our donation income increasing, which is a key focus of our fundraising efforts.

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ and Strategic Reports) for year ended 31 March 2022

For the year ended 31 March 2022, we had an overall deficit of £73,000, compared to a surplus of £1,073,000 last year, due to spend on Project and Development Fund (PDF) initiatives of £596,000 (see Reserves Policy, pages 10-11, for more details). We had planned for a larger deficit for the year, however we received higher legacy income, and incurred lower costs because of local and national lockdown restrictions limiting our ability to find churches and volunteers to adopt our Revealing Jesus framework and to run a full programme of holidays and missions.

Our balance sheet is healthy at £6,571,000 (2021: £6,644,000). This includes £2,381,000 (2021: £2,227,000) within the PDF, total restricted funds of £183,000 (2021: £177,000) and total endowment funds of £656,000 (2021:693,000) (see Note 13 to the financial statements, pages 33-34). We expect to continue to spend the PDF reserves over the next three years as we deliver on the Strategic Plan and, as a first significant step, in Spring 2022 the Trustees approved investment in a number of new fixed-term roles focusing on implementing our Revealing Jesus framework by expanding into new geographic areas, extending the coverage of our mission-through-sport activities, and investing in broadening our relationship with the wider church (see page 9). This will be a significant investment of over £600,000 to maximise the missional benefit of the funding that we have received from the wide range of supporters of our mission. As a result, financial deficits are anticipated again in the next two years as the General and PDF reserves are progressively spent.

Total gift income, including restricted gift income but excluding legacies, amounted to £2,382,000 which represents a 6% decrease from £2,532,000 in the previous year. It includes gifts of £96,000 restricted for SU activity overseas. Unrestricted legacy income of £1,096,000 was received; this is 4% higher than last year at £1,055,000. Further details are included in the fundraising performance section below (page 12. Holidays and Mission income at £57,000 is significantly higher than last year’s £9,000 as we were able to run a reduced events programme this year (events were online only last year), but this remains well short of the pre-pandemic 2019 income. Publishing sales and royalty income at £791,000 is down 1% compared to last year’s £801,000 as we continue to move away from commercial publishing in line with our strategy. Publishing activity is now much reduced and focused on a narrow range of products.

Total income at £4,400,000 is £126,000 lower than the previous year (3% down). Total expenditure of £4,533,000 is £366,000 higher than last year (9% up).

For the year ending 31 March 2023, the Trustees aim to continue to spend reserves in line with the reserves policy (see below), and as such have aligned budgeted General Fund expenditure to exceed budgeted income by £575,000, as we seek to invest in the new strategy. In addition, expenditure of around £685,000 from PDF reserves is planned.

Reserves policy

The level of required reserves is reviewed annually as part of the process of budget preparation for the following year to ensure that it remains relevant to SU’s current and future position, in particular reflecting the developments necessary to deliver our strategy. It is also included within monthly financial reporting for review by the Trustees throughout the year.

During the year the Trustees undertook a complete review of the Movement’s needs for reserves using a risk-based approach. The new approach focuses upon the quantification of risk associated with items in the Movement’s Risk Register, together with an assessment of likely correlation of events happening concurrently. As a result, the Trustees consider it prudent to set the target level of general reserves retained by the Movement at between £1.2m and £1.6m. Reserves were previously measured by the number of months (2021: 6.1 months) of ongoing unrestricted charitable expenditure for the Movement based on the financial statements for the year.

At 31 March 2022, the General Fund stood at £2,009,000 (2021: £2,078,000), which exceeds the new Reserves range. The Trustees have planned for continued investment which will give rise to an

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ and Strategic Reports) for year ended 31 March 2022

operating deficit for the year ending 31 March 2023 and bring us back into the agreed Reserves Policy range.

In addition to the General Fund, the Trustees have set aside designated funds as described below and in Note 13 to the financial statements (see pages 33-34).

The level and timing of legacy income is uncertain and therefore continues to be budgeted at a conservative level. Legacy income received above the budgeted levels may be used to add to designated reserves within the Project and Development Fund (PDF) (see Note 13 to the financial statements, pages 33-34, for more information). Spending from the accumulated reserves in the PDF covers the investment cost of a range of significant one-off development initiatives to grow the scale and impact of SU’s mission activity. PDF expenditure in the year totaled £596,000 (2021: £365,000) and included £410,000 for continuing digital transformation (see page 8), £182,000 for creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith (see page 7), and £4,000 for mobilising others to engage with The 95 (see page 6) and for developing thought leadership (see pages 6-7). The balance of the Fund at 31 March 2022 was £2,381,000 (2021: £2,227,000) after the transfer of £750,000 into the Fund to provide for future planned strategic initiatives (see Note 13 to the financial statements pages 33-34).

PDF funds are set aside to grow SU’s mission scale and impact and the Trustees have plans in place to expend the majority of PDF reserves over the next three years. In line with our objectives we plan to spend an estimated £685,000 in the year to 31 March 2023 (see page 9 for further information).

Principal funding sources

SU relies substantially on voluntary income to fund our activities, with the majority of donations coming from individual regular givers, and from major donors. Other income shown in the statement of financial activities (see page 22) includes sales of publications and fees for holidays, training and other events. When setting a price for our paid-for events and resources, appropriate consideration is given to how we can both maximise mission benefit and avoid pricing being a barrier to participation and partnership. We normally receive no funding from the government or other statutory bodies, nor from the National Lottery; no Government grants relating to Furlough funding were claimed this year under the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme.

Fundraising review

Fundraising approach

SU embraces fundraising first and foremost as ministry. It is a way of inviting donors to partner in our vision to reach ‘The 95’. Our supporters, rather than a means to an end, are seen as a vital part of our ministry and work.

Through fundraising we proclaim that we believe all who support us will benefit through their involvement in seeing God’s kingdom grow through the transformed lives of children and young people. We share what God is doing with openness and honesty, providing opportunities for individuals, churches, and trusts to respond, in order to grow the ministry.

Underpinning all our fundraising is prayer, and an acknowledgement that God is the provider of all our needs through those who choose to partner with us. We ensure that anyone involved in fundraising activities is aware of and embraces these principles.

We have an in-house fundraising team which is assisted, when required, by the services of fundraising consultants. Relationship building with donors has underpinned all fundraising activity over this year. However, COVID-19 impacted donor response somewhat and hence strategic targets for improved donor retention, reactivation, acquisition, and uplift fell slightly short of plan. At the same time during the year, we reviewed and re-engineered our end-to-end donor journeys to improve retention and create a secure process into which future donors will be recruited.

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ and Strategic Reports) for year ended 31 March 2022

Work continues to increase regular giving to achieve the sustainable scaling of our operation envisioned in our Strategic Plan, in particular, to allow us to move fixed-term PDF-funded roles to permanent positions funded from regular operational income. A priority is seeking new funding from major donors and trusts.

The new CRM database will provide significantly improved tracking and reporting opportunities for fundraising. Once it is fully established, a simplified reporting structure will be developed and implemented, focusing on income by source within three categories; individual, churches and grants/trusts.

We regard the lawful and correct treatment of personal information as of paramount importance, and we have policies and procedures in place to be compliant with the Data Protection Act 2018. We ensure that staff are fully trained and understand their responsibilities in their respective areas.

We take pride in treating the wishes of our donors and their privacy with the utmost respect. We contact supporters in the ways that they prefer, adapting them as needed. Supporters can change their preferences at any time, and we will not contact them if they ask us not to. We never share names, addresses or other personal information with third parties for charity, commercial or fundraising purposes. We genuinely appreciate feedback from supporters and the public and we review our fundraising activities in light of feedback and complaints we may receive. We did not receive any complaints relating to our fundraising activity during the year.

Fundraising performance

Income received as a result of the managed fundraising programme decreased by £150,000 from £2,532,000 to £2,382,000.

Donations received during the year came predominantly from individual supporters (83%), with the balance being received from trusts (10%), churches (4%) and other sources (3%).

Legacies of every size are vital to the ongoing work of SU. Several large legacies contributed to income received from legacies during the year totalling £1,101,000. This was higher than the £1,091,000 received the previous year, with legacy income for both years exceeding our expectations.

The cost of raising funds during the year increased slightly from £426,000 to £456,000 (see Note 4 to the financial statements, pages 29-30).

We place a high priority on the need to inform supporters of our activities and our quarterly magazine Connecting You was sent by post or email to more than 19,000 supporters during the year. This is noticeably less than the 28,000 in 2021 – the list was reviewed during the year to better target our spend on postage and as part of the data cleanse process to implement the new CRM database.

Investment policy and performance

A portion of SU’s reserves available for investment has been identified and held as long-term reserves and invested (£4,490,000 as at 31 March 2022 (£4,907,000 as at 31 March 2021)). This includes a capital endowment (£656,000 as at 31 March 2022 (£693,000 as at 31 March 2021)) and includes High Quality Bonds of £1,246,000 (£1,793,000 as at 31 March 2021). During the year we withdrew £501,000 from the High Quality Bonds for use within the movement. Income from the General Fund portfolio is reinvested whilst income from the Endowment Fund is used as restricted income to meet expenditure for the mission work of SU at home and especially for work in schools.

Periodically the Trustees review the level of general reserves and cash flow demands to ensure that the level of reserves available for investment remains appropriate for the Movement. SU seeks to produce the best financial return within an acceptable level of risk. Rathbones, our investment managers, continue to manage a £3.2m investment portfolio aiming to outperform a benchmark comprising 35% FTSE All-Share, 30% FTSE World ex UK, 25% UK Gilts, 5% Property, 5% Cash. The portfolio returned 5% over the period, slightly behind the benchmark which rose by 8%. This underperformance occurred in the most recent quarter to 31[st] March, amid the war in Ukraine and

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ and Strategic Reports) for year ended 31 March 2022

aggressive monetary tightening from the Federal Reserve, both of which have unsettled investors. The longer-term track record remains good in both absolute and relative terms, with the five years to 31 March 2022 producing a return of 38.4%. This represents an outperformance of the benchmark which has risen 18.2% over that time. Rathbones expect markets to remain volatile in the short-term given the geopolitical environment but consider equity valuations to look attractive at this level for long-term investors.

We also have an investment in the Rathbone High Quality Bond Fund which is invested in shortmaturity bonds with an average credit rating of A. This portfolio is designed to earn a slightly higher income than we can achieve at high street banks, where interest rates on large capital sums have fallen sharply. Short-term capital returns have been affected by volatility in bond markets amid the aforementioned tightening of monetary policy, but Rathbones remain confident that the overall total returns will meet expectations over the long-term. We continue to monitor our investments closely to ensure that they achieve our intended returns.

SU is reliant on fundraising and donations for its mission activities. Investment assets are held as reserves. The key risk to long-term reserves is inflation – although volatility in the market can drive significant short-term fluctuations as experienced over the past few years - however our assets are invested to mitigate this risk over the long-term. SU aims to diversify its assets through investment in a multi-asset investment fund that reflects SU’s ethical investment policy which specifically excludes companies which generate the majority of their revenue from armaments, gambling, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, production and dissemination of pornographic materials, high interest lending or single purpose abortifacients. The Trustees are aware that this may have some impact on investment performance.

Principal risks and uncertainties

The Movement has risk-management policies and procedures through which risks arising from existing operations and strategic developments are identified and evaluated. The Leadership Team is required to identify risks associated with activities, assess their potential impact and probability of occurrence, and report on procedures which are in place or are being developed to manage the risks. Significant risks are highlighted for consideration and monitoring by the Trustees and the suitability of the risk review and management process is monitored by the Audit and Finance Committee (see pages 16-17).

During the year, the Leadership Team and the Trustees carried out detailed reviews of potential reputational, financial, mission and operational risks to the Movement. The major risks to which the Charitable Company is exposed have been reviewed and systems have been established to manage those risks.

Internal control risks are minimised by the implementation of procedures for authorisation of all transactions and projects. Security of our IT networks, access control and malware detection minimise the potential risk of a cyber security breach. Procedures are in place to ensure compliance with legislation, regulation, codes of practice and standards. All procedures are reviewed periodically to ensure that they continue to meet the needs of the Charitable Company.

Two primary risks have been identified:

Criticism, incident or allegation regarding work with children - Key elements of the management of this risk are safer recruitment processes, regular review of SU’s safeguarding policy, clear lines of responsibility and accountability, input from SU’s safeguarding advisory group, compliance with externally-set activity standards and regular training and review.

We continue to be deeply saddened by the accounts of abuse suffered by the victims of the late John Smyth, a trustee of SU from 1971-79, and the ongoing impact of this on the victims and those around them. We are confident that lessons learned are being applied to our work and are committed to ongoing learning and improvement in this area.

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ and Strategic Reports) for year ended 31 March 2022

Failure to generate sufficient income, falling numbers of supporters and mistrust of charities, particularly fundraising activity – Key elements of the management of this risk are prayer, maintaining a focus on trusting God to provide for His mission, ongoing building of personal relationship with donors, implementation of SU’s fundraising strategy, periodic Trustee review of SU’s fundraising ethos and strategy and implementation of the strategic plan with a clear focus on income generation and expenditure.

Structure, governance and management

Governing document and constitution

SU was established in 1867. It is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 28 October 1893 and registered as a charity on 3 January 1966. It is governed by its Articles of Association which were adopted with effect from 1 October 2009 and amended by special resolution passed on 17 October 2020.

Objects of the charity

The charitable objects of SU, as set out in the Articles of Association, are to advance Christianity by sharing the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ with people throughout the world. The objects are carried out with, but not limited to, working with churches, by making God’s good news known to children, young people and families and by encouraging people of all ages to meet God daily through the Bible and prayer , so that they may come to personal faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, grow in Christian maturity and become both committed church members and servants of a world in need.

Recruitment and appointment of trustees

Policies and procedures for the recruitment, appointment and induction of all new trustees are in place and maintained by the Trustees.

Responsibility for the trustee recruitment process lies with the Chair of Trustees. Each candidate is interviewed by a panel that usually comprises the Chair, at least one trustee, and a member of Council. In the case of candidates who the group believes may be called to be trustees, a second interview by the same or similar panel is normally conducted. Each candidate is assessed having regard to the overall composition of the Board of Trustees, including any skills and experience that its then current members lack. The Trustees themselves may proactively approach and co-opt additional trustees to fill vacancies and such appointments are effective until the next Annual Meeting.

The Council appoints new trustees and reappoints those who have come to the end of their current term of office and who are eligible, willing and nominated for re-election. Trustees, who are also Directors of the Charitable Company for the purposes of the Companies Act, are appointed for a three-year period in accordance with the Articles of Association. After serving a maximum of three consecutive terms of office, a retiring trustee is not eligible to serve any further term of office until at least one year of non-service has elapsed.

The Articles of Association provide for a minimum of six and a maximum of twelve trustees.

Induction and training of trustees

All trustees receive induction training, information and support to acquire the necessary detail of how the Movement and the Board of Trustees work, so that they can play a full part in discussion and decision-making.

Every effort is made to broaden trustees’ knowledge on an individual level so that they are up to date with the whole of the Movement and the Strategic Plan. Where there has not been any previous involvement, care is taken to introduce them to the Movement, with emphasis on SU’s aims, belief and working principles and the Strategic Plan. Participation in induction processes run principally for new staff is encouraged, both for new trustees and by way of a ‘refresher’. All new

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ and Strategic Reports) for year ended 31 March 2022

and serving trustees are encouraged to attend or participate in a local, regional or national SU holiday, mission or other event as part of their induction and ongoing development.

Organisational structure

The members of the Council are the Members of the Company. The Council appoints the members of the Board of Trustees (listed on page 1) and the Trustees appoint the National Director and approve the process for the appointment of other members of the Leadership Team (also listed on page 1). The National Director and, in relation to their respective areas of responsibility, the members of the Leadership Team are responsible for the day-to-day running of SU.

Trustees – The Trustees have ultimate responsibility for the strategic leadership and the management of the affairs of SU in accordance with its Articles of Association and applicable law (including company law and charity law). The Board has four scheduled meetings each year and meets physically or by conference call on other occasions as necessary.

The Trustees seek to apply the principles set out in the Charity Governance Code having regard to the aims, beliefs and working principles of SU. A review of our compliance was carried out by an experienced volunteer auditor during the year as part of a tri-annual cycle to assess SU’s application of the principles described in the Code. It was the auditor’s opinion that processes supporting the code principles are strong and mostly effective. A small number of isolated practices were identified with elements incurring a moderate or low risk and the Trustees have agreed actions to meet the resulting recommendations.

A trustee-approved document is in place which describes the governance structure of SU, including the division of powers between the Council and the Trustees and the delegation of powers by the Trustees. The document focuses on the legal structure and legal allocation of powers and responsibilities.

Council – Council provides a forum for the development of spiritual vision and discernment of God’s leading and advises the Trustees on the overall direction of the Movement. It has no executive powers and its key responsibilities are to ensure that the Statement of Aims, Belief and Working Principles is applied, to review the progress made towards fulfilling the Strategic Plan and to elect trustees. The Council, comprising up to 38 members (including trustees and leadership team members), normally meets for a full day twice a year. Our aim is for the membership of Council to be broadly representative of SU’s areas of work and community.

Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities

The Trustees (who are also Directors of SU for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ and Strategic Reports) and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the Trustees have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law), including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Under company law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charitable Company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the Charitable Company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ and Strategic Reports) for year ended 31 March 2022

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Charitable Company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charitable Company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charitable Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Trustees confirm that:

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the Charitable Company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Qualifying third party indemnity provisions

During the reporting period and up to the date of this report, the Charitable Company maintained liability insurance and third-party indemnity provisions for its Trustees, under which the Charitable Company has agreed to indemnify the Trustees to the extent permitted by law in respect of all liabilities to third parties arising out of, or in connection with, the execution of their powers, duties and responsibilities as Directors of the Charitable Company.

Internal controls

The Trustees have overall responsibility for the system of financial and other controls of the Charitable Company and for providing reassurance that:

It is recognised that such a system can provide only reasonable but not absolute assurance against errors and loss. Detailed monthly financial management reports are prepared by the finance team and circulated to the Trustees, Leadership Team and senior management, and are reviewed and discussed at each of the quarterly Board meetings.

The Movement operates a comprehensive annual planning and budgeting process which is approved by the Trustees. Performance is monitored through the use of activity and financial targets and reports made to Trustees comparing actual results against activity targets and the phased budget.

Sub-committees

The Trustees have delegated certain tasks to the Audit and Finance Committee, comprising trustees and volunteers. The Committee meets regularly and has responsibility for:

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ and Strategic Reports) for year ended 31 March 2022

The Nominations and Advisory Committee, comprising members of Council, a trustee and a staff member, is a sub-committee of Council. It meets regularly as required and has responsibility for:

Management and staff

The Trustees delegate to the National Director the day-to-day management of the Movement and the implementation of policies and other decisions of the Trustees. The National Director may subdelegate the management and implementation and the exercise of powers to members of the Leadership Team (members listed on page 1). The Trustees are thankful to God for a committed staff team who work hard to support volunteers and to advance the aims of the Movement.

Pay policy for senior staff

The members of the Leadership Team (listed on page 1) are the key management personnel of the Movement in charge of directing, controlling and operating SU on a day-to-day basis.

Members of the Leadership Team require a breadth and depth of expertise and credibility which requires drawing from the best senior level talent within the Christian community. This is balanced with seeking to keep salary costs under control and ensuring that senior staff pay is connected to the pay of other staff.

The Trustees annually review and determine the pay of the Leadership Team with reference to comparable national charities’ pay levels (XpertHR Voluntary Sector Salary Survey). The Trustees aim to follow the principle that the pay of the highest paid employee is not normally more than four times the average full-time-equivalent salary of the administrative-level roles within the Movement.

Details of the employment benefits paid to the Leadership Team during the year are included in Note 5 to the financial statements (page 30).

Related parties

All trustees give of their time freely and no trustee received remuneration during the year. Details of trustees’ expenses and any related party transactions are disclosed in Note 6 to the financial statements (page 31).

Trustees are required to disclose all relevant interests and register them with the Company Secretary and, in accordance with the Movement’s policy, withdraw from decisions where a conflict of interest arises.

Grant-making policy and principles

One of the ways in which SU works out its mission is by setting aside a proportion of income and resources each year to make grants to other SU movements and to organisations with a very close association to SU, for example local mission partners (see page 30). In addition, we receive gifts from our supporters which we use to make grants to support specific projects in other parts of the

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Report of the Trustees (incorporating the Directors’ and Strategic Reports) for year ended 31 March 2022

world. We do not fund individuals. The overriding purpose of any grant made is to further SU’s mission locally, regionally, nationally or internationally.

Grants are made at the discretion of the Trustees and this responsibility is delegated to the Leadership Team. Robust procedures are followed to ensure that consideration and awarding of grants is in line with the principles set out below, and that the quality and timeliness of reporting meets the requirements of SU’s Audit and Finance Committee (see pages 16-17). Grant allocations amounting to £166,000 were made during the year (2021: £244,000). (See Note 4 to the financial statements, pages 29-30, for a summary of grant allocations.)

Since the needs of the SU family are great and available funding is limited, the following principles set out the way in which SU allocates its grants:

Appointment of external auditor

MHA MacIntyre Hudson was appointed as external auditor in 2019 and has expressed willingness to continue in that capacity.

The Trustees submit their annual report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2022. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the Articles of Association and the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice (FRS 102).

This Trustees’ Annual Report, which incorporates the Strategic Report, was approved by the Trustees in their capacity as Company Directors on 13 July 2022 and signed on their behalf by:

Richard Godden Chairman

Kim Hurst FCA Honorary Treasurer

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Members of Scripture Union For the year ended 31 March 2022

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Scripture Union (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2022 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s Responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report.

We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate. Our evaluation of the Trustees’ assessment of the entity’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting included critical reviews of budgets and forecasts provided.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The Trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Members of Scripture Union For the year ended 31 March 2022

financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of our knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Directors’ report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ responsibilities statement included in the Trustees’ Annual Report, the Trustees (who are also the Directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The specific procedures for this engagement and the extent to which these are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Members of Scripture Union For the year ended 31 March 2022

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/Our-Work/Audit/Audit-andassurance/Standards-and-guidance/Standards-and-guidance-for-auditors/Auditorsresponsibilities-for-audit/Description-of-auditors-responsibilities-for-audit.aspx. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of this report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Sudhir Singh FCA

(Senior Statutory Auditor)

for and on behalf of MHA MacIntyre Hudson Statutory Auditor London, United Kingdom

Date: 7 October 2022

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Statement of financial activities incorporating an income and expenditure account for the year ended 31 March 2022

Notes
Unrestricted
funds
£’000
Income and endowments
Income from generated funds:
- Income from donations and
legacies
2a
3,097
- Income from investments
2b
34
- Income from grants
2c
-
Income from charitable activities:
- Holidays and missions
57
- Other fee income
15
- Publishing sales and royalties
791
_
Total income
3,994
_
Expenditure
Expenditure on raising funds:
- Cost of raising funds
456
Expenditure on charitable activities:
- Face-to-face mission
in England and Wales
2,182
- Advocacy
209
- Content creation
337
- Commercial publishing
727
- International activities
222
_
Total expenditure
4
4,133
_
Net gain/(loss) on investment
assets
8a
97
___
Net (expenditure)/income for
the year being net movement
in funds
(42)
_
Reconciliation of funds:
Fund balances brought forward
5,774
_
Fund balances carried forward
13
5,732
___		 Restricted
funds
£’000
Endowment
funds
£’000
386
-
20
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
_
___
406
-
_
_
-
-
288
-
-
-
16
-
-
-
96
-
_
_
400
-
_
_
-
(37)
_
___
6
(37)
_
_
177
693
_
_
183
656
_
_		 Total
2022
£’000
Unrestricted
funds
£’000
3,483
3,183
54
34
-
20
57
9
15
17
791
801
_
_
4,400
4,064
_
_
456
426
2,470
1,741
209
236
353
340
727
729
318
234
_
_
4,533
3,706
_
_
60
646
_
___
(73)
1004
_
_
6,644
4,770
_
_
6,571
5,774
_
___		 Restricted
funds
£’000
Endowment
funds
£’000
440
-
21
-
-
-
-
-
1
-
-
-
__
_
462
-
_
__
-
-
326
-
-
-
20
-
-
-
115
-
_
_
461
-
_
_
-
68
_
___
1
68
_
_
176
625
_
_
177
693
_
___		 Total
2021
£’000
3,623
55
20
9
18
801
_
4,526
_
426
2,067
236
360
729
349
_
4,167
_
714
_
1,073
_
5,571
_
6,644
_

The Notes on pages 25-36 form part of these financial statements.

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

As at 31 March 2022

Balance sheet

Notes
Fixed assets
Tangible assets
7
Investments
8a
Total Fixed Assets
Current assets
Investments
8b
Stocks
9
Debtors
10
Cash at bank and in hand
Total Current Assets
Liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
11
Net current assets
Total assets less current liabilities
Provisions for liabilities
12
Net assets
The funds of the Charitable Company
13
Unrestricted funds
Fixed assets fund
Working capital fund
Project and development fund
International fund
General fund
Restricted funds
Income fund
Endowment funds
Endowment fund
Total charity funds		 2022-
£’000
858
4,490
____
5,348
____
-
104
664
1,315
____
2,083
(847)
____
1,236
____
6,584
(13)
____
6,571
_

858
-
2,381
484
2,009
____
5,732
183
656
____
6,571
_		 2021
£’000
890
4,907
____
5,797
____
122
109
447
1,056
____
1,734
(868)
____
866
____
6,663
(19)
____
6,644
_
890
-
2,227
579
2,078
____
5,774
177
693
____
6,644
_

The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Trustees on 13 July 2022 and signed on their behalf by:

Richard Godden Chairman

Kim Hurst FCA Honorary Treasurer

The Notes on pages 25-36 form part of these financial statements.

Company Registration Number 00039828

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

for the year ended 31 March 2022

Statement of cash flows

Notes 2022 2021
£’000 £’000
Net cash (used in) operating activities See (a) below (368) 163
____ ____
Cash flows from investing activities
Interest received 2b 34 34
Dividends received 2b 20 21
Purchase of tangible fixed assets 7 (26) (14)
Sale of investments 8a 1,241 695
Purchase of investments 8a (709) (2,536)
Movement in investment cash 8a (55) 25
____ ____
Net cash from investing activities 505 (1,775)
____ ____
Change in cash and cash equivalents for the year 137 (1,612)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 1,178 2,790
____ ____
Total cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year See (b) below 1,315 1,178
____ ____
Change in cash and cash equivalents due to exchange rate movements during the year was £654 (2021: £1,729).
Notes to statement of cash flows
(a) Reconciliation of net income/(expenditure) for the year Notes 2022
£’000		 2021
£’000
Net (expenditure)/income for the reporting period See SOFA (73) 1,073
Adjustments for:
Depreciation charges 7 58 58
Net (profit)/loss on investments 8a (60) (714)
Dividends and interest from investments 2b (54) (55)
Decrease in stocks 9 5 62
(Increase) in debtors 10 (217) (26)
(Decrease) in creditors 11 (21) (229)
(Increase) in provision for pensions 12 (6) (6)
____ ____
Net cash (used in)/provided by operating activities (368) 163
____ ____
(b) Cash and cash equivalents Notes 2022
£’000		 2021
£’000
Cash at bank and in hand See Balance Sheet 1,315 1,056
Notice deposits (less than 3 months) 8b - 122
____ ____
Net funds 1,315 1,178
____ ____

The Notes on pages 25-36 form part of these financial statements.

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Notes forming part of the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

1. Accounting policies

The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the accounts are as follows:

SU constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.

These financial statements are presented in £’000’s.

The Trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about SU’s ability to continue as a going concern. For the year ending 31 March 2023 an operating deficit is planned and project and development activity will be funded from the designated Project and Development Fund reserve. A regular review of income has been implemented. In addition to ownership of a building used as the national office and long-term reserves, SU has a healthy cash balance. Cash flow forecasts indicate that ongoing operational activity will continue beyond the twelve months from signature of these financial statements.

Publishing sales represent the amounts receivable for goods sold in the normal course of business, net of trade discounts and Value Added Tax (VAT).

Interest on funds held on deposit are accrued for in line with the current advised interest rate.

Dividends are recognised once the dividend has been declared and notification of the dividend due has been received.

The Movement receives funds on behalf of other SU national movements. These funds are recognised as income and expended as grants within the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) and are shown as a liability or creditor on the Balance Sheet. The Charitable Company holds these granted funds within a ‘client account’.

No amounts are included in the financial statements for services donated by volunteers.

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Notes forming part of the financial statements for year ended 31 March 2022

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis. All expenses including support costs and governance costs are allocated or apportioned to the applicable expenditure headings. For more information on this attribution refer to Note 1(e).

Charitable expenditure comprises expenditure related to the direct furtherance of SU’s charitable objects. Where costs cannot be directly attributed, they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with use of the resources.

Cost of generating funds includes fees paid to fundraising consultants, staff time, database development costs and apportioned overhead costs.

Grants payable are payments made to third parties in the furtherance of SU’s charitable objects. Grant awards are subject to the recipient fulfilling performance conditions. The provision for a multi-year grant is recognised at its present value where settlement is due over more than one year from the date of the award, there are no unfulfilled performance conditions under the control of the Movement that would permit SU to avoid making the future payment(s), settlement is probable, and the effect of discounting is material.

Termination benefits, including redundancy costs, are recognised when the Charitable Company has the obligation to pay the benefits and they can be reliably measured.

The allocation of support and governance costs is set out in Note 4 (pages 29-30). The basis on which these costs are allocated is:

Finance Staff time Technical Services Headcount Human Resources Headcount Facilities National Office Headcount Database Staff time Mobilisation Staff time Management / Leadership Team Staff time

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Notes forming part of the financial statements for year ended 31 March 2022

estimated selling price net of trade discounts. Provision is made for slow-moving items where appropriate.

SU provides pensions to a small number of former staff on an unfunded basis. These staff worked for the Movement before a formal pension plan was set up or were ineligible to join a Revenue approved scheme. All the people entitled to such pensions are either retired or no longer employed by SU and the regular cost of the scheme is immaterial. Assessment of the unfunded pension liability is carried out annually and appropriate provision made in the Balance Sheet and the SOFA. SU’s contribution is restricted to the contributions disclosed in Note 5 (page 30). There were no outstanding contributions at the end of the year.

The Charitable Company makes estimates and assumptions concerning the future. The resulting accounting estimates and assumptions will, by definition, seldom equal the related actual results. The estimates and assumptions that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year are listed below.

The Trustees do not consider the COVID-19 pandemic to have had a material impact on these accounting estimates and areas of judgement.

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Notes forming part of the financial statements for year ended 31 March 2022

2. Income

2a. Income from donations and legacies

Unrestricted
funds
£’000
Restricted
funds
£’000
Endowment
funds
£’000
Donations
2,001
381
-
Legacies
1,096
5
-
_
_
_
3,097
386
-
_
_
_
2b. Income from investments
Interest receivable
Dividends receivable		 Total
2022
£’000
Unrestricted
funds
£’000
Restricted
funds
£’000
Endowment
funds
£’000
2,382
2,128
404
-
1,101
1,055
36
-
_
________
________
________
3,483
3,183
440
-
________
________
________
________
2022
£’000
34
20
____
_
54
____
 Total
2021
£’000
2,532
1,091
_
3,623
_
2021
£’000
34
21
___
55
___

Of the investment income, £20,000 (2021: £21,000) was attributable to restricted income with the balance of £34,000 (2021: £34,000) adding to unrestricted funds.

2c. Income from grants
Government grants		 2022
£’000
-
____
-
____		 2021
£’000
20
_
20
____

During the year, the Charitable Company claimed no COVID-19 Job Retention Scheme grants (2021: £19,723) for staff unable to continue to work during lockdown. There are no unfulfilled conditions to this income at year end.

3. Net income for the year is stated after charging:
Auditor remuneration: Audit fee
Auditor remuneration: Other services (corporation tax)
Depreciation charges
Operating lease rentals: machinery		 2022
£’000
18
2
58
4
____		 2021
£’000
18
1
58
3
____

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Notes forming part of the financial statements for year ended 31 March 2022

4. Expenditure
Grant funding of activities
(see below)
£’000
Direct costs
£’000
Support costs
(see below)
£’000
Total 2022
£’000
Costs of raising funds
-
108
348
456
Face-to-face mission in England and Wales
-
1,951
519
2,470
Advocacy
-
68
141
209
Content creation
-
263
90
353
Commercial publishing
-
619
108
727
International activities
166
112
40
318
_
__
_
_
Total 2022
166
3,121
1,246
4533
_
___
_
_
Total 2021
244
2,738
1,185
4,167
_
__
_
____		 Total 2021
£’000
426
2,067
236
360
729
349
_
4,167
_

Full comparative numbers for year ended 31 March 2021 are included as a separate Note on page 35.

Analysis of support costsFinance
£’000
Costs of raising funds
98
Face-to-face mission in
England and Wales
87
Advocacy
9
Content creation
18
Commercial publishing
25
International activities
10
__
Total 2022
247
_
Total 2021
281
___
Basis of allocation
Staff time		 Technical
Services
£’000
Human
Resources
£’000
36
3
180
29
15
2
36
5
27
5
6
1
_
_
300
45
_
_
259
44
_
_
HeadcountHeadcount
 Facilities
£’000
24
60
13
11
15
3
_
126
_
133
_
National
Office
Headcount		 Database
£’000
Mobilisation
£’000
Management/
Leadership Team
£’000
Total 2022
£’000
Total 2021
£,000
28
149
10
348
293
23
26
114
519
515
9
64
29
141
108
5
6
9
90
115
18
14
4
108
98
3
3
14
40
56
_
_
_
_
_
86
262
180
1,246
1,185
_
_
_
_
__
79
205
184
1,185
_
_
_
_____
Staff time
Staff time
Staff time

The basis on which costs have been allocated is outlined in Note 1(e) (page 26). Cost allocation includes an element of judgement and SU has had to consider the cost benefit of detailed calculations and record keeping. To ensure full-cost recovery on projects, SU adopts a policy of allocating costs to the respective cost headings through the year. This allocation includes support costs where they are directly attributable. The support costs shown are therefore a best estimate of the costs that have been so allocated.

Included within support costs is £48,000 (2021 £43,000) of Governance costs which comprise all costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the Charitable Company. It includes internal and external audit costs of £18,000 (2021: £18,000), Board and Council meeting costs of £4,000 (2021: £203) and an allocation of indirect costs to cover support from members of staff of £26,000 (2021: £25,000).

Grant activity in furtherance of the
Charitable Company’s objects
Activities
undertaken directly
£’000
Grant funding
of activities
£’000

International grant activity
Africa
-
47
Worldwide
-
39
Americas
-
37
Former Soviet Republics
-
21
Europe
-
9
Pacific
-
9
Rest of Britain & Ireland
-
3
Asia
-
1
_
_
Grant activity - international
-
166
Grant activity - England and Wales
30
-
_
_
Total 2022
30
166
_
_
Total 2021
89
244
_
_		 Support
Costs
£’000
Total 2022
£’000
Total 2021
£’000
12
59
74
10
49
89
8
45
70
5
26
36
2
11
47
2
11
12
1
4
13
-
1
7
_
_
_
40
206
348
20
50
61
_
_
_
60
256
409
_
_
_
76
409
_
_		 Support
Costs
£’000
Total 2022
£’000
Total 2021
£’000
12
59
74
10
49
89
8
45
70
5
26
36
2
11
47
2
11
12
1
4
13
-
1
7
_
_
_
40
206
348
20
50
61
_
_
_
60
256
409
_
_
_
76
409
_
_

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Notes forming part of the financial statements for year ended 31 March 2022

Grant allocations amounting to £166,000 (2021: £244,000) were made during the year. There were no new multiyear grant commitments (2021: £31,000) which are payable in future years. There were £6,000 grant commitments (2021: £9,000) accrued at the start of the year which remain payable in future years.

ovement in recognised funding commitments during the year Charitable commitments accrued
£’000
Grant commitments accrued at the start of the year 41
New grant commitments charged to the Statement of Financial Activities during the year
166
Grants paid during the year (201)
___
Amount of grant commitments accrued as at 31 March 2022 6
___

Movement in recognised funding commitments during the year

Further details on grants are available on request to the Movement.

SU England and Wales works in partnership with, and makes grants to, independent SU movements around the world as noted on pages 8, 17 and 18.

We also work in partnership with a range of independent trusts who look to SU for support and guidance on best practice in work with children and young people, including:

5. Staff costs and remuneration of key management personnel

Staff costs
Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Reorganisation costs
Pension costs
Scripture Union (L&G) Personal Pension Plan
Unfunded pension scheme
Average number of employees, analysed by function
Income generation
Advocacy
Face-to-face mission in England and Wales
Content creation
Commercial publishing
International activities
Administration and support of staff and volunteers		 2022
£’000
2,208
219
-
202
6
_
2,635
_
2022
Number
5
3
37
7
6
1
12
_
71
_		 2021
£’000
1,942
189
7
188
6
_
2,332
_
2021
Number
4
3
36
6
6
1
9
_
65
_

The average number of employees during the year was 71 (2021: 65), including 23 (2021: 19) part-time employees with no adjustment in the above table to take account of the number of hours worked. The average number of full-time equivalent employees during the year was 65 (2021: 62). No contractual reorganisation costs (2021: £7,000) were incurred during the year.

SU’s key management personnel are the members of the Leadership Team (listed on page 1). The employment benefits of the key management personnel – including employer pension and national insurance contributions – totalled £372,000 (2021: £373,000).

During the year, two employees (2021: one employee) earned between £60,001 and £70,000, no employee (2021: one employee) earned between £80,001 and £90,000, and one employee (2021: no employee) earned between £90,001 and £100,000, excluding employer pensions contributions.

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Notes forming part of the financial statements for year ended 31 March 2022

6. Related Parties

The Trustees received no emoluments in their role as trustees during the year, but eight of the eleven trustees received reimbursement of travel expenses totalling £1,502 (2021: £82 reimbursed to one of ten trustees).

During 2021/22, Dominic Vis the son of Stephen Vis, Finance & Services Director and a member of Key Management Personnel, commenced employment by the Charity in the role of an IT assistant. Stephen Vis was not involved in the appointment process. Dominic Vis was employed under standard terms of employment and at the normal pay scales as applied to other members of staff for such roles. There were no payments to Dominic Vis in 2021. (2021: Culture and Innovation Director was paid £250 and his wife was paid £300 during the year for writing notes for one of our Bible reading guides).

7. Tangible fixed assets

7. Tangible fixed assets
Cost:
Freehold land
and buildings
£’000
Computer
equipment
£’000
Fixtures and
fittings
£’000
At 1 April 2021
810
233
253
Additions
-
25
1
Disposals
-
(5)
-
_
_
_
At 31 March 2022
810
253
254
_
_
_
Depreciation:
At 1 April 2021
81
211
114
Charge for year
16
16
26
Disposals
-
(5)
-
_
_
_
At 31 March 2022
97
222
140
_
_
_
Net book value
At 31 March 2022
713
31
114
_
_
_
At 31 March 2021
729
22
139
_
_
_		 Machinery
£’000
12
-
(2)
_
10
_
12
-
(2)
_
10
_
-
_
-
_		 Total
£’000
1,308
26
(7)
_
1,327
_
418
58
(7)
_
469
_
858
_
890
_

At 31 March 2022, the Trustees had authorised capital expenditure for the ensuing year of £52,000 (2021: £71,000). Disposals as shown on the SOFA are shown net of depreciation. There were no capital commitments as at 31 March 2022 (2021: £nil).

No triggering event since the review of asset valuations undertaken in the first quarter of 2021 has been identified, and as such no further impairment review has been necessary.

8. Investments

8a. Fixed asset investments
Investments at market value
Investment cash
Fixed Interest & UK Government stocks
UK Listed Stock Exchange Investments, Unit Trusts and OEICs
Movement during the year:
Market value at 1 April
Less: Disposals at open market value
Add: Acquisition at cost
Net gain on revaluation
Movement in investment cash
Market value at 31 March
The historic cost of investments is £3,685,000 (2021: £3,809,000).
8b. Current asset investments
Scottish Widows		 2022
£’000
78
448
3,964
_
4,490
_
4,907
(1,240)
709
60
54
_
4,490
_
2022
£’000
-
_
-
_		 2021
£’000
24
511
4,372
_
4,907
_
2,377
(695)
2,536
714
(25)
_
4,907
_
2021
£’000
122
_
122
_

Current asset investments represent short-term cash deposits. The Scottish Widows account was closed during the year.

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Notes forming part of the financial statements for year ended 31 March 2022

9. Stocks
Work in progress
Finished goods		 2022
£’000
31
73
_
104
_		 2021
£’000
17
92
_
109
_

Value of stock recognised as an expense on the SOFA is £172,000 (2021: £177,000).

10. Debtors
Trade debtors
Tax recoverable
Other debtors
Legacies receivable
Prepayments and accrued income		 2022
£’000
71
80
79
372
62
_
664
_		 2021
£’000
19
51
27
300
50
_
447
_

Prior to sign-off of the financial statements, SU had been notified of further legacies with an estimated value of £339,000 (2021: £246,000). In accordance with Note 1(c) as noted on page 25, it was not considered appropriate to accrue for this amount in the financial statements as at 31 March 2022 all criteria for recognising legacy income in these instances had not been met.

11. Creditors

Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Trade creditors
Accruals and deferred income
Taxation and social security costs
Interest free loans from supporters
Other creditors
Deferred income
Deferred income at 1 April
Resources deferred during the year
Amounts released from previous periods
Deferred income at 31 March		 2022
£’000
330
346
53
32
86
_
847
_
2022
£’000
144
133
(144)
_
133
_		 2021
£’000
191
567
46
32
32
_
868
_
2021
£’000
144
144
(144)
_
144
_

Deferred income relates to subscriptions on dated published products and holiday income in advance of the event taking place.

12. Provisions for liabilities
Ex-gratia pensions
Balance at start of year
Pensions paid
Increase in provision
Balance at end of year		 2022
£’000
19
(9)
3
_
13
_		 2021
£’000
25
(9)
3
_
19
_

Ex-gratia pensions are provided to a small number of former staff on an unfunded basis. See Note 1(l) (page 27) for more details.

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Notes forming part of the financial statements for year ended 31 March 2022

13. Statement of funds
Unrestricted funds
Designated funds:
Fixed Assets
Project and Development
International
General fund
Total unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
Income funds:
Endowment income
Gifts for SU overseas
Good News Fund
Google AdWords
Rooted
SU Holiday Fund
Team support
Others
Total restricted funds
Endowment funds
Endowment fund
Total endowment funds
Total funds		 Balance
1 April
2021
£’000
890
2,227
579
_
3,696
2,078
_
5,774
_
-
-
15
-
14
102
-
46
__
177
_
693
_
693
_
6,644
____		 Income
£’000
Expenditure
£’000
Net investment
gains/(losses)
£’000
-
-
-
-
(596)
-
65
(160)
-
_
_
_
65
(756)
-
3,929
(3,377)
97
_
_
_
3,994
(4,133)
97
_
_
_
20
(20)
-
96
(96)
-
2
(6)
-
16
(16)
-
-
-
-
9
-
-
249
(249)
-
14
(13)
-
_
_
_
406
(400)
-
_
_
_
-
-
(37)
_
_
_
-
-
(37)
_
_
_
4,400
(4,533)
60
_
_
_		 Transfers
£’000
(32)
750
-
_
718
(718)
_
-
__
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
_
-
_
-
_
-
__
-
__		 Balance
31 March
2022
£’000
858
2,381
484
_
3,723
2,009
_
5,732
_
-
-
11
-
14
111
-
47
__
183
_
656
_
656
_
6,571
____

Full comparative numbers for year ended 31 March 2021 are included as a separate Note on page 36.

Unrestricted funds

Designated funds are as follows:

The remaining unrestricted funds, referred to as the General Fund, are available for use in the event of an unanticipated downturn in the level of income received and to fund any deficits on current charitable activities. Restricted funds

Income funds are as follows:

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Notes forming part of the financial statements for year ended 31 March 2022

With the exception of in-kind Google AdWords grants, restricted income funds are represented by cash balances.

Endowment funds

The Endowment fund represents a capital endowment which is normally held in a designated portfolio of stocks and shares.

Analysis of funds by asset Tangible fixed Liabilities and
assets Investments Current assets provisions Total 2022
Funds £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
General - 2,584 285 (860) 2,009
Designated 858 1,250 1,615 - 3,723
Restricted - - 183 - 183
Endowment - 656 - - 656
____ ____ ____ ____ ____
Total 858 4,490 2,083 (860) 6,571
____ ____ ____ ____ ____
4. Financial commitments
At 31 March 2022 SU had remaining commitments under non-cancellable leases as follows:
2022 2021
Expiry date Machinery
£’000

Machinery
£’000
Within one year 4 3
Two to five years 14 12
Over five years - 2
__
__
Total 18
__
17

__

14. Financial commitments

At 31 March 2022 SU had remaining commitments under non-cancellable leases as follows:

The value of lease payments included in the SOFA in the year was £4,000 (2021: £3,000).

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Notes forming part of the financial statements for year ended 31 March 2022

Comparative data for year ended 31 March 2021

4. Expenditure(2021 comparative) 4. Expenditure(2021 comparative) 4. Expenditure(2021 comparative) Grant funding of activities activities Support costs Support costs
(see below) Direct costs
(see below)		 Total 2021
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Costs of raising funds - 133 293 426
Face-to-face mission in England and Wales 11 1,541 515 2,067
Advocacy - 128 108 236
Content creation - 245 115 360
Commercial publishing - 631 98 729
International activities 233 60 56 349
____ ___ ____ ____
Total 2021 244 2,738 1,185 4,167
____ ___ ____ ____
Analysis of support costs Technical
Human		 Management
/ Leadership
Finance Services
Resources		 Facilities Database
Mobilisation
Team
Total 2021
£’000 £’000
£’000		 £’000 £’000 £’000
£’000
£’000
Costs of raising funds 73 31
3		 25
35		 111 15
293
Face-to-face mission in
England and Wales		 100 156
28		 64
22		 33 112
515
Advocacy 7 13
2		 13
4		 48 21
108
Content creation 51 31
5		 12
2		 4 10
115
Commercial publishing 30 23
5		 16
12		 7 5
98
International activities 20 5
1		 3
4		 2 21
56
______ _ _ _ _ _
_		 _
Total 2021 281
______		 259
_
44
_		 133
_
79
_		 205
_
184

_
1,185
_
Basis of activity Staff time
Headcount		 Headcount National
Office		 Staff time Staff time
Staff time
Headcount
Grant activity in furtherance of the
Charitable Company’s objects		 Activities
undertaken directly
£’000


Grant funding
of activities
£’000		 Support
Costs
£’000		 Total 2021
£’000
Scripture Union worldwide 20 49 20 89
Scripture Union – Africa 13 49 12 74
Scripture Union – Americas 12 55 3 70
Scripture Union – England and Wales 30 11 20 61
Scripture Union – Europe 3 36 8 47
Scripture Union – Former Soviet Republics 5 23 8 36
Scripture Union – rest of Britain & Ireland 2 9 2 13
Scripture Union – Pacific 2 9 1 12
Scripture Union – Asia 2 3 2 7
_ _ _ _
Total 2021 89 244 76 409
_ _ _ _
Movement in recognised funding commitments during the year Charitable commitments accrued
£’000
Grant commitments accrued at the start of the year 27
New grant commitments charged to the Statement of Financial Activities during the year
244
Grants paid during the year (230)
___
Amount of grant commitments accrued as at 31 March 2021 41
___

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

Notes forming part of the financial statements for year ended 31 March 2022

13. Statement of funds(2021 comparative)

Unrestricted funds
Designated funds:
Fixed Assets
Working Capital
Project and Development
International
General fund
Total unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
Income funds:
Endowment income
Gifts for SU overseas
Good News Fund
Google AdWords
Rooted
SU Holiday Fund
Team support
Others
Total restricted funds
Endowment funds
Endowment fund
Total endowment funds
Total funds		 Balance
1 April
2020
£’000
934
95
1,392
388
_
2809
1,961
_
4,770
_
-
-
13
-
27
92
-
44
__
176
_
625
_
625
_
5,571
____		 Income
£’000
Expenditure
£’000
Net investment
gains
£’000
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
(365)
-
352
(161)
-
_
_
_
352
(526)
-
3,712
(3,180)
646
_
_
_
4,064
(3,706)
646
_
_
_
21
(21)
-
115
(115)
-
2
-
-
19
(19)
-
-
(13)
-
10
-
-
228
(228)
-
67
(65)
-
_
_
_
462
(461)
-
_
_
_
-
-
68
_
_
_
-
-
68
_
_
_
4,526
(4,167)
714
_
_
_		 Transfers
£’000
(44)
(95)
1,200
-
_
1,061
(1,061)
_
-
__
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
_
-
_
-
_
-
__
-
__		 Balance
31 March
2021
£’000
890
-
2,227
579
_
3,696
2,078
_
5,774
_
-
-
15
-
14
102
-
46
__
177
_
693
_
693
_
6,644
____

NOTE: The Working Capital Fund (designated fund) represented the funds used to finance the continuing activities of the publishing department, comprising the stock and debtors less trade and other creditors of the department. Given the strategic reduced focus on publishing, this designated fund was closed in year ended 31 March 2021 and outstanding balances transferred to the General Fund.

Analysis of funds by asset
Funds
Tangible fixed
assets
£’000
Investments
£’000
Current assets
£’000
Liabilities and
provisions
£’000

General
-
4,214
(1,248)
(888)
Designated
890
-
2,806
-
Restricted
-
-
177
-
Endowment
-
693
-
-
_
_
_
_
Total
890
4,907
1,735
(888)
_
_
_
_		 Total 2021
£’000
2,078
3,696
177
693
_
6,644
_

Creating opportunities for children and young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith

www.scriptureunion.org.uk

Registered Office: Trinity House Opal Court Opal Drive Fox Milne Milton Keynes MK15 0DF T 01908 856000 F 01908 856111 E info@scriptureunion.org.uk

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