ABOUT US

The Mothers' Union are a worldwide Christian charity of women and men. We support families in need locally and worldwide through prayer and action in 84 countries. We welcome everybody both female and male, single and divorced, parents, non-parents and grandparents. Married, separated and divorced.

 

We were established in 1876 by Mary Sumner and our Bristol Diocese Mothers' Union joined the national movement in 1898.

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Mary, originally from Lancashire, was the third of four children. She was home educated, learning three languages and apparently had a good singing voice. 

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Mary started the Mothers’ Union in the Victorian era in 1876, not as most people might expect, when she became a mother herself, but when her oldest daughter, Margaret, had her first child. We can only guess how hard Mary found motherhood herself.

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It seems to have been the birth of Mary’s grandchild, coupled with her memory of how hard she had found motherhood and a mother’s natural wish to make life a little easier for her daughter, that prompted Mary to take the initial steps that established what would become the Mother’s Union.

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Bristol MU currently supports these sample projects:

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• Blond Angels (street team for the homeless in Bristol)

• Children Centres in Henbury, Filton, Yate, and Patchway

• ‘Friends for Parents’ (Supporting parents whose children are at Bristol Children’s hospital)

• Gympanzees (supporting youngsters with disabilities)

• Refugees, Asylum Seekers. - Individuals when needs arise

• Spring of Hope Shelter (a Christian night shelter for women)

• AFIA (AWAY FROM IT ALL, helping families to have a special time at the sea side)

• Clewer( Helping to eradicate modern day slavery)

• Domestic Abuse

• Prisons HMP Ashfield (welcoming families who have come to visit their

• families)

For a full list of projects click here