Trust Property Held Icw The English Province Of The Congregation Of The Sisters Of The Presentation Of The Blessed Virgin Mary
Charity 327357
Overview
Summary
The available evidence suggests this is a religious-congregational charity whose formal assets are anchored in Catholic schooling, while its lived identity is broader: sustaining a legacy of education, pastoral care, social action and international solidarity. It appears to operate less as a single-service provider than as a values-led institutional base for sisters’ ministries, property and relationships. Its distinctive role may be connecting local English communities with a long-established international mission focused on people experiencing poverty, exclusion and vulnerability.
Operational geography
Evidence and reasoning
Supporting evidence
Nechells
Confidence: medium
The organisation's official website gives direct, place-specific evidence of a community house in Nechells being opened to support destitute asylum seekers and survivors of modern slavery. However, the account does not state its publication year or provide a current service-status update, so it cannot confirm that this particular service remains active in August 2026.
- Presentation Sisters website — “Reflecting on ministry that has been ‘fulfilling, exciting, challenging and joyful’”
Sr Catherine O’Neill states that the Sisters opened their community house in Nechells to destitute asylum seekers, including survivors of modern slavery, and describes ongoing listening and support work there. - Presentation Sisters website — Locations
The organisation's current locations page lists Birmingham among the places where the Presentation Sisters are present.
Remaining uncertainties
- The current official locations page confirms a Birmingham presence but does not identify a Birmingham address, ward, service catchment or the number of Sisters operating there.
- The Nechells evidence is direct evidence of a physical community house and asylum-seeker support, but the relevant webpage gives no publication year or recent confirmation that the house continues to provide this service.
- An official story records that a Sister lives in Birmingham and volunteers with CAFOD and Tabor House, but it does not identify the schools visited, the relevant wards, or whether these voluntary roles constitute formal organisational delivery.
- The website also records work undertaken with Hope Projects to house a homeless asylum seeker in Birmingham. This evidences a material partnership-based extension of support, but the accommodation location is not disclosed and should not be inferred because of the safeguarding-sensitive beneficiary group.
- Available evidence does not support treating the Birmingham activity as citywide: it shows a current Birmingham presence and a specifically evidenced Nechells base, but not delivery across Birmingham as a whole.
Additional evidence needed
- A current 2025/26 annual report, service report or official Birmingham service directory identifying active ministries, sites and local partners.
- Confirmation from the organisation of whether the Nechells community house remains open and what services it currently provides.
- A current description of the geographic reach of Birmingham-based education, homelessness, asylum-seeker and pastoral activity, without disclosing safeguarded accommodation addresses.
Areas of work
- Disability
- Education/training
- Environment/conservation/heritage
- General Charitable Purposes
- Human Rights/religious Or Racial Harmony/equality Or Diversity
- Overseas Aid/famine Relief
- Religious Activities
- The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives
- The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty
Who they help
- Children/young People
- Elderly/old People
- Other Defined Groups
- People Of A Particular Ethnic Or Racial Origin
- People With Disabilities
How they help
- Provides Buildings/facilities/open Space
- Provides Human Resources
- Provides Services
Discoveries involving this organisation
The Atlas has not published any Discoveries involving this organisation yet.
Observations
A narrow legal purpose supports a broad mission
The charity’s formal object is the provision and maintenance of Catholic schools, but its stated activities span pastoral, social, health, ecology and overseas work. This may indicate that the trust provides a legal and property framework for a wider congregation-led mission rather than defining the full range of work undertaken by the Sisters.
Why it matters
This distinction helps avoid mistaking the organisation for only an education charity. Its influence may extend through assets, governance and support for ministries that sit beyond its formal school-focused object.
Show evidence
“The charity object provides for the provision and maintenance of schools in accordance with Roman Catholic principles.”
Source:Charity Commission“Its work includes education, pastoral work, health care, catechesis, spirituality, faith development, human rights and ecology.”
Source:Organisation
Education appears to be both origin story and continuing strategy
Education is presented not simply as one activity but as the congregation’s founding response to poverty and injustice. The organisation may therefore view learning, formation and accompaniment as a long-term route to social change, including through schools, special-needs work and faith development.
Why it matters
This explains why apparently varied activities can belong to one coherent approach: they are linked by a commitment to expand opportunity and agency among people facing exclusion.
Show evidence
“The community was founded in 1775 for the education of the poor and the relief of those exploited by unjust systems.”
Source:Organisation“Presentation Sisters opened schools and taught thousands of children after arriving in England in 1836.”
Source:Organisation
The organisation may function as a bridge between local care and global solidarity
The evidence points to a locally rooted English province that supports work overseas and draws identity from ministries across multiple countries. Its operating model may combine direct local presence with relational, financial or pastoral support for an international congregation.
Why it matters
Understanding this cross-border role is important when assessing its partnerships and impact: its local assets and relationships may enable work well beyond the immediate area.
Show evidence
“The charity supports the work of the Sisters overseas in areas of greatest need associated with underprivileged, vulnerable and deprived people.”
Source:Charity Commission“The congregation spread across 19 countries.”
Source:Organisation
- Whether the trust directly runs schools or mainly holds property and supports related bodies.
- Which current local services, sites and communities receive support in England.
- How funding, decision-making and safeguarding operate across the trust, province and overseas ministries.
Remaining uncertainties
- Recent annual reports and accounts showing expenditure, grants, property use and principal activities.
- A list of current schools, partner organisations, local projects and overseas programmes supported by the trust.
Additional evidence needed
Charity Commission profile
Activities
The Charity's activities centre around educational, social and pastoral work in addition to supporting the work of the Sisters overseas in areas of greatest need associated with the under privileged, the vulnerable and the deprived. Such activities spring from the original purpose of the Congregation which was to bring good news to the poor.
Charity objects
(1) IN THE PROVISION AND MAINTENANCE OF A SCHOOL OR SCHOOLS PROVIDED ALWAYS THAT SO LONG AS THE SAME IS SO USED NOTHING SHALL BE DONE IN RESPECT THEREOF WHICH SHALL BE INCONSISTENT WITH THE ACTS OF PARLIAMENT RELATING TO EDUCATION FOR THE TIME BEING IN FORCE BUT THE RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES AND PRACTICES TO BE TAUGHT AND OBSERVED IN ANY SUCH SCHOOL SHALL IN ALL RESPECTS TO ACCORDING TO THE PRINCIPLES AND SUBJECT TO THE REGULATIONS AND DISCIPLINE OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. (FOR FURTHER DETAILS SEE CLAUSE 2 OF THE DEED).