Review of 2025: We Journey On

I am writing this from my desk with extra jumpers on as our heating struggles to kick in and get the temperature up.  My children will say that at least I didn’t have to go out in the cold for the school run, now they are old enough to do that themselves.  I can’t argue with that.

It may be very cold but we have left the shortest day behind and every day will see a little bit more daylight.  That alone brings me joy!  It is also always a joy to enter a new year with Acts 435.  Our incredible donors did it again, meeting every single live request on our website by the end of the year.  It has been a record-breaking month and year with a staggering £139,000 given in December – our most ever - and over one million pounds given on our website in 2025, up 8.5% on the year before.

In the early days of January, we enjoy a short period of seeing very few requests for help on our website, and those that are there are met very quickly, delighting both advocates and beneficiaries.  It is great to provide such fast, financial help to meet need.

In 2025 we celebrated 15 years of Acts 435 – and won a PR competition that we are excited about embarking on over the next few months, aiming to see many more churches partner with us.   A standout moment last year was being part of Stewardship’s 40acts campaign in Lent again, and seeing an incredible response of £30,000 given in just 24 hours.

We had a change of team, which in a small charity where the average tenure is about 10 years, had a big impact.  Yet we have quickly gelled as a new team and it has been helpful to have fresh eyes on our processes which has led us to revisit our partner journey and keep improving it for our church and charity advocates.

It was particularly lovely to introduce new colleagues Helen and Nathan to the joy that is working for Acts 435 over the Christmas season.  We never take it for granted that all requests will be met but we of course shared with them our past experience and hoped it might happen again!  I prepare weekly reports for team and trustees and we run out of superlatives to describe the weekly totals in donations that we see in December.

Yet we are acutely aware that we but touch the surface.  We may have helped over 6,500 people over the past year but that is a drop in the ocean.  What encourages me is that whilst we know there are still many more people in the UK needing help, I know there are also many people who want to help, who perhaps haven’t yet heard of Acts 435.

So, here’s to 2026 and reaching many more people in need, partnering with many more churches, charities, foodbanks, debt centres, warm welcome spaces and more, and inviting more people to choose to give to Acts 435 and see their gift make a big difference.  I hope you will continue to journey with us.