THE FOREST OF MARSTON VALE TRUST
Registered charity 1069229 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as FOREST OF MARSTON VALE, MARSTON VALE TRUST, THE MARSTON VALE TRUST
To benefit the public through the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment of the Marston Vale and surrounding area by creating the Forest of Marston Vale. Planting trees and managing woodlands and green spaces to stimulate social and economic regeneration, and providing major landscape, environmental, recreation, biodiversity, and quality of life benefits.
Causes: Environment/conservation/heritage · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that the charity holds total funds of £18,383,145, with unrestricted funds of £3,352,145. The trustees report that accessible unrestricted reserves are equivalent to approximately eight months of Forest Team costs, which is below the stated policy target of one year. The auditors confirmed that the financial statements give a true and fair view and identified no material uncertainties regarding the going concern basis.
Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Reserves policy: one year of the Forest Teams' direct costs (held: £3.4m)
“The Trust's reserves policy is to hold sufficient reserves of unrestricted funds to cover one year of the Forest Teams' direct costs.” — page 10
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Trustee G Ellis is an employee of Cranfield University; grants £nil.
“G Ellis is an employee at Cranfield University. There were also Trees for Climate grant payments made in the year to them for £nil”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: Marston Vale Services trading as The Forest Centre Limited, Marston Vale Farms Limited
“The Forest of Marston Vale Trust is the sole shareholder of two operating subsidiaries (Marston Vale Services trading as The Forest Centre Limited and Marston Vale Farms Limited)” — page 16
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by Hillier Hopkins LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.
Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — The Forest of Marston Vale Trust (matched by registered charity number).
Property (HM Land Registry)
8 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (5 freehold); recorded price paid £53k. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.
Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)
Cost of raising funds
£895k
Reported reserves equal ~1.9 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (55% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.
Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 20.6% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 5.2%) (benchmarks).
Register events
- Received assets from another charity (25/11/2024) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
- Rod Calvert OBEchair
- Cllr Sue Clark
- Craig Austin
- DEBRA JANE HASSALL
- David John Pryor
- GORDON JOHNSTON
- Gareth Richard Ellis
- John Christopher Thelwall · trustee of 1 other charity
- PETER JOHN FAULKNER ACMA
- ROBERT WALLACE · trustee of 1 other charity
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Bedford · Central Bedfordshire
Income and spending
Common questions
Is THE FOREST OF MARSTON VALE TRUST financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity holds total funds of £18,383,145, with unrestricted funds of £3,352,145. The trustees report that accessible unrestricted reserves are equivalent to approximately eight months of Forest Team costs, which is below the stated policy target of one year. The auditors confirmed that the financial statements give a true and fair view and identified no material uncertainties regarding the going concern basis. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Hillier Hopkins LLP.
Who funds THE FOREST OF MARSTON VALE TRUST?
Funders whose own accounts filings name THE FOREST OF MARSTON VALE TRUST as a grant recipient include THE NATURE RECOVERY PROJECT.
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 THE WOODLAND TRUST.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.