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BLUE MARINE FOUNDATION

Registered charity 1137209 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE) exists to combat overfishing and the destruction of biodiversity through the creation of large-scale marine reserves and by delivering new models of sustainable fishing.

Causes: Education/training · Animals · Environment/conservation/heritage · Economic/community Development/employment · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£13.0m
Latest spending
£12.1m
Registered
2010
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that free reserves of £2,784,074 represent eight months of operational expenditure, which falls below the charity's stated reserves policy target of between nine and 18 months. The charity reported a net income for the year of £824,599, driven by a 6% increase in total income to £12.98 million, while charitable expenditure decreased by 16% to £7.74 million. The trustees confirmed that the organization remains a going concern with adequate resources to continue its activities.

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

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £100,001 - £110,000 — below the median for charities its size (£130k)
“£100,000 - £109,999 1”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves position: below the charity's own stated reserves policy (held: £2.8m; policy: between nine and 18 months’ forecast operational expenditure)
“These reserves held represent eight months of free reserves, falling just below Blue Marine’s Reserves Policy of between nine and 18 months’ forecast operational expenditure” — page 54
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Pro-bono PR services from Freud Communications (A K O Brady is director)
“Freud Communications, a public relations company of which A K O Brady is a director, provided pro bono PR services of £20,000” — page 78
“During the year G L Duffiled, a trustee, made a donation of £11,300 personally and of £10,000 through the G D Charitable Trust and purchased a £15,012 piece of artwork at a Blue Marine charity auction” — page 78
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Donations and auction purchase by G L Duffield
“Freud Communications, a public relations company of which A K O Brady is a director, provided pro bono PR services of £20,000” — page 78
“During the year G L Duffiled, a trustee, made a donation of £11,300 personally and of £10,000 through the G D Charitable Trust and purchased a £15,012 piece of artwork at a Blue Marine charity auction” — page 78
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Media and design consultancy from Hutch (co-founded by J Coumbe's husband)
“Freud Communications, a public relations company of which A K O Brady is a director, provided pro bono PR services of £20,000” — page 78
“During the year G L Duffiled, a trustee, made a donation of £11,300 personally and of £10,000 through the G D Charitable Trust and purchased a £15,012 piece of artwork at a Blue Marine charity auction” — page 78
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Pension scheme deficit: £34k
“Pension scheme liability 33,942”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Sayer Vincent LLP. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

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

In the news

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

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Blue (matched by registered charity number).

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): instagram

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

Total income
£13.0m
Total spending
£12.1m
Cost of raising funds
£1.1m
Reserves (reported)
£2.8m
Employees
54

Reported reserves equal ~2.8 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 (90% 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: 8.2% of total income — above the median for charities its size (3.8%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Belize · British Indian Ocean Territory · Chile · Devon · Dorset · Hampshire · Maldives · Saint Helena · Scotland

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/03/2025£13.0m£12.1m
31/03/2024£12.3m£12.5m
31/03/2023£11.3m£9.5m
31/03/2022£7.8m£6.2m
31/03/2021£6.3m£4.2m

Common questions

Is BLUE MARINE FOUNDATION financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that free reserves of £2,784,074 represent eight months of operational expenditure, which falls below the charity's stated reserves policy target of between nine and 18 months. The charity reported a net income for the year of £824,599, driven by a 6% increase in total income to £12.98 million, while charitable expenditure decreased by 16% to £7.74 million. The trustees confirmed that the organization remains a going concern with adequate resources to continue its activities. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Sayer Vincent LLP.

What does the highest-paid employee of BLUE MARINE FOUNDATION earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £100,001 - £110,000 band.

Who funds BLUE MARINE FOUNDATION?

Funders whose own accounts filings name BLUE MARINE FOUNDATION as a grant recipient include The Global Returns Project Limited, EAST HEAD IMPACT, JOHN ELLERMAN FOUNDATION, SWIRE 2765, PRISM THE GIFT FUND.

Shared trustees with funders

Register facts shown side by side: a person serves as trustee of both this charity and a funder whose accounts record grants to it. Shared trusteeship is lawful and common; well-run charities manage it through declared-interest procedures.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
The Global Returns Project LimitedFY2026£259kMarine conservation and fighting bottom trawling
EAST HEAD IMPACTFY2023£169kSolent Seascape Project
JOHN ELLERMAN FOUNDATIONFY2025£150kTowards core costs of the policy team in lobbying for regulations that support a healthy ocean in the UK
JOHN ELLERMAN FOUNDATIONFY2022£149kFunding to support the marine team based within St Helena National Trust.
SWIRE 2765FY2024£143k
PRISM THE GIFT FUNDFY2024£125kEnvironment and Animal Welfare
JOHN ELLERMAN FOUNDATIONFY2023£99kFunding to support the establishment of a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the waters off Akrotiri, one of two UK Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus
THE CONSTANCE TRAVIS CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2025£80k
The Global Returns Project LimitedFY2025£76kMarine Protection
The Global Returns Project LimitedFY2024£68k
SWAROVSKI FOUNDATIONFY2022£64k
THE CLORE DUFFIELD FOUNDATIONFY2024£51kArts, heritage and education
THE CONSTANCE TRAVIS CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£50k
THE CONSTANCE TRAVIS CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£50k
THE EQ FOUNDATIONFY2023£43kEnvironment and Climate Change
SWAROVSKI FOUNDATIONFY2021£43k
THE EQ FOUNDATIONFY2024£41kMarine Protected Areas (via Big Give Green Match Fund)
LEVINE FAMILY FOUNDATIONFY2023£30k
THE EQ FOUNDATIONFY2022£28kEnvironment and climate change
SWIRE 2765FY2023£25k
THE GENERATIONS FOUNDATIONFY2024£25k
THE AIM FOUNDATIONFY2022£25kEnvironment
NEWBY TRUST LIMITEDFY2024£20kSpecial category - environment
THE PORTRACK CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£15k
THE G D CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2024£10k
THE PORTRACK CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2024£10k
RUTH SMART FOUNDATIONFY2024£5k
THE CLORE DUFFIELD FOUNDATIONFY2022£5kArts, heritage and education
THE GENERATIONS FOUNDATIONFY2023£4k
RUTH SMART FOUNDATIONFY2021£4k
THE LADY COBHAM FOUNDATIONFY2025£4k
RUTH SMART FOUNDATIONFY2023£4k
THE LADY COBHAM FOUNDATIONFY2024£4k
CHAPMAN CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2025£3k
THE SALISBURY POOL CHARITY COMPRISING THE FIRST MOIETY ESTABLISHED BY CLAUSE 2 OF THE DEED OF DECLARATION DATED 23RD MARCH 1976FY2024£2kSocial welfare
JOHN SWIRE 1989 CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£1k
Evelyn Partners Charitable TrustFY2025£700Employee charitable collections
THE SALISBURY POOL CHARITY COMPRISING THE FIRST MOIETY ESTABLISHED BY CLAUSE 2 OF THE DEED OF DECLARATION DATED 23RD MARCH 1976FY2023£500Social welfare
LEVINE FAMILY FOUNDATIONFY2024£0

Government & lottery funding

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

FunderDateAmountPurpose
Postcode Lottery25/02/2025£600kRegular Grant 2025
Postcode Lottery01/12/2023£400kRegular Grant 2024
Postcode Lottery20/10/2022£300k2022 Special Award
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, UK Branch27/10/2021£59kBlue Marine Foundation
ARCADIA23/05/2021£10kTowards the UK Sturgeon Project
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, UK Branch03/03/2021£22kBlue Marine Foundation

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.

FunderSimilar charities fundedAmount to them
CECIL PILKINGTON CHARITABLE TRUST2£29k
THE REED FOUNDATION1—
Becht Foundation1£4.0m
PETER DUBENS FAMILY FOUNDATION1£373k
TARA GETTY FOUNDATION1£166k
LUCILLE FOUNDATION1£150k
THE SCHRODER FOUNDATION1£100k
THE ACCESS FOUNDATION1£85k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with OCEAN FAMILY FOUNDATION.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
BLUE MARINE FOUNDATION£13.0m£100,001 - £110,000—below—no doubt
OCEAN FAMILY FOUNDATION FY2025£329k—0unclear—no doubt
SEA LIFE TRUST LIMITED FY2024£6.8m—0above—no doubt
MARINE CONSERVATION SOCIETY FY2025£5.3m£80,001 - £90,000—within20.0%no doubt
CAPTAIN PAUL WATSON FOUNDATION UK FY2025£569k—0above—no doubt
MALDIVES WHALE SHARK RESEARCH PROGRAMME LIMITED FY2024£250k—0unclear—no doubt

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