Heart of England Forest
Registered charity 1097110 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as THE FOREST OF DENNIS LIMITED, THE HEART OF ENGLAND FOREST LTD
To establish, maintain and preserve, ideally a contiguous forest or a forest connected by corridor for the benefit of the public in the ancient borders of the Forest of Arden to the Vale of Evesham (The Heart of England). To engage in the education of the general public and for research relating to the promulgation of trees, woodlands,and wildlife and their habitats in the Heart of England.
Causes: Education/training · Environment/conservation/heritage · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that total income increased to £7,590k while expenditure rose to £6,327k, resulting in a surplus before investment movements of £1,263k. Per the trustees' report, net assets increased to £220,986k, with unrestricted general reserves standing at £2,885k. The charity maintains significant designated funds for land acquisition and holds sufficient liquid resources to mitigate short-term risks.
Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Reserves policy: six months of the current year’s expected operating expenditure or the planned net operating deficit of the charity in the next financial year, whichever is greater (held: £2.9m)
“typically at levels equating to either the planned net operating deficit of the charity in the next financial year or six months of the current year’s expected operating expenditure, whichever is greater.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: The document states £Nil was paid in the current year, but £3,089 was paid in the prior year. The prompt asks for disclosed transactions. The current year disclosure is £Nil. However, note 21 explicitly mentions the connection. I will list the current year as £Nil or exclude if strictly 'transactions'. The rule says 'disclosed related-party transactions'. The disclosure is that there were none in the current year, but references the prior year. I will list the prior year context if it counts as a 'disclosed transaction' in the notes, but usually, this field is for current year. Let's look at the quote: 'During the period, the charity paid professional fees of £Nil... to a supplier who is connected to a Trustee.' Since the amount is Nil, it's not a material transaction. I will leave this empty or null if no current year transaction occurred. Wait, the rule says 'max 5 most material'. If the amount is 0, it's not material. I will set this to an empty array or null if no current year payment. Actually, the note discloses the *relationship* and the *prior* payment. I will interpret 'disclosed related-party transactions' as current year. Since it is £Nil, I will output an empty array.
“During the period, the charity paid professional fees of £Nil (2024: £3,089) to a supplier who is connected to a Trustee. There was £Nil balance at year end (2024: £Nil)” — page 56
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by Forvis Mazars LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.
Corporate structure
Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Heart of England Forest (matched by registered charity number).
Leadership, per the charity’s website
- Andy Parsons — Chief Executive (source)
- Heather Acton — Chair of Trustees (source)
- Steve Eddy — Chief Financial and Operating Officer (source)
- Tom Davies — Director of Forest Operations (source)
- Nick Simms — Director of Land Use Policy and Planning (source)
- Ian Nutt — Director of Fundraising and Engagement (source)
- Laura Campbell — Director of People & Culture (source)
Listed on the charity’s own website when we last crawled it; roles may have changed. Pay-band disclosures above are anonymous statutory disclosures and are not attributed to any named individual.
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.
- SMITH, Jonathan Paul — director, appointed 29/09/2025on trustee list
- SPRUCE, David Ian — director, appointed 29/09/2025on trustee list
- MACKENZIE, Angus Robert, Professor — director, appointed 06/12/2024on trustee list
- ACTON, Heather Jane — director, appointed 10/05/2024on trustee list
- DARLISON, Neil Stewart — director, appointed 10/05/2024on trustee list
- THROUP, David John — director, appointed 28/04/2023on trustee list
- GURDEN, Asa — director, appointed 01/05/2020on trustee list
- PRICE, Anthony Steven — director, appointed 20/02/2018on trustee list
- HUNTER, Alison Clare — director, appointed 01/09/2014on trustee list
Official officers record.
Property (HM Land Registry)
124 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (122 freehold); recorded price paid £14.8m. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)
Cost of raising funds
£710k
Reported reserves equal ~5.5 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 9.4% of total income — above the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).
Register events
- Received assets from another charity (11/07/2025) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Warwickshire · Worcestershire
Income and spending
Common questions
Is Heart of England Forest financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that total income increased to £7,590k while expenditure rose to £6,327k, resulting in a surplus before investment movements of £1,263k. Per the trustees' report, net assets increased to £220,986k, with unrestricted general reserves standing at £2,885k. The charity maintains significant designated funds for land acquisition and holds sufficient liquid resources to mitigate short-term risks. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Forvis Mazars LLP.
Who funds Heart of England Forest?
Funders whose own accounts filings name Heart of England Forest as a grant recipient include THE BANISTER CHARITABLE TRUST, THE HDH WILLS 1965 CHARITABLE TRUST, THE SAINTBURY TRUST, LANGDALE TRUST, THE RATCLIFF FOUNDATION.
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 FOREST OF HEARTS.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.