Mothers' Union - A year of achievements

Mothers' Union is not usually the first to blow its own trumpet. In fact, our members can be among the most self-effacing, humble volunteers you'll find in the charity sector - quietly getting on with saving the world before breakfast, expecting no thanks and finding praise really a bit embarrassing; happy with simply the sense that they're walking each day hand in hand with their God.

But once in a while, people are kind enough to do it for us, and we're proud to say that this has been a year when Mothers' Union really has had some things to shout about. Last week the Bishop of Huntingdon, David Thomson, wrote on his blog, "how good to see Mothers' Union serving young families", and he added, "I have a feeling that Mothers' Union has some very good days to come indeed?- a real Secret Weapon in the revival of Christian faith amongst our families." What great encouragement. Thank you Bishop David.

And Bishop David is one among several voices increasingly recognising and encouraging some of the great achievements in Mothers' Union. Ian Cowley, the Diocese of Salisbury's Vocation and Spirituality Coordinator, says there's been a significant change in the image of Mothers' Union over the last few years. The way Mothers' Union presents itself is substantially more relevant and contemporary for many people now. Members who attended this year's UK General Meeting agreed - a wonderful day celebrating all Mothers' Union is doing at the moment, and yet more confirmation that the heart of Mothers' Union is strengthening its rhythm. Building on a lot of hard work in recent years, particularly the new logo in 2007, an outward-looking, dynamic face to a deep-rooted and established organisation was seen at Lambeth Conference and Greenbelt Festival in 2008, and this summer will be at Greenbelt again and New Wine summer festivals as well.

Our international programmes are seeing unprecedented expansion. Mothers' Union Parenting Programme is gearing up to expand across more than nine countries, building on the tremendous success it has seen in the West Indies, Australia, Kenya, the UK, and Rwanda. This year we're looking forward to seeing Mauritius, the Solomon Islands, South Africa, Nigeria, Madagascar, and Southern Cone (South America) all starting their own Parenting Programmes. And in our existing countries, decision-making and direction are this year being successfully handed over to local Parenting Programme leaders by the UK-based staff who began the programme, a process that for most charitable organisations of our size takes years and is a distant ideal. Some cause for serious praise, even for the most unassuming Mothers' Union facilitator.

Meanwhile, the Burundi government has decided to formally adopt Mothers' Union Literacy and Development Programme (MULDP) approaches into their own national literacy teaching models. It is extremely rare for a government in any country to pick up the work of an NGO as a model worth adopting into their own national programmes, especially solely off the back of the results they've seen. But MULDP has an exceptional grassroots way of working - ordinary people get themselves literate and numerate, on their own motivation and their own hard work. Unlike most similar schemes, learners get no incentives to keep going to sessions. The whole scheme costs around  £25 to see an illiterate adult become literate and numerate, compared to an average £250 per person in most literacy schemes. From its inception the government has been very impressed by MULDP's participation-based learning and increasingly recognised that it is a fresh and extraordinarily effective way of holding literacy classes.

And beyond the three countries currently running MULDP, six new countries across sub-Saharan Africa but also the Pacific islands, are wanting to introduce MULDP. That's something to shout about.

The best place to read about all this is our Annual Review for 2008/09, which has just been published. The Review is available to download,and a hard copy isavailable from Mary Sumner House with a cover charge of £2. Call 020 7222 5533 or email mu@themothersunion.org