Scripture Union Mission Report | 2015/16

Mission report

Highlights from the year ended 31 March 2016

See how your support has impacted the lives of thousands of children and young people

A

s I look back over the last year, I am so thankful for all God has done through Scripture Union and for all that has been achieved (thanks largely to the selfless and generous support from many of you) in the name of sharing the good news with the next generation.

This mission report (looking back on the 2015/16 financial year) provides a snapshot of the amazing work that your support has enabled. Through many different ministries, some new and groundbreaking and some more tried and tested, Scripture Union continues to make an impact on the lives of so many children and young people and I want to thank you for your part in that. As we move towards our 150th anniversary next year, I look forward with anticipation to what God has in store for us. If it’s anything like this year, we’re in for an exciting time!

Tim Hastie-Smith National Director, Scripture Union England and Wales

Together we’re better We’ve linked up with even more local mission partners this year, increasing the number of opportunities to share the good news:

72

We have 72 SU local mission partners

50

0

5

and 500 schools

0

40

working with around 400 local churches We’ve got 5 new partnerships in the pipeline too!

Volunteering We love our volunteers. They make so much possible!

There were 3,464 known opportunities for volunteer involvement

3,464

7,733

That’s equivalent to 7,733 working weeks

or 164 full-time staff 164

International mission Scripture Union’s work is worldwide, providing opportunities for children to experience God’s good news all over the globe: 13

0

There are over 130 Scripture Union movements

12

0

working in over

120

countries

£553,000 was given by and through SU England and Wales to support £553,000 other movements*

*In addition, £362,000 of multi-year grant commitments were made (which are payable in future years).

Helping churches share the good news all year round Thanks to your support, we’re able to help churches with their children’s and youth work throughout the year, providing top-quality resources, excellent training opportunities, practical support and much more.

Light Parties 8,000 Light Party

Packs were sent to churches to help them plan and run exciting Light Parties as a Christian alternative to Halloween.

There are 10,746 Sunday school groups registered on LightLive.

That’s an estimated 112,000 children benefiting from excellent Bible-based sessions. Thank you for helping us to provide this invaluable service for free!

Holiday clubs 1,938 copies of our

most recent holiday club resource books were ordered during the year.

Just think how many children may have benefited from the exciting holidays clubs that were run as a result!

Light Over 209,000

children’s activity magazines were distributed – putting the good news directly into the hands of thousands of children.

Building relationships Our 9 SU Church and Community Development Workers have relationships with nearly 600 churches across England and Wales.

Around 70 new relationships were made this year alone!

Sharing the good news Unfortunately, many children aren’t in our churches but, thanks to your support, we’ve been able to provide some amazing opportunities that go well beyond the church building…

Guardians of Ancora

Since its launch in July 2015, our groundbreaking digital Bible game has already made a huge impact!

By 31st March 2016 there were over 80,000 players

You helped us grow the game to include 9 playable Bible quests,

25 quizzes, 100+ videos, 9 songs and 30 audio stories 30% of the children playing are non-Christians After playing for 2 weeks...

52%

said the game made them more interested in learning about Jesus

40%

said the game made them want to be a friend of Jesus!

It’s being played in over 109 countries including Saudi Arabia, China and Iran

Sports ministry

The number of children and young people involved in mission through sports more than doubled last year!

7 new Mission through Sport projects employing (or seeking to employ) a sports minister were formally established with us Around 30 new grass roots projects were trialled and developed

Around 2,500 resources were given away through the partnership with the Engage2016 initiative to help churches connect with the Rugby Union World Cup

Around 500 volunteers were trained in Mission through Sport at various training events

beyond the church Schools work

Our 72 local mission partners estimate that their work has

reached over 200,000 children and young people in over

500 schools over the academic year 144,631 copies of It’s Your Move, the Scripture Union resource to help children take the difficult step to secondary school, were distributed this year

There are now over 7,000 registered groups on our SchoolsLive website. That equates

to an estimated 144,000 children engaging with the Bible thanks to this free resource

200

Around 200 presentations of the Christmas story took place in schools

48,000

Over 48,000 children took home their own copy of the Christmas Bible Comic

3,772 school children went on a Lifepath school

trip, learning about the difference the Christian faith made to the life of a famous Christian

Holidays and missions Scripture Union holidays are the perfect blend of fun and faith exploration. Thanks to your support, and the dedication of 984 volunteers, 59 holidays were run with 1,762 children and young people in attendance SU missions are not only great fun but brilliant gospel-sharing opportunities.

During the year, an estimated...

4,000 children

attended 15 missions

thanks to 800 volunteers

Financial review

We’d like to thank all of you who have supported the work of Scripture Union this year. We rely on the dedication of our volunteers, and the heartfelt prayers and generous gifts of supporters to make the most of the opportunities we have for sharing the good news.

Your gifts, and the income raised from selling some of our mission resources, make a huge difference to the work of the movement. Here’s an overview of the money we received in the 2015/16 financial year, and the ways in which it was spent.

Donations £3,298,000

Publishing sales £1,675,000

Face-to-face ministry £2,973,000

Total Income £8,456,000

Holidays and missions £601,000

Other

(including investments)

£170,000

Publishing digital £1,728, 000

Publishing

(conventional)

£1,728,000

Total Expenditure £7,938,000

Legacies £2,712,000

Costs of generating funds £454,000

For every £1 spent on the costs of fundraising, £13.24 was received from donations and legacies.

If you would like to support our mission with a regular gift, to allow us to plan ahead and do more to introduce children to Jesus, turn the page.

International activities £1,055,000

This is a summary of Scripture Union’s financial activities for the year ended 31 March 2016, extracted from the full Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements which have been audited. A full statement of our financial activities can be found in our Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements, a copy of which can be obtained by contacting Scripture Union on 01908 856135.

Mission opportunities We’ve got some amazing ministry opportunities that we’d love to pursue in the coming year. Your gifts could help us to‌ grow our pioneering sports ministry, connecting with more children and young people beyond the church take Guardians of Ancora to the next level, bringing the Bible to life in amazing ways grow our face to face ministry, putting more workers in the mission field and much more!

Turn the page to make a gift help us reach even more children and young people with the good news of Jesus.

Help us share the good news with moreJesus children en for childreven to reach

Let’s do more

We hope you’ll have seen something of the impact of SU’s work in this mission ManyThat generations benefi ted from the ministry Scripture Union.

Will you help report. impacthave is only possible because of theof generosity of supporters like us to reach and young people by setting a regular donation? you.

Willmore you children help us to share the goodwith newsthe ofgospel Jesus with even up more children and young people by setting up a regular donation?

A regular gift enables SU to plan ahead as we share the good news of Jesus.

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