Mary Sumner House is the home of Mothers’ Union, a women-led charity working in 84 countries. We understand what it means to spend carefully, to justify every line of budget spend, and to want a venue that reflects your values as clearly as your work does.
Charity event organisers face a scrutiny that most don’t. Every venue decision is accountable to trustees, donors, and the public. A room that is too extravagant invites the wrong questions. One that looks cheap undermines the event. The venue must earn its place in the budget; that is something we understand wholeheartedly.
We know that every venue decision carries personal accountability. If the day goes wrong, you hear about it first. The space, the logistics, the cost; all of it reflects on the person who made the call.
That shapes how we work. The same person you speak to when you enquire is the person who knows your requirements on the day. We do our best to avoid internal handovers, so you don’t have to repeat yourself to someone new. Set up, AV, and refreshments are all handled before you arrive.
The Grade II listed building has nearly a century of history, rooms are named after women who changed the world, and a genuine charitable purpose behind it. Mary Sumner House is the type of venue that indicates the day was chosen thoughtfully. For an audience that understands what careful spending looks like, that matters.
Registered charities receive a tiered discounted rate on room hire at Mary Sumner House, based on annual income. It’s a straightforward decision. The building exists to support the work of Mothers’ Union, so organisations with a similar sense of purpose shouldn’t be penalised for it.
Room hire starts at £220 per session for smaller rooms, and £1,317 per day for the Conference Hall. No VAT is charged on room hire. To find out which tier applies to your organisation, include your charity number with your enquiry and we will confirm your rate.
From trustee board meetings to full-day conferences and AGMs, Mary Sumner House has a space to suit. The Conference Hall comfortably accommodates up to 120 delegates in a theatre arrangement, 60 in a cabaret, or 48 in a boardroom layout, and can be combined with adjacent breakout rooms for sessions running in parallel. With its high ceilings, a herringbone parquet floor, and chandelier lighting, it is a room that lends weight to the occasion.
For smaller gatherings such as committee meetings, leadership away days, strategy sessions, or one-to-ones, our eight named meeting rooms range from intimate six-person spaces to boardrooms seating 24. The rooms vary considerably in character, from the period detail of the Queen Elizabeth II Room to the clean, functional layout of the Maya Angelou and Wangari Maathai rooms. Every room on the first and second floors is equipped with a wall-mounted display screen and connectivity support as standard.
If your day calls for a mix of formats, our team will work through the options with you. We know which rooms combine well and the layouts that suit certain kinds of conversations. Share your brief and we will arrange the building around it.
For many organisations, a Westminster venue is simply convenient. For third sector organisations, it carries a different weight.
Mary Sumner House sits minutes from Parliament and Westminster Abbey, in a part of the city where policy is shaped and decisions are made. For an AGM, a stakeholder conference, or a leadership gathering, that proximity is not incidental. It communicates that the work your organisation does belongs in this conversation, in this part of the city.
It is also genuinely easy to reach. Victoria, Westminster, and St James’s Park Underground stations are all within a short walk. Mainline rail connections at London Victoria, Waterloo, and Charing Cross connect delegates travelling from across the UK. For international guests, Gatwick has a direct rail link to Victoria, and Heathrow connects via the Underground.
Every room is set up and ready before your delegates arrive. Meeting rooms are equipped with a wall-mounted display screen, and the Conference Hall has a projector and screen, as well as a PA system. A member of the team will be with you at the start of your session to ensure everything is connected and working. If anything needs attention during the day, we are on hand.
Our first and second floor meeting rooms are available with refreshments including tea, coffee, biscuits, and water from just £6 per person, including VAT. Whilst we aren’t able to provide in-house catering, we have several caterers we can recommend: Spoilt for Choice or Sands Catering. You are welcome to bring your own supplier.
Mary Sumner House is fully accessible from the street, with step-free entry and lift access to all meeting floors. If you have delegates with specific requirements, we ask that you call ahead so we can discuss the building in detail and make sure everything is in place before the day.
Mary Sumner House is not a commercial venue that happens to support a good cause. Venue hire is a direct and necessary source of income for the Mothers’ Union charity.
Mothers’ Union works in 84 countries with over four million members. Their programmes tackle domestic abuse, support families in crisis, and provide education and economic opportunity to women in some of the world’s most challenging circumstances. The building you are meeting in exists because of that mission, and your booking helps sustain it.
For organisations in the charity sector, this is more than a footnote. It is a decision you can account for. One charity supporting another, in a building that has stood for that purpose for nearly a century.
The best way to know whether Mary Sumner House is right for your event is to see it in person. We will show you the rooms and talk through your requirements, without any pressure to confirm on the day.
To arrange a visit or request a quote, call us on 0207 222 5533 or email conference@mothersunion.org.
