FRESHWATER HABITATS TRUST

Registered charity 1107708 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as POND CONSERVATION, POND CONSERVATION THE WATER HABITATS TRUST

Our mission is to excel in the understanding and conservation of ponds and all freshwater wildlife, securing their future for people to enjoy.

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

Latest income
£2.8m
Latest spending
£2.7m
Registered
2005
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that total income was £2,751,087 against total expenditure of £2,746,403, resulting in a small surplus. The charity holds unrestricted reserves of £954,762, which the trustees consider sufficient to meet operational requirements and cover unexpected expenditure, maintaining a going concern status.

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

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £60,001 - £70,000 — below the median for charities its size (£70k)
“The number of employees who received total employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) of more than £60,000 is as follows: 2025 2024 £60,001 - £70,000 2 1” — page 35
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Employees paid over £60,000: 2
“The number of employees who received total employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) of more than £60,000 is as follows: 2025 2024 £60,001 - £70,000 2 1” — page 35
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves position: below the charity's own stated reserves policy (held: £955k; policy: three months of costs, £400K)
“As of 31st March 2025, free reserves held were £348k. The trustees are content that this is broadly in line with the core funds target stated above” — page 18
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: The CEO of the charity is one of the Directors of the Newt Conservation Partnership (NCP)... The charity seconds staff to NCP and charges for staff time as well as a contribution towards overheads for this... During the year, charges of £703,171 (2024: £648,303) were made by the charity to NCP. Debtors include an amount of £74,178 (2024: £50,300) payable by NCP to the charity. The NCP also made charges of £8,100 (2024: £38,984) to the charity during the year for staff time.
“The CEO of the charity is one of the Directors of the Newt Conservation Partnership (NCP), a community benefit society, in an individual capacity. The CEO of NCP is one of the charity’s technical directors and is seconded from the charity. The charity seconds staff to NCP and charges for staff time as well as a contribution towards overheads for this. As a result this entity is a related party and the charity is a sub-contractor of NCP. During the year, charges of £703,171 (2024: £648,303) were made by the charity to NCP. Debtors include an amount of £74,178 (2024: £50,300) payable by NCP to the charity. The NCP also made charges of £8,100 (2024: £38,984) to the charity during the year for staff time. Creditors include an amount of £720 (2024: £Nil) payable to NCP at the year end.” — page 43
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: The Ponds Conservation Trust: Policy & Research Ltd
“It subsequently also took over the subsidiary company ‘The Ponds Conservation Trust: Policy & Research Ltd’.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Wenn Townsend. Discloses 6 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Comparing this charity’s FY2024 and FY2025 accounts as analysed by this site.

Leadership, per the charity’s website

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.

Funders the charity credits

Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram

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

Total income
£2.8m
Total spending
£2.7m
Cost of raising funds
£19k
Reserves (reported)
£348k
Employees
43

Reported reserves equal ~1.5 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 (50% 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: 0.7% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Northern Ireland · Scotland · Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/03/2025£2.8m£2.7m
31/03/2024£2.8m£2.7m
31/03/2023£2.8m£2.4m
31/03/2022£1.3m£1.3m
31/03/2021£1.2m£953k

Common questions

Is FRESHWATER HABITATS TRUST financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that total income was £2,751,087 against total expenditure of £2,746,403, resulting in a small surplus. The charity holds unrestricted reserves of £954,762, which the trustees consider sufficient to meet operational requirements and cover unexpected expenditure, maintaining a going concern status. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Wenn Townsend.

What does the highest-paid employee of FRESHWATER HABITATS TRUST earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £60,001 - £70,000 band, and 2 employees earned over £60,000.

Who funds FRESHWATER HABITATS TRUST?

Funders whose own accounts filings name FRESHWATER HABITATS TRUST as a grant recipient include THE ROTHSCHILD FOUNDATION.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
THE ROTHSCHILD FOUNDATIONFY2025£317k
THE ROTHSCHILD FOUNDATIONFY2024£150k

Government & lottery funding

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

FunderDateAmountPurpose
The National Lottery Heritage Fund27/02/2023£43k"#NNF2 River Irfon catchment: Helping communities develop nature networks to protect and restore freshwater biodiversity"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund08/10/2019£37k"Exploring and restoring Oxford's relic wetlands"
UK government01/04/2019£10kBartley and Fletchwood Tributary (œ12K allocated for 19/20, œ60K for 20/21)
UK government01/04/2019£15kWEIF 4602 19/20 (NEW FOREST) WFD GRANT PAYMENTS TO CHARITIES
UK government01/04/2019£8kWEIF7702-19/20 (RIVER THAME) WFD GRANT PAYMENTS TO CHARITIES
UK government01/04/2019£8kWEIF8702-19/20 (GLOUCESTER AND VALE-OCK) WFD GRANT PAYMENTS TO CHARTIES
UK government01/04/2019£24kWater Friendly Farming 19/20
UK government01/04/2019£15kBeaulieu Catchment Improvements
UK government01/04/2019£10kWater and nutrient management in New Forest nurseries project(œ20K allocated for 19/20, œ70K for 20/21)
UK government01/04/2019£2kFarmer engagement in the Ock catchment 19/20 œ25K, 20/21 œ25K
UK government01/04/2019£406Bartley and Fletchwood Tributary (œ12K allocated for 19/20, œ60K for 20/21)
UK government01/04/2018£15kALB - Environment Agency - NEW FOREST WFD CRF GRANT PAYMENTS TO CHARITIES
UK government01/04/2018£8kALB - Environment Agency - THAME AND SOUTH CHILTERNS WFD CRF GRANT PAYMENTS TO CHARITIES
UK government01/04/2018£8kALB - Environment Agency - VALE OF WHITE HORSE / GLOUCESTER AND VALE WFD CRF GRANT PAYMENTS TO CHARITIES
UK government01/04/2018£24kALB - Environment Agency - Water Friendly Farming 18/19
UK government01/04/2018£7kALB - Environment Agency - Sowley Stream and Pond Improvements 18/19
UK government01/04/2018£8kALB - Environment Agency - Sowley Stream and Pond Improvements 18/19
UK government01/04/2018£10kALB - Environment Agency - Sowley Stream and Pond Improvements 18/19
UK government01/04/2018£18kALB - Environment Agency - Sowley Pond Dredge Feasibility Study 18/19
UK government01/04/2018£23kALB - Environment Agency - Ock Farmer Engagement 18/19
The National Lottery Heritage Fund26/03/2013£1.4m"People, Ponds, and Water Project"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund05/02/2008£50k"South Yorkshire Ponds Project"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund21/11/2005£50k"Community Pond Warden Scheme for Lancashire (Pilot)"
UK government—£2kReversing Deterioration on the Avon Water
UK government—£7kRiver Ock Catchment Arable Advise

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 FRESHWATER BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
FRESHWATER HABITATS TRUST£2.8m£60,001 - £70,0002below—no doubt
FRESHWATER BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION FY2025£1.0m——unclear—no doubt
SEA LIFE TRUST LIMITED FY2024£6.8m—0above—no doubt
THAMES RIVERS TRUST FY2025£136k—0unclear—no doubt
WEST WALES RIVERS TRUST FY2025£884k—0unclear—no doubt
HAMPSHIRE AND ISLE OF WIGHT WILDLIFE TRUST FY2025£9.9m——unclear—no doubt

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