THE ERNEST COOK TRUST

Registered charity 1146629 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Land-owning educational grant-making charitable company, making grants throughout the United Kingdom. Grants are awarded for projects that support young people in Outdoor Learning, environmental engagement, connection to nature and Learning from the Land. The Trust also makes use of its landed estates as a direct resource for educational visits and associated activity.

Objects

SUCH CHARITABLE EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES AS THE TRUSTEES MAY THINK FIT

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

Causes: Education/training · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Cotswold, South West, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The Ernest Cook Trust reported a net increase in total funds of £1.35m for the year ended 31 March 2025, driven largely by gains on property disposals and revaluations. The charity maintains a substantial Expendable Endowment fund of £315.2m, while its unrestricted reserves decreased by £1m to £1.4m. The trustees consider the risk of inadequate reserves to be low and maintain a policy of holding liquid assets equivalent to at least six months' working capital.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Hazlewoods LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

• Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
• Complaints handling
• Complaints policy and procedures
• Conflicting interests
• Financial reserves policy and procedures
• Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
• Internal risk management policy and procedures
• Investing charity funds policy and procedures
• Investment
• Risk management
• Safeguarding policy and procedures
• Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
• Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
• Social media policy and procedures
• Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
• Trustee expenses policy and procedures

From the charity’s annual return (Part A, self-declared)

Answers and figures the charity gave in Part A of its annual return to the Charity Commission. They are self-declared: not verified by the Commission or by this site. Only positive answers and figures are listed; items not listed are simply not shown.

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

In the news

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

• Ernest Cook Trust students showcase skills at Quenington sculpture show wiltsglosstandard.co.uk · 29/07/2026
• Pupils explore outdoors with new garments paid for by Ernest Cook Trust grant maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk · 11/01/2024
• National education charity The Ernest Cook Trust in Fairford welcomes Michael Birnie in newly-created strategic role wiltsglosstandard.co.uk · 15/07/2017
• Who’s Moving: CPRE, Asthma UK, Ernest Cook Trust and more civilsociety.co.uk · 02/05/2017
• Ernest Cook Trust in Fairford welcomes Jenefer Greenwood OBE as a trustee wiltsglosstandard.co.uk · 29/04/2017
• Fairford education charity Ernest Cook Trust welcomes new chief wiltsglosstandard.co.uk · 05/10/2016
• Parting Shot: Nicholas Ford, the Ernest Cook Trust thirdsector.co.uk · 01/09/2016
• Big Giver: The Ernest Cook Trust thirdsector.co.uk · 22/01/2013

What the charity says about itself (2024/25)

From its own voluntary annual review / impact report — the charity’s account of its work, distinct from the statutory accounts analysed above.

Property (HM Land Registry)

125 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (125 freehold); recorded price paid £3.5m. 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)

Reported reserves equal ~1.7 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Other (64% 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: 4.2% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.3%) (benchmarks).

Register events

• Received assets from another charity (10/03/2023) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
• Received assets from another charity (05/12/2022) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Operates in: Northern Ireland · Scotland

Income and spending

Common questions

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 ERNEST KLEINWORT CHARITABLE TRUST.

• THE ERNEST KLEINWORT CHARITABLE TRUST income £2.4m
• ECOLOGICAL CONTINUITY TRUST income £244k
• THE EXETER EPISCOPAL SCHOOLS TRUST income £44k
• EDUCATIONAL AND GENERAL CHARITABLE TRUST income £124k
• EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION OF ROBERT OLDFIELD income £300k
• THE UNDERWOOD TRUST income £12.4m

Side by side with its peers

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