The Mothers’ Union Diocese of York
Trustees’ Annual Report for 2025
## **THE MOTHERS' UNION - DIOCESE OF YORK**
## **TRUSTEES' ANNUAL REPORT**
## **YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025**
The trustees present their report and the independently examined financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2025.
## **REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS**
**Registered charity name** The Mothers' Union - Diocese of York Charity **Registration number** 249998 **Principal office** 1 Bankside, Yarm, North Yorkshire, TS15 9RH **THE TRUSTEES**
Mrs A Dewing Mrs B M Ford Miss E Galloway Mrs S Hammond Mrs M Lawrence Mrs S Rogerson Revd E Scrivens Revd J Smith Mrs C Wilson Mrs G Woodhall
**Independent examiner** Mr B Hopper Foxville Garth Ends Lane Hemingbrough Selby North Yorkshire YO8 6QW
## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT**
- ❖ The Mothers' Union is an Anglican organisation which promotes the well-being of families worldwide. The charity is governed by a constitution updated in 2022.
- ❖ The Trustees control and manage the affairs of the charity in the Diocese. Trustees are elected for a three year period initially and may stand for re-election for a further three years. In cases of unfilled positions, the existing board may appoint a suitable person to fill the role.
- ❖ The Trustee Board is supported by a team of 3 Chaplains, one from each Archdeaconry.
- ❖ Safeguarding – the Diocese operates in accordance with the Mothers’ Union national guidelines.
- ❖ Data Protection – data is stored and processed in line with national GDPR rules.
The Trustees' Annual Report was approved on 16 May 2026 and signed on behalf of the board of trustees by:
Mrs B M Ford, Diocesan President
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The Mothers’ Union Diocese of York
Trustees’ Annual Report for 2025
## **Achievements and Performance**
The theme for the 2025-2027 Triennium is ‘Join Us, Join In’ to celebrate 150 years of Mothers’ Union.
- ❖ Underpinning all our work is our objective to maintain a worldwide fellowship of Christians united in prayer, worship and service.
- In spring and autumn 2025 we enjoyed two successful Diocesan retreats.
- Members continued locally to participate in annual acts of witness which draw attention to and raise the profile of Mothers’ Union objectives. In terms of worship, these include the Wave of Prayer acknowledging our work in link Dioceses across the world and the World Day of Prayer.
- York Minster hosted a service for the commissioning of the Diocesan President and new board of Trustees for the 2025-2027 Triennium and also a service for the commissioning of the new York Provincial President.
- ❖ A great deal of our work focusses on our objective to help those whose family life has met with adversity.
- This was the fourth year usage of our new AFIA caravan. We offered holidays to 10 families in need.
- Members responded with very positive fund-raising for Make a Mothers’ Day, Summer of Hope and the Christmas special appeals. Donations were also made to all the ongoing national funds. Locally members continue to support community projects such as - women’s refuges, hospital initiatives, refugees.
- Public acts to mark the 16 days of activism against Gender-Based Violence were successfully conducted in 2025 and drew good response from the public. A weekday silence in York Minster again received support from members and visitors.
- Branches have made good use of the national resources available for the Rise-Up campaign focussing on Domestic Abuse throughout the year.
- ❖ Via normal Church life, we have continued to engage with work in support of our objective to encourage parents in their role to develop the faith of their children.
- Member involvement continued in Messy Church, Open the Book and toddler group activities.
- Branch support for baptism families continued, for example with a gift of a knitted bear, and mark the anniversaries of the baptisms over a period of four years with cards.
- Branch support for local clergy for couples getting married.
- ❖ The Trustee board has worked on aims set last year by:
- successful migration of data in February 2025 to the new national database enabling a full check of current member details,
- commencing on clergy liaison packs,
- Branch achievements of Bronze awards for promotion of Rise Up resources and awareness,
- continuing to provide for families in need through our AFIA caravan holidays.
## **Plans for Future Periods**
- ❖ Work towards the target set by Central MU Charity to attract 150 new members.
- ❖ Promoting national and global events for the MU 150[th] anniversary in 2026; planning Diocesan events to celebrate and supporting local branch activity.
- ❖ Engaging with the national initiatives: continuing with Rise Up; new action against Modern Day Slavery; new action ‘Growing Up In An Online World’ starting with a government survey May 2026.
- ❖ Rethinking of how Diocesan sales of MUe cards and goods are promoted and administered.
- ❖ Completion of clergy liaison packs.
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The Mothers’ Union Diocese of York
Trustees’ Annual Report for 2025
## **Accounts for 2025**
||**Accounts for 2025**|**Accounts for 2025**||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||01/01/2025
**To**
**The Mothers' Union - Diocese of York**||**Charity Number**|**CC16a**||
||||**249998**|||
|||||||
|||||||
||01/01/2025||31/12/2025|||
|**Section A Receipts and payments**
**Receipts**
**York Diocesan Funds**
AFIA
Parenting
Retreats
MUe Sales
Donations from branches
150th anniversary fund
Other donations
MUe Dividend
Gift Aid
Yorkshire Building Society interest|||||**NOTE**|
|||||||
||**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest**
**£**
-
11,645
3,911
100
828
1,661
232|**Restricted funds**
**to the nearest £**
6,222
-
125
1,617|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
6,222
-
11,645
3,911
100
125
1,617
828
1,661
232|**Last year**
**to the nearest £**
8,743
-
10,123
7,218
964
-
-
1,003
1,983
794|6
3
3|
|Royal Bank of Scotland interest
**Investment Interest**|182||182|268||
|CBF deposit fund retained interest|1,512||1,512|1,684|5|
|CBF short duration bond fund interest|
-|-|-|106|5
closed 2024|
|CBF short duration bond sale of shares
CBF investment fund|-
713|-|-
713|4,230
697||
|Diocesan Subscriptions|4,130||4,130|5,488||
|net gain in funds held in branch accounts
**Mary Sumner House(MSH) funds**
Subscriptions for central
Overseas: Literature & Development
Overseas:general
Relief|404|18,400
340
1,363
760|404
18,400
340
1,363
760|-
18,013
415
1,846
1,251||
|Britain & Ireland
MSH general||75
150|75
150|95
160||
|**Special Appeals**||||||
|Make a Mother's Day
Summer of Hope
Christmas 2025|
|693
1,855
1,238|693
1,855
1,238|1,007
2,531
2316||
|**_Total receipts_ **|**25,318**|**32,838**|**58,156**|**70,935**||
|||||||
|**Payments**||||||
|net loss in funds held in branch accounts|-|-|-|270||
|**York Diocesan Funds**||||||
|Diocesan President retirement gift 2024|-|-|-|693||
|AFIA: expenses||7,696|7,696|12,620||
|AFIA: wages-caravan cleaner||556|556|117||
|Indoor member prayer group||1,224|1,224|200||
|Retreats|12,535||12,535|12,336||
|**Expenses**||||||
|Trustees|2,586||2,586|1,155||
|Diocesan Chaplain & reps|291||291|489||
|Member Support|1,258||1,258|1,542||
|Admin/Office|1,066||1,066|502||
|Examiner Fee|480||480|450||
|**Mary Sumner House(MSH) funds**||||||
|Subscriptions to central||18,423|18,423|17,890||
|MUe purchase orders|6,214||6,214|4,026|6|
|Overseas: Literature & Development||340|340|415|8|
|Overseas:general||1,363|1,363|1,846||
|Relief||760|760|1,251||
|Britain & Ireland||75|75|95||
|MSH general||150|150|160||
|**Special Appeals**||||||
|Make a Mother's Day||693|693|6,007||
|Summer of Hope||1,855|1,855|7,531||
|Christmas 2025|4,000|1,188|5,188|6,316|9|
|||||||
|**_Totalpayments_**|**28,431**|**34,323**|**62,754**|**75,911**||
|||||||
|**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**|**- 3,113**|**- 1,485**|**- 4,598**|**- 4,976**||
|**Transfers between funds**|27|- 27||||
|**Cash funds lastyear end**|**47,165**|**13,674**|**60,839**|||
|**_Cash funds thisyear end_**|**44,079**|**12,162**|**56,241**|||
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The Mothers’ Union Diocese of York
Trustees’ Annual Report for 2025
## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds
TOTAL
Cash funds to nearest £ to nearest £
NatWest 159 1,617 1,776 2
Royal Bank of Scotland 90 90
Yorkshire Building Society 2,656 125 2,781
surplus funds held in branches 16,673 16,673 4
CBF deposit fund 24,501 10,420 34,921 5
44,079 12,162 56,241
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds
Other monetary assets to nearest £ to nearest £
Current value
Investment assets Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) (optional)
CBF investment fund 24,646
Current value
Assets retained for the charity’s own use Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) (optional)
MUe sales stock unrestricted - general 1,189
caravan restricted - AFIA 25,016 15,008 7
Fund to which liability relates Amount due When due
Liabilities (optional) (optional)
Bourne Leisure restricted - AFIA 2,976 Feb 2026
examiner fee for 2025 accounts unrestricted - general 500 April 2026
subs prepaid for 2026 restricted - MSH 100 April 2026
Central projects - Christmas 2025 restricted - MSH 50
Prepayments Amount paid
(optional)
Wydale retreats deposits May & October 2027 1,696
Date of
Print Name
Signed by (on behalf of all the trustees ) approval
16/05/2026
B M Ford
`
16/05/2026
C S Wilson
**----- End of picture text -----**
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The Mothers’ Union Diocese of York
Trustees’ Annual Report for 2025
**Notes to the Accounts**
## **1 General Information**
The charity is a public benefit entity and a registered charity in England and Wales and is unincorporated. The address of the principal office is 1 Bankside, Yarm, North Yorkshire, TS15 9RH.
## **2 Basis of Accounting**
The accounting is on a Receipts and Payments (R&P) basis.
A new NatWest Charity Business account was opened and operates since September.
## **3 Restricted Funds activity**
A collection was started for the 150[th ] anniversary fundraising.
A legacy received has been ear-marked towards a new Diocesan banner.
|**Fund**
150th
Banner
AFIA
Parenting
Indoor|**01/01/2025**
**in**
**out**
125.00
1,616.87
7,899.35
6,221.97
8,252.09
1,508.00
4,266.74
1,224.00
13,674.09|**31/12/2025**
125.00
1,616.87
5,869.23
1,508.00
3,042.74
12,161.84||**held in**|**held in**||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||YBS|NatWest|RBS|investment|
||||125.00|1,616.87||5,869.23
1,508.00
3,042.74|
||13,674.09|12,161.84|125.00|1,616.87||10,419.97|
## **4 Unrestricted Funds activity**
These include monies held in branches which are examined locally and reported to the Diocese annually.
Expenses incurred by Trustees on behalf of The Mothers’ Union are reimbursed but no Trustee receives remuneration for services.
## **5 Investments**
Two CBF funds were held. The values of these are shown at market value on 31 December 2025. The Deposit Fund dividends are retained and reinvested in that fund.
The dividends for the Investment fund were paid into the Royal Bank of Scotland account and reported as Payments.
## **6 Mothers’ Union Enterprises Ltd**
Stocks are accounted for at the point of purchase and sale. The value of stock remaining in hand is recorded as an asset. The two Diocesan MUe sales reps have now retired and all their remaining stock is held centrally. Branches are also making their own orders directly with the Enterprise shop. No non-MUe goods for resale purchased this year.
Sales receipts includes petty cash held £64.10; amount accounted in Money held in Branches.
## **7 Caravan**
This asset is subject to depreciation using the straight line principle at 10% per year. The current caravan is now 4 years old.
## **8 Project Support**
In addition to donations processed through the Diocese there were direct payments of £2,479 to Central for the following projects:
|**Ongoing Projects**||**Special**|**Appeals**|
|---|---|---|---|
||£||£|
|Overseas|26|Make A Mothers’ Day|473|
|Relief||Summer of Hope|1,025|
|Britain & Ireland||Christmas 2025|405|
|Central General Fund|550|||
In 2025 the council of members approved a spend of £4,000 from excess reserves. This was given to the national MU Christmas 2025 appeal under the Big Give Double-Up scheme so had a worth of £8,000. This was augmented by branch and individual donations.
## **9 Reserves Policy**
A policy has been established whereby surplus funds not otherwise committed should be the equivalent of one year’s expenditure. It is considered that 12 months resources will give us sufficient funds to continue current activities in the event of a significant reduction in funding. This policy is reviewed annually by the Trustee Board to ensure forward commitments
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The Mothers’ Union Diocese of York
Trustees’ Annual Report for 2025
## **Independent Examiners Report to Trustees of The Mothers’ Union – Diocese of York Year Ended 31 December 2025**
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of The Mothers’ Union – Diocese of York for the year ended 31st December 2025
## **Respective responsibilities of Members of the Council and Examiner**
As the trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.
I report in respecr of my examination of the charity’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145 (5)(b) of the Act.
## **Independent Examiner’s statement**
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
- accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or
- the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
- the financial statements do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than the any requirement that the accounts give a “true and fair view” which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
B Hopper
27[th] March 2026
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