ENGLISH- SPEAKING UNION OF THE COMMONWEALTH

Charity overview
Activities - how the charity spends its money
The promotion of good communication in the English language through public speaking and debate; running educational programmes; initiating and administering scholarships; youth and academic exchanges. The charity focuses on oracy development in schools, promoting social equality and international understanding and facilitates and assists in the establishment of independent ESUs worldwide.
Income and expenditure
Data for financial year ending 31 March 2024
Total income:
£2,753,942
Donations and legacies | £105.90k | |
Charitable activities | £421.40k | |
Other trading activities | £502.77k | |
Investments | £1.72m | |
Other | £0 |
Total expenditure:
£3,343,828
Raising funds | £621.05k | |
Charitable activities | £2.72m | |
Other | £0 |
£190,643 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 | £621.05k | |
Charitable expenditure | £2.72m |
People

22 Employee(s)
12 Trustee(s)
360 Volunteer(s)
Employees with total benefits over £60,000
Number of employees | |
---|---|
£60k to £70k | 2 |
£80k to £90k | 1 |
£100k to £110k | 1 |
£110k to £120k | 1 |
Fundraising
Trading
Trustee payments
What, who, how, where
- Education/training
- Arts/culture/heritage/science
- Children/young People
- Other Defined Groups
- The General Public/mankind
- Makes Grants To Individuals
- Provides Buildings/facilities/open Space
- Provides Advocacy/advice/information
- Sponsors Or Undertakes Research
- Acts As An Umbrella Or Resource Body
- Throughout England And Wales
- Albania
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Bangladesh
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bermuda
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- Chile
- China
- Cyprus
- Denmark
- Egypt
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Jordan
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Lithuania
- Malaysia
- Malta
- Mauritius
- Moldova
- Mongolia
- Morocco
- Netherlands
- Nigeria
- Northern Ireland
- Norway
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Scotland
- Serbia
- Sierra Leone
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Switzerland
- Tajikistan
- Thailand
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- United States
- Yemen
- Zimbabwe
Governance
- 29 March 1977: Standard registration
- ENGLISH-SPEAKING UNION (Working name)
- ENGLISH SPEAKING UNION OF THE COMMONWEALTH (Previous 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
- Investment
- Paying staff
- Risk management
- Safeguarding policy and procedures
- Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
- Serious incident reporting 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
12 Trustee(s)
Name | Role | Date of appointment | Other trusteeships | Reporting status of other trusteeships | ||||||||||
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Simon Kearey | Trustee | 06 December 2023 |
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Francesca King | Trustee | 06 December 2023 |
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Sophia Taylor | Trustee | 06 December 2023 |
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Rebecca Preen | Trustee | 06 December 2023 |
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David Hatchett | Trustee | 06 December 2023 |
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Professor Jane Setter | Trustee | 06 December 2023 |
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Nicholas Archer | Trustee | 06 December 2023 |
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Miles Young | Trustee | 01 June 2023 |
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Stephen Purcell | Trustee | 22 February 2021 |
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Danny Preiskel | Trustee | 22 February 2021 |
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Richard Humphreys | Trustee | 22 February 2021 |
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Laurence Mutkin | Trustee | 22 February 2021 |
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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 | £3.06m | £2.15m | £2.30m | £2.54m | £2.75m | |
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Total expenditure | £3.06m | £2.35m | £1.39m | £2.05m | £3.34m | |
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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 | £185.00k | £24.00k | N/A | N/A | |
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Income - Donations and legacies | £113.00k | £227.00k | £75.00k | £45.00k | £105.90k | |
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Income - Other trading activities | £384.00k | £0 | £176.00k | £485.00k | £502.77k | |
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Income - Charitable activities | £956.00k | £301.00k | £386.00k | £373.00k | £421.40k | |
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Income - Endowments | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | |
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Income - Investment | £1.61m | £1.62m | £1.66m | £1.63m | £1.72m | |
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Income - Other | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | |
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Income - Legacies | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £50.00k | |
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Expenditure - Charitable activities | £2.34m | £2.34m | £857.00k | £1.49m | £2.72m | |
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Expenditure - Raising funds | £722.00k | £5.00k | £534.00k | £560.00k | £621.05k | |
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Expenditure - Governance | £177.00k | £245.00k | £6.00k | £67.00k | £420.78k | |
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Expenditure - Grants institution | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £12.87k | |
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Expenditure - Investment management | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £93.95k | |
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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 | £11.94m | £11.61m | £11.72m | £18.22m | £18.30m | |
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Long-term investments | £28.70m | £28.90m | £29.24m | £30.97m | £31.33m | |
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Other assets | £819.00k | £1.08m | £2.41m | £2.50m | £1.90m | |
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Defined benefit pension scheme asset or liability | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | |
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Total liabilities | £608.00k | £638.00k | £534.00k | £552.60k | £718.53k |
Accounts and annual returns
Title | Reporting year | Date received | Received | Download |
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Annual return | 31 March 2024 | 08 January 2025 | On Time | |
Accounts and TAR | 31 March 2024 | 08 January 2025 | On Time | Download Open in new window |
Annual return | 31 March 2023 | 17 January 2024 | On Time | |
Accounts and TAR | 31 March 2023 | 17 January 2024 | On Time | Download Open in new window |
Annual return | 31 March 2022 | 20 October 2022 | On Time | |
Accounts and TAR | 31 March 2022 | 20 October 2022 | On Time | Download Open in new window |
Annual return | 31 March 2021 | 24 November 2021 | On Time | |
Accounts and TAR | 31 March 2021 | 24 November 2021 | On Time | Download Open in new window |
Annual return | 31 March 2020 | 21 July 2020 | On Time | |
Accounts and TAR | 31 March 2020 | 21 July 2020 | On Time | Download Open in new window |
Governing document
It is not the full text of the charity's governing document.
ROYAL CHARTER DATED 3RD OCTOBER 1957 AS AMENDED BY ORDERS IN COUNCIL OF THE 10TH SEPTEMBER 1958, 23RD FEBRUARY 1972 AND THE 16TH FEBRUARY 1977
Charitable objects
TO PROMOTE WITHIN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND OTHER COUNTRIES OF THE COMMONWEALTH, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, EUROPE AND ELSEWHERE THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE MUTUAL EDUCATION OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLES OF THE WORLD, IN PARTICULAR (BUT WITHOUT IN ANY WAY LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING) RESPECTING THEIR HERITAGE, TRADITIONS AND ASPIRATIONS, THE EVENTS AND ISSUES OF THE DAY AFFECTING THEM, THEIR INTERRELATIONSHIPS AND THE USE OF ENGLISH AS A SHARED LANGUAGE AND MEANS OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: PROVIDED ALWAYS THAT THE FOREGOING AIMS AND OBJECTS SHALL AT ALL TIMES BE PURSUED IN A NON-POLITICAL AND NON-SECTARIAN MANNER.
Area of benefit
NOT DEFINED
Contact information
- Address:
-
DARTMOUTH HOUSE
37 CHARLES STREET
LONDON
W1J 5ED
- Phone:
- 02075291550
- Email:
- esu@esu.org
- Website:
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