THE GAME AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION TRUST

Registered charity 1112023 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as THE GAME CONSERVANCY TRUST LIMITED · also registered in Scotland as SC038868 (OSCR)

For over 75 years we have been researching why species like the grey partridge, water vole, corn bunting and black grouse have declined. We are continually developing practical measures to reverse these declines.We are the only UK charity using science to promote game and wildlife management as an essential part of nature conservation.

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

Latest income

£11.6m

Latest spending

£11.8m

Registered

2005

Accounts read

FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a deficit of £557,000 on unrestricted funds for the year ended 31 December 2024, resulting in a net decrease in total funds. Per the trustees' report, the charity remains dependent on the generosity of supporters and public sector funding, with risks noted regarding political or economic changes affecting income renewal. The trustees consider the financial position to be sound and the reserves policy appropriate given these uncertainties.

Automated summary of the FY2024 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £150,001 - £160,000 — above the median for charities its size (£130k)

“Emoluments in the range £150,000 - £160,000 1” — page 28

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Reserves policy: minimum £1.5m, target £2.2m (held: £4.3m)

“The policy is that there should be a minimum level of liquid reserves of at least £1.5m, with a target of £2.2m.” — page 4

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Trading subsidiary: Game and Wildlife Conservation Trading Limited, GWCT Natural Capital Advisory Limited, GWCT Events Limited

“The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust has three wholly-owned trading subsidiaries, Game and Wildlife Conservation Trading Limited and its subsidiaes GWCT Events Limited and GWCT Natural Capital Advisory Limited” — page 24

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Fletcher & Partners. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

In the news

Recent coverage mentioning this charity by name (automated match; headlines belong to their publishers).

Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust art competition opens for Aberdeenshire entries grampianonline.co.uk · 15/08/2023
A wild night at the museum: Duke of Roxburghe hosts 41st annual Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust Ball at the V&A tatler.com · 09/12/2021

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Game & Wildlife (matched by registered charity number).

Property (HM Land Registry)

1 registered title 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.

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2024)

Total income

£11.6m

Total spending

£11.8m

Cost of raising funds

£3.7m

Reserves (reported)

£2.2m

Employees

146

Reported reserves equal ~2.3 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (38% 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: 31.5% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 3.8%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Received assets from another charity (10/08/2026) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
Received assets from another charity (17/02/2016) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
Received assets from another charity (02/11/2011) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

Alexandra Emily Henton · trustee of 1 other charity
Andrew James Palmer Knott
Andrew Laurence Reed
Bernard Taylor CBE DL
Isobel Evelyn Channing
James Corbett
Jeremy Paul Godsmark Finnis
Jeremy Simon Young
John Shields · trustee of 1 other charity
Owen Roderick Miles Williams
Robert Moore
STEPHEN JOHN OAKLEY CATLIN
Stephen Peter Morant
Thomas Peter Algar Orde-Powlett
Zoe Jane Henderson

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

Operates in: Scotland · Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/12/2024	£11.6m	£11.8m
31/12/2023	£11.0m	£11.1m
31/12/2022	£11.1m	£9.6m
31/12/2021	£9.3m	£7.9m
31/12/2020	£7.7m	£7.1m

Common questions

Is THE GAME AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION TRUST financially healthy?

Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a deficit of £557,000 on unrestricted funds for the year ended 31 December 2024, resulting in a net decrease in total funds. Per the trustees' report, the charity remains dependent on the generosity of supporters and public sector funding, with risks noted regarding political or economic changes affecting income renewal. The trustees consider the financial position to be sound and the reserves policy appropriate given these uncertainties. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Fletcher & Partners.

What does the highest-paid employee of THE GAME AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION TRUST earn?

Per its FY2024 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £150,001 - £160,000 band.

Who funds THE GAME AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION TRUST?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE GAME AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION TRUST as a grant recipient include THE PRIVY PURSE CHARITABLE TRUST, THE WESTMINSTER FOUNDATION, MONDAY CHARITABLE TRUST, THE ROTHERMERE FOUNDATION, THE JORDAN CHARITABLE FOUNDATION.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
THE PRIVY PURSE CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£230k	Other charitable purposes
THE WESTMINSTER FOUNDATION	FY2024	£225k	Contribution towards the organisation’s work on advising farmers and landowners on how they can improve wildlife habitat and lobby for agricultural and conserva
MONDAY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£100k	Discretionary Grants
THE ROTHERMERE FOUNDATION	FY2022	£100k	Other charitable donations
THE WESTMINSTER FOUNDATION	FY2022	£75k	Advising farmers and landowners on wildlife habitat and lobbying for agricultural policies.
THE WESTMINSTER FOUNDATION	FY2021	£75k	Contribution to the organisation’s work on advising farmers and landowners on how they can improve wildlife habitat.
THE WESTMINSTER FOUNDATION	FY2023	£75k	Contribution towards the organisation’s work on advising farmers and landowners on how they can improve wildlife habitat and lobby for agricultural and conserva
THE ROTHERMERE FOUNDATION	FY2025	£70k	Other charitable donations
THE ROTHERMERE FOUNDATION	FY2023	£50k	Other charitable donations
THE JORDAN CHARITABLE FOUNDATION	FY2024	£50k
THE PRIVY PURSE CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£35k	Environment
FISHMONGERS' COMPANY'S CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£33k	Fisheries grants
BASC Wildlife Fund Charity	FY2025	£13k	reduce predation of endangered wading bird nests by badgers and support Black Grouse in North Yorkshire
THE OFENHEIM CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£12k
MONDAY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£10k	Discretionary Grants
THE M J SAMUEL CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£10k
THE OFENHEIM CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£9k
THE DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND'S CHARITY	FY2023	£7k
THE ALICE ELLEN COOPER-DEAN CHARITABLE FOUNDATION	FY2025	£5k
THE OFENHEIM CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£5k
THE DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND'S CHARITY	FY2024	£5k
ROCKCLIFFE CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£5k
THE DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND'S CHARITY	FY2022	£5k
THE ROTHERMERE FOUNDATION	FY2024	£3k	Other charitable donations
THE DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND'S CHARITY	FY2025	£3k
ROCKCLIFFE CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£1k
The Ross Foundation	FY2025	£530
The Ross Foundation	FY2024	£444

Government & lottery funding

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

Funder	Date	Amount	Purpose
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	11/07/2024	£100k	"Swaledale & Wensleydale Evironmental Farmers - SWEF"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	07/12/2023	£99k	"Peakland Environmental Farmers (PEF)"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	27/02/2023	£76k	"#NNF2 Wales Curlew Connections, Cysylltu Gylfinir Cymru"
UK government	30/11/2022	£40k	Nitrogen efficient plants for climate smart arable cropping systems (NCS)
UK government	01/04/2022	£861	Environmental Stewardship Transferred to DEFRA NSA P2
UK government	01/04/2022	£11k	Countryside Stewardship Transferred to DEFRA NSA P2
UK government	21/06/2021	£124k	GRCF2021 Merlin Magic: Recovery at a landscape scale
UK government	21/06/2021	£99k	GRCF2021 Merlin Magic: Recovery at a landscape scale
UK government	01/04/2021	£329	ALB - Rural Payments Agency - State Aid Funded (RD Measure 16) SA
Farming The Future	01/11/2020	£20k	A National Network of Agroforestry Farms
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	17/08/2020	£47k	"COVID19: Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	26/11/2018	£50k	"Conserving Black Grouse in Scotland - a volunteer based count scheme"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	12/03/2018	£65k	"The UK Lowland Curlew Recovery Project"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	10/05/2017	£9k	"Learning about bats on arable farmland in Hampshire and Dorset"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	28/02/2011	£32k	"Woodlands for black grouse"

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
ROYAL SOCIETY OF WILDLIFE TRUSTS	6	£1.2m
THE BANISTER CHARITABLE TRUST	2	£653k
JOHN SWIRE 1989 CHARITABLE TRUST	2	£12k
THE ALEXANDER MOSLEY CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£405k
THE REECE FOUNDATION	1	£271k
THE SANDERSON FOUNDATION	1	£215k
THE FIDELITY UK FOUNDATION	1	£200k
THE BAY TREE CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£175k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with HAMPSHIRE AND ISLE OF WIGHT WILDLIFE TRUST.

HAMPSHIRE AND ISLE OF WIGHT WILDLIFE TRUST income £9.9m
SOMERSET WILDLIFE TRUST income £5.3m
GLOUCESTERSHIRE WILDLIFE TRUST income £6.1m
SHROPSHIRE WILDLIFE TRUST income £3.4m
GWENT WILDLIFE TRUST LTD income £1.3m
WILDWOOD TRUST income £4.4m

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
THE GAME AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION TRUST	£11.6m	£150,001 - £160,000	—	unclear	—	no doubt
HAMPSHIRE AND ISLE OF WIGHT WILDLIFE TRUST FY2025	£9.9m	—	—	unclear	—	no doubt
SOMERSET WILDLIFE TRUST FY2025	£5.3m	—	—	within	15.1%	no doubt
GLOUCESTERSHIRE WILDLIFE TRUST FY2025	£6.1m	£80,001 - £90,000	—	unclear	9.0%	no doubt
SHROPSHIRE WILDLIFE TRUST FY2025	£3.4m	—	—	below	—	no doubt
GWENT WILDLIFE TRUST LTD FY2025	£1.3m	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt

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