SOUTH DOWNS NATIONAL PARK TRUST

Registered charity 1174975 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

We want to see more land managed for wildlife, more rare habitats protected, more local communities thriving and more people able to access and enjoy their National Park. This requires more investment and we want to secure and direct the substantial goodwill that exists for the South Downs to places where it can make a real difference.

Causes: Education/training · Environment/conservation/heritage · Economic/community Development/employment · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£2.3m

Latest spending

£1.6m

Registered

2017

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a net income of £724,834 for the year ended 31 March 2025, an increase from £382,671 in the prior year. Total funds increased to £2,077,215, with unrestricted funds at £534,476 and restricted funds at £1,542,739. The charity maintains significant cash reserves of £1,180,529 and has a positive cash flow from operating activities of £46,417.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by none. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Leadership, per the charity’s website

James Winkworth — Head of Charity (source)
Dean Orgill — Former Chair of Trustees (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.

Funders the charity credits

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

OSB Group — “The South Downs National Park has received an early Christmas present with a big funding boost from OSB Group.” (source page)
Hydro Flask — “As part of their Parks for All program, US company Hydro Flask have donated over £10,000 in 2024 to the South Downs Trust to help more young…” (source page)
Howdens — “UK National Parks has announced a new two year partnership with trade kitchen supplier Howdens to support nature recovery across some of the…” (source page)
National Parks UK — “UK National Parks has announced a new two year partnership with trade kitchen supplier Howdens to support nature recovery across some of the…” (source page)

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

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

Total income

£2.3m

Total spending

£1.6m

Cost of raising funds

£109k

Reserves (reported)

£211k

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~1.6 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (92% 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: 4.6% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

Josephine Carrchair
Ana Mundim Dr
Christopher John Knell
Eric Lhomond
Jayasri Prasad · trustee of 1 other charity
Julia Louise Marshall
Mark Aubrey Potter
Nicholas William Pink
Paul Coffey · trustee of 1 other charity
Stephen McAuliffe

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

Operates in: East Sussex · Hampshire · West Sussex

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/03/2025	£2.3m	£1.6m
31/03/2024	£1.7m	£1.4m
31/03/2023	£1.6m	£1.0m
31/03/2022	£873k	£761k
31/03/2021	£898k	£591k

Common questions

Is SOUTH DOWNS NATIONAL PARK TRUST financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a net income of £724,834 for the year ended 31 March 2025, an increase from £382,671 in the prior year. Total funds increased to £2,077,215, with unrestricted funds at £534,476 and restricted funds at £1,542,739. The charity maintains significant cash reserves of £1,180,529 and has a positive cash flow from operating activities of £46,417. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by none.

Who funds SOUTH DOWNS NATIONAL PARK TRUST?

Funders whose own accounts filings name SOUTH DOWNS NATIONAL PARK TRUST as a grant recipient include M J CAMP CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, THE BANISTER CHARITABLE TRUST, THE GERALD MICKLEM CHARITABLE TRUST, THE SHANLY FOUNDATION, THE SUSSEX COMMUNITY FOUNDATION.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
M J CAMP CHARITABLE FOUNDATION	FY2023	£230k
THE BANISTER CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£186k	Grants - to institutions to promote the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment
THE BANISTER CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£186k	Grants - to institutions to promote the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment
THE BANISTER CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£95k
THE GERALD MICKLEM CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£25k	Environment/wildlife
THE SHANLY FOUNDATION	FY2023	£20k
THE SUSSEX COMMUNITY FOUNDATION	FY2022	£13k
THE GERALD MICKLEM CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£9k	Environment/wildlife
FONTHILL FOUNDATION	FY2023	£8k	Apprentice ranger and outdoor learning opportunities for children
THE GERALD MICKLEM CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2021	£8k
THE F GLENISTER WOODGER TRUST CIO	FY2025	£6k
M J CAMP CHARITABLE FOUNDATION	FY2024	£5k
THE NINEVEH CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£5k
THE HOBSON CHARITY LIMITED	FY2024	£5k	Youth
M J CAMP CHARITABLE FOUNDATION	FY2025	£4k
THE JOHN COATES CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£3k
The Patricia Routledge Foundation	FY2025	£3k
THE JOHN COATES CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£3k
THE NINEVEH CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£3k
THE NINEVEH CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£2k
THE SHANLY FOUNDATION	FY2024	£0
THE F GLENISTER WOODGER TRUST CIO	FY2024	£0
THE JOHN COATES CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£0

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	13/09/2022	£1.8m	"Downs to the Sea: Recovery & Resilience in Wetland Habitats"
The National Lottery Community Fund	05/10/2020	£151k	Ouse Valley CARES: Climate Action Resilient Ecosystems Sustainability

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	£2.0m
JOHN SWIRE 1989 CHARITABLE TRUST	2	£7k
THE VEOLIA ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST	1	£770k
THE SANDERSON FOUNDATION	1	£215k
THE FIDELITY UK FOUNDATION	1	£179k
THE NINESQUARE TRUST	1	£162k
MOONDANCE FOUNDATION	1	£93k
CLARK FOUNDATION	1	£52k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with DOWNLANDS TRUST.

DOWNLANDS TRUST income £1.1m
THE WILDLIFE TRUST OF SOUTH AND WEST WALES LIMITED income £5.3m
SOMERSET WILDLIFE TRUST income £5.3m
BADGWORTHY TRUST FOR THE PRESERVATION OF EXMOOR income £109k
HAMPSHIRE AND ISLE OF WIGHT WILDLIFE TRUST income £9.9m
DURHAM WILDLIFE TRUST income £4.3m

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
SOUTH DOWNS NATIONAL PARK TRUST	£2.3m	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
DOWNLANDS TRUST FY2024	£1.1m	—	0	above	—	no doubt
THE WILDLIFE TRUST OF SOUTH AND WEST WALES LIMITED FY2025	£5.3m	£60,001 - £70,000	1	above	—	no doubt
SOMERSET WILDLIFE TRUST FY2025	£5.3m	—	—	within	15.1%	no doubt
BADGWORTHY TRUST FOR THE PRESERVATION OF EXMOOR FY2025	£109k	—	0	unclear	—	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.