MARINE CONSERVATION SOCIETY

Registered charity 1004005 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · Wikidata: Q177580 · Wikipedia · also known as M C S, THE MARINE CONSERVATION SOCIETY LIMITED · also registered in Scotland as SC037480 (OSCR)

The Marine Conservation Society fights for the future of our ocean through people powered action, with science on our side. We defend habitats and species, with communities, businesses and governments. Together, we work towards a cleaner, better protected, healthier ocean. For seas full of life, where nature flourishes and people thrive.

Objects

3. THE OBJECTS OF THE COMPANY (THE "OBJECTS") ARE TO UNDERTAKE AND PROMOTE FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC: 3.1 THE CONSERVATION, PROTECTION, IMPROVEMENT AND ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF THE MARINE AND FRESHWATER ENVIRONMENT INCLUDING ASSOCIATED LAND, SHORELINE AND STRUCTURES. (ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT MEANS USING, CONSERVING AND ENHANCING THE COMMUNITY'S RESOURCES SO THAT ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES, ON WHICH LIFE DEPENDS, ARE MAINTAINED, AND THE TOTAL QUALITY OF LIFE, NOW AND IN THE FUTURE, CAN BE INCREASED). 3.2 ADVANCE THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC, IN ALL MATTERS RELATING TO THE CONSERVATION, PROTECTION, IMPROVEMENT AND ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF THE MARINE, COASTAL AND FRESHWATER ENVIRONMENT, AND IN RELATION TO CONNECTED HUMAN HEALTH AND OTHER BENEFITS, AND THE UNDERSTANDING AND AWARENESS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THE OCEAN TO HUMAN LIFE. 3.3 PROMOTE, ASSIST, UNDERTAKE AND COMMISSION RESEARCH INTO MATTERS RELATING TO THE CONSERVATION, PROTECTION, IMPROVEMENT AND ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF THE MARINE, COASTAL AND FRESHWATER ENVIRONMENT AND IN RELATION TO CONNECTED HUMAN HEALTH AND OTHER BENEFIT. NOTHING IN THE ARTICLES SHALL AUTHORISE AN APPLICATION OF THE PROPERTY OF THE CHARITY FOR PURPOSES WHICH ARE NOT CHARITABLE IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 7 OF THE CHARITIES AND TRUSTEE INVESTMENT (SCOTLAND) ACT 2005 AND/OR SECTION 2 OF THE CHARITIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 2008.

Area of benefit: NOT DEFINED. IN PRACTICE NATIONALLY

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Animals · Environment/conservation/heritage · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Herefordshire, County of, West Midlands, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that total income for the year was £5.34m, representing a 6% increase on the prior year, while total expenditure was £5.25m. The charity reported a net deficit of £52k on unrestricted funds, resulting in unrestricted reserves of £1.09m at year-end, which the trustees consider to be in line with their policy of holding between 3 and 4 months of unrestricted expenditure.

Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Saffery LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

• Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
• Complaints handling
• Complaints policy and procedures
• Conflicting interests
• Engaging external speakers at charity events policy and procedures
• Financial reserves policy and procedures
• Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
• Internal risk management policy and procedures
• Investing charity funds policy and procedures
• Investment
• Paying staff
• Risk management
• Safeguarding policy and procedures
• Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
• Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
• Social media policy and procedures
• Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
• Trustee expenses policy and procedures
• Volunteer management

From the charity’s annual return (Part A, self-declared)

Answers and figures the charity gave in Part A of its annual return to the Charity Commission. They are self-declared: not verified by the Commission or by this site. Only positive answers and figures are listed; items not listed are simply not shown.

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Corporate structure

• Trading subsidiary: M C S SALES LIMITED Companies House 01766795
• Registered company of the charity Companies House 02550966 · Financial health read from its filings

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Marine Conservation Society (matched by registered charity number).

Company officers (Companies House)

Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.

• SHIPPEN, Natalie — director, appointed 18/09/2025on trustee list
• ECKSTEIN, Mark — director, appointed 18/09/2025on trustee list
• WILKIN, David Roy — director, appointed 13/05/2025on trustee list
• ROY, Rajah Alexis Unwin — director, appointed 30/08/2024on trustee list
• KOEHRING, Martin Konstantin — director, appointed 30/08/2024on trustee list
• RODNEY, Rebecca — director, appointed 14/12/2022on trustee list
• BURNS, Polly Rose — director, appointed 14/12/2022on trustee list
• THERNSTROM, Helena Youn Ha — director, appointed 17/03/2021on trustee list
• NOBBS, Amanda Jane — director, appointed 18/03/2020on trustee list
• TIRATELLI, Stefano Mario — director, appointed 20/09/2019on trustee list
• AUKER-HOWLETT, Jane — secretary, appointed 01/04/2025

Official officers record.

Property (HM Land Registry)

1 registered title in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (0 freehold). All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~2.5 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 20.0% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 5.3%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• Professor Melanie Clare Vera Austenchair
• David Roy Wilkin
• Helena Thernstrom
• James Arnell · trustee of 2 other charities
• Mark Eckstein
• Martin Konstantin Koehring
• Natalie Shippen · trustee of 1 other charity
• Polly Rose Burns
• Rebecca Rodney

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Scotland · Throughout England And Wales · Turks And Caicos Islands

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with MARINE RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION FOUNDATION.

• MARINE RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION FOUNDATION income £59k
• OCEANA UK income £2.3m
• Ocean Conservation Trust Limited income £7.1m
• MARINE STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL income £33.7m
• PARTNERSHIP FOR OBSERVATION OF THE GLOBAL OCEAN income £780k
• SEA LIFE TRUST LIMITED income £4.2m

Side by side with its peers

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.