It has been said that “The Mother’s Union is probably the best kept secret in the Anglican Communion”.

The work of the organisation falls into four key areas.

1. Social Policy lobbying & research into marriage & family life.

2. Related project work, both in the UK & around the world.

3. Empowering our members with resources to develop prayer & spirituality that is the heart of the Ministry of the Society.

4. The finance to enable the work to develop.

There are over a million Mother’s Union members in the UK & Ireland. Their work covers 77 prisons – with concerns for families & prisoners; a network of Family Contact Centres where estranged parents can meet; & “Parenting 2000” a project to train groups who will help parents develop better parenting skills.

In the rest of the world there are over 300 workers who are helping to meet the needs of their communities. They are involved in basic healthcare projects, & run numerous educational projects for families in need. There are also programmes providing literacy training for women & girls in Burundi, Malawi & the Sudan. Alongside this are training schemes to help generate income for families.

The Mother’s Union has come a long way since Mary Sumner started her afternoon meetings at their Vicarage, for lonely mothers, 125 years ago; & here at St Mary's we ‘play our part’ by raising money each year for the Away From it All scheme & the overseas fund. Last year we were able to send £170 for these 2 projects. The Away From it All scheme enables disadvantaged families to have a much needed holiday, & last year 26 adults & 58 children from the Southwark Diocese benefited, costing £4,277.

The Annual Subscription paid by every member helps to ‘fuel’ the other projects that the Mother’s Union supports. We currently have 26 members in our St Mary’s Branch. Why not come & join us, & carry on the good work & the tradition that Mary Sumner started.