THE MURRAY DOWNLAND TRUST

Registered charity 1040076 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Conservation of chalk downland

Objects

THE PRESERVATION,PROTECTION, DEVELOPMENT AND IMPROVEMENT OF AREAS OF LAND OF BOTANICAL, ZOOLOGICAL, ECOLOGICAL, GEOLOGICAL, ARCHEOLOGICAL, HISTORICAL OR OF LANDSCAPE INTEREST OR OF NATURAL BEAUTY.

Area of benefit: NOT DEFINED

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

Causes: Environment/conservation/heritage · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Chichester, South East, England (from the postcode on the register)

Latest income

£66k

Latest spending

£43k

Registered

1994

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that unrestricted reserves stood at £487,732, which the trustees consider sufficient to maintain activities for six to twelve months. The charity reported a net movement in funds of £28,944 for the year, driven by investment gains and charitable income. No material uncertainties affecting the going concern status were identified.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: between six and twelve month’s expenditure (reserves figure: £488k)

“It is the policy of the company that unrestricted funds held in the current bank account which have not been designated for a specific use should be maintained at a level equivalent to between six and twelve month’s expenditure.” — page 4

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts independently examined (not a full audit). Discloses 5 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.

Complaints handling
Conflicting interests
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
Risk management
Safeguarding policy and procedures
Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
Serious incident reporting 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.

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/03/2025

Volunteers: 50
Government income: £26,135 — grants £26,135 (3); 40% of the £65,853 total gross income on the same return

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/03/2024

Volunteers: 50
Government income: £8,291 — grants £8,291 (1); 4% of the £228,269 total gross income on the same return

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/03/2023

Volunteers: 30
Government income: £7,734 — grants £7,734 (2); 26% of the £29,457 total gross income on the same return

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

Annual return filing dates (Charity Commission record)

Of its last 5 annual returns with a recorded received date, 1 was received after the due date: year ending 31/03/2023 (received 14/02/2024, 14 days after the 31/01/2024 due date).

Due and received dates as recorded in the Commission’s annual-return data; the data does not say whether an extension was agreed. Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Murray Downland Trust (matched by registered charity number).

Property (HM Land Registry)

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

Trustees · trustee networks

CLAIRE CATHERINE NORWOOD BSC FCACTA
GERARD CHARLES RYAN QC
JOHN GIRDLESTONE MURRAY
MIKE EDWARDS
Michael Hadley
NICHOLAS SHERWIN
ROBERT WINDLE
SIMON CHARLES WARD · trustee of 2 other charities

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

Operates in: Hampshire · West Sussex

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/03/2025	£66k	£43k
31/03/2024	£228k	£17k
31/03/2023	£29k	£35k
31/03/2022	£28k	£17k
31/03/2021	£26k	£15k

Common questions

Is THE MURRAY DOWNLAND TRUST financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that unrestricted reserves stood at £487,732, which the trustees consider sufficient to maintain activities for six to twelve months. The charity reported a net movement in funds of £28,944 for the year, driven by investment gains and charitable income. No material uncertainties affecting the going concern status were identified. Its FY2025 accounts were independently examined.

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.

Funder	Similar charities funded	Amount to them
H P CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£1k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE MAURICE FRY CHARITABLE TRUST.

THE MAURICE FRY CHARITABLE TRUST income £49k
RICHARD MACKAY CHARITABLE TRUST income £41k
THE MANACKERMAN CHARITABLE TRUST income £153k
THE MULCHAND FOUNDATION income £792k
THE MAURICE MARKS CHARITABLE TRUST income £102k
D L M CHARITABLE TRUST income £198k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
THE MURRAY DOWNLAND TRUST	£66k	—	above	—	no doubt
THE MAURICE FRY CHARITABLE TRUST FY2025	£49k	—	unclear	—	no doubt
RICHARD MACKAY CHARITABLE TRUST FY2025	£41k	—	unclear	—	no doubt
THE MANACKERMAN CHARITABLE TRUST FY2025	£153k	—	within	—	no doubt
THE MULCHAND FOUNDATION FY2026	£792k	—	above	—	no doubt
THE MAURICE MARKS CHARITABLE TRUST FY2025	£102k	—	unclear	—	no doubt

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