THE CHURCH UNION ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 Registered Cbarity Number 243535 THE CHURCH UNION Registered Charity No. 243535 CONTENTS Page Legal and administrative inforniation Trustees, annual report Statement of trustccs, responsibilities Independent Examiner's ￿POrt Statcm¢nt of Financial Activitics Statement of Financial Activities for 2023 Balance Sheet Statement of Cash Flows io Notes to the Financial Statements THE CHURCH UNION Registered Charity No. 243535 LEGAL ANL D ADMtNISTRATIVE INFORMATION Trustees: Th¢ Right R¢v¢T¢nd Martyn Jarr¢tt (President) The Reverend Father Darren Smith (Chairnian) The Reverend Father Martin Ennis Miss Mary Moore (Secretary) The Reverend Canon Steven Kirk Mr Pctt¢r Kringb¢rg Miss Sandra Baiden Mrs Clarie Epsom Mr Richard Morgan Father David Fisher Bishop Rog¢r Jupp Standing Commit¢ee: Th¢ Right Reverend Martyn Jarrett Er officio The Reverend Father Darren Smith Ex officio The Reverend Father Martin Ennis Ex officio Miss Mary Moore Er officio The Reverend Canon Steven KI￿ Er officio Registered oifice: 16 Commercial Street Birniingham BI IRS Bankers: Lloyds Bank PIC 98 Victoria StrKt London SWIE 5JL Independent Examiner: Nicholas Simkins Butts Farni Staffordshire ST18 OTF Inveslment Managers: CCLA One Angel Lane LA)ndon EC4R 3AB THE CHURCH UNION Registered Cbarity No. 243535 TRUSTEES, ANNUAL REPORT For Ihe year ended 31 December 2024 The trustees present their annual report and financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2024. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 2 to the accounts and comply with the Charity's trust d¢cd, th¢ Chariti¢s Act 201 l 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 (effective January 2019). STRUCTURE. GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT The G¢n¢ral Trust Fund ofthc Church Union (Church Union) is govcrncd by a Trust D¢¢d dated 7 May 1934 as amended by a s¢h¢m¢ scalcd on 9 January 2008. It was registered as a charity on 13 September 1966. Organisation The Council, consisting of the President and 12 ¢l¢ctd m¢mb¢rs, governs the Church Union. Th¢se members, (6 being clergy and 6 being Laity) having been nominated by and elected by a postal ballot of all the members of the Church Union. They s¢rvc for a period of four years. half being elected every two years in rotation. Thc Council annually appoints a Standing Committee comprising the Chaimian. Vice-Chairn)an, Secretary, Treasurcr and two ¢lerical and two lay membcrs of the Council. The Council appoints a Secretary, Honorary Treasurcr and Solicitor. Decisions are mad¢ by vote ai Council m¢¢tings and the Council may appoinl and dismiss all paid employees of the Church Union. Policies and procedures for the induction and training of Trustees Only those who are members of the Church Union are ¢ligible to be el¢ctd as mcmbcrs of th¢ Council and so it is unknown for anyone to b¢ so clccted who is not already been active in the Church Union. New members, then, take up their post with a sound basic knowledge of the charity's aims, objectives and working practices. In the event of any furth¢r induction being necessary it is provided by one of the OtTi¢ers or another appropria1¢ member of the Council. THE CHURCH UNION Registered Cbarity No. 243535 TRUSTEES, ANNUAL REPORT (Continued) For the year ended 31 December 2024 OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES The principal object of the Church Union is to bring all to worship God in Trinity of Persons and Unity of Substance, and to confess Our Lord J¢su5 Christ as God and man" by upholding Catholic doctrinc. worship. order and discipline in the Church; and by renewing and extending Catholic faith and practice in the Church of England and elsewhere. The objectives of the Church Union are to promote and renew Catholic faith and life by: Commissioning. publishing and distributing literature for the furthcrance of the Church Union's objectives, and exploring and developing modern forms of communication. Encouraging missions and retr¢ats and other opportunities for personal renewal. Encouraging religious educalion, including the training of clergy and laity in their vocation and mission; Developing work among children and young people and providing appropriate resources" Fostering vocations to priesthood, the religious life and various forn)s of accredited lay ministy. Promoting study and research in all branches of thcology, especially Holy Scripture, doctrine, worship, spirituality, ethics and sociology. Organising congresses and conf¢r¢nc¢s' Collaborating with oth¢r Catholic Societies and organisations. To promote and encourage the practical application of Christian principl¢s to social lif¢; To work for the visible unity of Christ's Church; To afford counsel, protection and assistance to all people, whether clerical or lay, suffering hindranc¢, deprivation or pcrsccution in consequence of their fidelity to these aims and objectives. In pursuant of th¢se obj¢ctiv¢s, th¢ Charity continues to publish an in-house magazine The Church Observer, the magazine Together, and other materials including the Ordo and Foundations a resource for Sunday Schools. It also operates a website and recruits new members. PUBLIC BENEFIT The Trustees confirni that they have referred to the guidance containcd in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the Charity's aims and objectives and in planning future activities and that they remain committed to supporting parishes, institutions and individuals in various wider contcxts through modest grant-making and oth¢r activities; in considering such grants, the Trustees naturally look for demonstrable public benefit, as is ably demonstrated below. ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE The Church Union continued with its publishing work including the Ordo, Church Observer and Together. Togeiher is produced in partnership with oth¢[ Caiholic Societies. notably Forward in Faith, The Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament and Additional Curates Society. The Union continued to give its full support to th¢ Forward in Faith National Assembly and to the Catholic Societies of the Church of England. GRANT MAKING POLICY The Church Union has established its grant making policy to achi¢ve its objects for the public benefit. Applications for grants are consid¢r¢d. with reference to the charity's objectives, on a case by cas¢ basis by the Board of Trustees. 8 grants were made in 2024 totalling £39,334. (2023 8 grants- £56.367)- Note 8. THE CHURCH UNION Registered Charity No. 243535 TRUSTEES AIYNUAL REPORT {CoDtinued) For the year ended 31 December 2024 FINANCIAL REVIEW The year saw the charity generate net income of £20,192 (2023: £103.455 net income). Income arising on the investments held for Testricted funds was wholly re-invested. Unrealised gains arising from the investment portfolio in 2024 were £32,602 (2023: £124,119 gain) The investment policy agreed and actioned in the past remained in place throughout the year. The Trustees are satisfied with the perforniance of the portfolio having Tegard to the risk profile adopted. The Council approved the sale of inv¢stments of £1 00,000 from the CCLA portfolio during the year. The Council wished to Inc￿aSe the value of the Jackson Trust and the Martin Trust to £1 00,00 ¢ach by the year end. This would enable further grants to be made in future years. A transfer of £44,328 was made from the general unrestricted fund into the restricted fund. RESERVES POLICY The Trust¢¢s are aware of the Charity Commission rquirement in regard to Reserves Policy and are satisfied that the level of rescrves currently held is warranted to enable them to maintain the objectives of th¢ Charity. The Trustees review regularly th¢ level of reservcs, and the undertying investments and the returns being received on these investments. At the 31 December 2024 unrestricted reserves amounted to £1.294.383 (2023: £1,313.750) and restricted reserves amountcd to £235,817 (2023: £196258) This repr¢scnts several years, of ongoing expenditure. It is the policy of the Truste¢s to maintain at least one year's expenditure in unrestricted r¢servcs. The Trustees may perniit funds to b¢ invested in such a manner as they see fit. provided that such powers if investment are only exercised for the purpose of attaining the objects of the TrusL and in a manner that is legally charitable. The Trustces, agreed Investment Policy is to maintain a balanced px)rtfolio with medium risk. GOING CONCERN Th¢ Trustees consider that the level and nature of the f￿anCIal reserves at 31 December 2024 does not impact upon thc assumption that the organisation is a going concern. KEY MANAGEMENT The day to day management of the Charity is the reswnsibility of th¢ Chairnian of the Church Union, who delegates particular areas of management to the Treasurer and Secretary. RISK FACTORS During the year the Trustees continued to monitor the major risk factors facing the Charity and they remain satisfied that existing systems and controls are suifici¢nt to mitigate those risks. During the year under ￿VieW thc Charity maintained sound systcms of internal fjnancial control. including procedures for authorisation of all transactions Projects. Such procedures arc kept under on-going review in order to ensure that they meet the Charity's needs. This report was approved by the Trustees on 6 October 2025 and signed on its behalf by The Rev nd Father Darren Smith. ChairD)aD THE CHURCH UNION Registered Charity No. 243535 STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES, RESPONSIBILTTIES For the year ended 31 December 2024 TRUSTEES, RESPOI¥S￿ILITIEs IN RELATION TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENrs The charity trustees are responsible for preparing a trustces, annual report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (Unitd Kingdom Generally Accept¢d Accounting Practice). The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the charity trustees to prepare fmancial statements for each year which give a t￿¢ and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources. of the charity for that period. In preparing the fll)ancial statements, the trustees are required to: select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently" observe the methods and principles in the applicable Charities SORP; make judgements and estimates that a￿ reasonable and prudent; state whether applicabl¢ accounting standards have been followe