SCRIPTURE UNION

Charity overview
Activities - how the charity spends its money
We help children and young people explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith. We make Jesus known through our work in communities, schools, holidays and missions. Through publishing, using print and digital media, we aim to inspire leaders to make disciples of children and young people with our resources and to equip Christians to grow in discipleship with Bible guides and publications.
Income and expenditure
Data for financial year ending 31 March 2024
Total income:
£4,215,000
Donations and legacies | £3.01m | |
Charitable activities | £1.15m | |
Other trading activities | £0 | |
Investments | £56.00k | |
Other | £0 |
Total expenditure:
£5,243,000
Raising funds | £479.00k | |
Charitable activities | £4.76m | |
Other | £0 |
£165,000 investments gains (losses)
Charitable expenditure
Charitable expenditure with investment gains
Charitable expenditure
Some charities generate all, or a substantial part, of their income from investments which may have been donated to the charity as endowment or set aside by the charity from its own resources in the past. Such investments usually take the form of stocks and shares but may include other assets, such as property, that are capable of generating income and/or capital growth.
In managing their spending and investments charities need to strike a balance between the needs of future and current beneficiaries. They also need to take account of spending commitments that may stretch over a number of future years. To do this, charities will normally adopt an investment strategy designed to generate both income and capital growth. To maximise returns trustees may commit to investment strategies for several years.
Investments can experience large swings in value so trustees may, in a particular year, decide to realise and spend part of their charity’s capital or to invest part of its income.
By clicking the investment gains checkbox the charitable spending bar is adjusted to take account of capital growth as well as income. This shows the balance the charity is striking, between spending on current beneficiaries and retaining resources for future beneficiaries.
Raising funds and other expenditure | £479.00k | |
Charitable expenditure | £4.76m |
People

75 Employee(s)
9 Trustee(s)
1332 Volunteer(s)
Employees with total benefits over £60,000
Number of employees | |
---|---|
£60k to £70k | 3 |
£90k to £100k | 1 |
Fundraising
Trading
Trustee payments
What, who, how, where
- Education/training
- Religious Activities
- Children/young People
- Other Defined Groups
- The General Public/mankind
- Makes Grants To Individuals
- Makes Grants To Organisations
- Provides Services
- Provides Advocacy/advice/information
- Acts As An Umbrella Or Resource Body
- Other Charitable Activities
- Throughout England And Wales
- Armenia
- Australia
- Bolivia
- Botswana
- Congo (Democratic Republic)
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Estonia
- Eswatini
- Fiji
- France
- Germany
- Ghana
- Greece
- Hungary
- India
- Ireland
- Isle Of Man
- Kenya
- Kosovo
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Namibia
- Nepal
- New Zealand
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Peru
- Romania
- Russia
- Scotland
- Serbia
- Sierra Leone
- Slovakia
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Sri Lanka
- Tajikistan
- Thailand
- The Gambia
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Governance
- 03 January 1966: Standard registration
- SCRIPTURE UNION ENGLAND AND WALES (Working name)
- SU (Working name)
- UNDEB Y GAIR (Working name)
- Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
- Complaints handling
- Complaints policy and procedures
- Conflicting interests
- Financial reserves policy and procedures
- Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
- Internal risk management policy and procedures
- Investing charity funds policy and procedures
- Investment
- Paying staff
- Risk management
- Safeguarding policy and procedures
- Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
- Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
- Social media policy and procedures
- Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
- Trustee expenses policy and procedures
- Volunteer management
Trustees
Trustees are the people responsible for controlling the work, management and administration of the charity on behalf of its beneficiaries. Generally trustees are treasurer, chair, board member etc. The trustees are responsible for keeping this list up to date and can do this by updating their details as they happen through the online service
9 Trustee(s)
Name | Role | Date of appointment | Other trusteeships | Reporting status of other trusteeships | ||||||
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Richard Westacott Godden | Chair | 19 July 2018 |
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Ian Robertson Gulland | Trustee | 16 November 2024 |
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Sarah Jane Smart | Trustee | 04 September 2023 |
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SANDRA MORRIS | Trustee | 03 January 2022 |
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Malcolm William Forsyth | Trustee | 19 November 2020 |
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JUNIOR CHARLES JOHNSON | Trustee | 05 February 2020 |
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Revd Dr MARK GRIFFITHS JP | Trustee | 11 July 2019 |
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RICHARD ALASTAIR EVANS | Trustee | 11 July 2019 |
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KIM B HURST | Trustee | 20 September 2017 |
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Financial history
Financial period end date
Income / Expenditure | 31/03/2020 | 31/03/2021 | 31/03/2022 | 31/03/2023 | 31/03/2024 | ||
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Total gross income | £4.87m | £4.53m | £4.40m | £4.53m | £4.22m | |
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Total expenditure | £5.55m | £4.17m | £4.53m | £5.09m | £5.24m | |
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Income from government contracts | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
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Income from government grants | N/A | £20.00k | N/A | £1.53k | N/A | |
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Income - Donations and legacies | £3.33m | £3.62m | £3.48m | £3.24m | £3.01m | |
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Income - Other trading activities | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | |
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Income - Charitable activities | £1.46m | £828.00k | £863.00k | £1.22m | £1.15m | |
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Income - Endowments | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | |
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Income - Investment | £86.00k | £55.00k | £54.00k | £64.00k | £56.00k | |
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Income - Other | £0 | £20.00k | £0 | £2.00k | £0 | |
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Income - Legacies | £789.00k | £1.09m | £1.10m | £1.15m | £929.00k | |
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Expenditure - Charitable activities | £5.12m | £3.74m | £4.08m | £4.62m | £4.76m | |
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Expenditure - Raising funds | £425.00k | £426.00k | £456.00k | £465.00k | £479.00k | |
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Expenditure - Governance | £54.00k | £43.00k | £48.00k | £55.00k | £54.00k | |
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Expenditure - Grants institution | £273.00k | £244.00k | £166.00k | £225.00k | £140.00k | |
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Expenditure - Investment management | £13.00k | £13.00k | £16.00k | £16.00k | £10.00k | |
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Expenditure - Other | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
Assets and liabilities
Definitions for assets and liabilities
These are assets, other than investments, which are held for more than 12 months and used to run and administer the charity such as buildings, offices, exhibits and fixtures and fittings.
Long term InvestmentsInvestments are assets held by the charity with the sole aim of generating income which will be used for their charitable purposes such as deposit accounts, shares, rental property and unit trusts.
Investment assets are re-valued every year and included in the balance sheet at their current market value.
Long term investments are held for more than 12 months.
These are assets held generally for less than 12 months such as cash and bank balances, debtors, investments to be sold within the coming year and trading stock.
Defined benefit pension scheme asset or liabilityThis is a surplus or deficit in any defined benefit pension scheme operated and represents a potential long-term asset or liability.
Total liabilitiesThese are all the amounts owed by the charity at the balance sheet date to third parties such as bills due but not yet paid, bank overdrafts and loans and mortgages.
Asset / Liability | 31/03/2020 | 31/03/2021 | 31/03/2022 | 31/03/2023 | 31/03/2024 | ||
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Own use assets | £934.00k | £890.00k | £858.00k | £839.00k | £852.00k | |
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Long-term investments | £2.38m | £4.91m | £4.49m | £3.52m | £2.45m | |
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Other assets | £3.38m | £1.73m | £2.08m | £2.22m | £2.29m | |
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Defined benefit pension scheme asset or liability | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | |
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Total liabilities | £1.12m | £887.00k | £860.00k | £811.00k | £691.00k |
Accounts and annual returns
Title | Reporting year | Date received | Received | Download |
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Annual return | 31 March 2024 | 30 January 2025 | On Time | |
Accounts and TAR | 31 March 2024 | 30 January 2025 | On Time | Download Open in new window |
Annual return | 31 March 2023 | 26 January 2024 | On Time | |
Accounts and TAR | 31 March 2023 | 26 January 2024 | On Time | Download Open in new window |
Annual return | 31 March 2022 | 25 November 2022 | On Time | |
Accounts and TAR | 31 March 2022 | 25 November 2022 | On Time | Download Open in new window |
Annual return | 31 March 2021 | 21 January 2022 | On Time | |
Accounts and TAR | 31 March 2021 | 21 January 2022 | On Time | Download Open in new window |
Annual return | 31 March 2020 | 27 January 2021 | On Time | |
Accounts and TAR | 31 March 2020 | 27 January 2021 | On Time | Download Open in new window |
Governing document
It is not the full text of the charity's governing document.
MEMORANDUM AND ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION ADOPTED ON 29 JANUARY 1951 AS AMENDED ON 26 JULY 1954, 27 MARCH 1961, 24 MAY 1989, 19 NOVEMBER 1999, 27 SEPTEMBER 2001, 17 SEPTEMBER 2003 AND 25 SEPTEMBER 2009, AMENDED BY SCHEME 16 JANUARY 2002 as amended on 17 Oct 2020
Charitable objects
TO ADVANCE CHRISTIANITY BY SHARING THE GOOD NEWS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST WITH PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. THE OBJECTS SHALL BE CARRIED OUT IN PARTICULAR, BUT LIMITED TO, WORKING WITH CHURCHES: 1. BY MAKING GOD'S GOOD NEWS KNOWN TO CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND FAMILIES; AND 2. BY ENCOURAGING PEOPLE OF ALL AGES TO MEET GOD DAILY THROUGH THE BIBLE AND PRAYER SO THAT IN EACH CASE 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.
Area of benefit
NATIONAL
Linked charities
- 03 January 1966 : Standard registration
Contact information
- Address:
-
Scripture Union
Trinity House
Opal Court
Opal Drive
Fox Milne
MILTON K
- Phone:
- 01908856000
- Email:
- info@scriptureunion.org.uk
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