DORSET WILDLIFE TRUST

Registered charity 200222 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · Wikidata: Q5298872 · Wikipedia · also known as THE DORSET NATURALISTS TRUST LTD, THE DORSET TRUST FOR NATURE CONSERVATION

Our mission is to champion wildlife and natural places, to engage and inspire people and to promote sustainable living. We are working to conserve and enhance Dorset's rich and varied wildlife, delivering conservation gains through our network of nature reserves and wildlife sites and by engaging with communities, working with landowners, farmers, local authorities, business and young people.

Objects

1.1.1 TO PROMOTE FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC THE CONSERVATION PROTECTION AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE PHYSICAL AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENT BOTH ON LAND AND SEA, IN PARTICULAR BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY IN DORSET BY: (A) ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING NATURE RESERVES, WILDLIFE HABITATS AND NATURAL SPACES;(B) SURVEYING, RECORDING, RESEARCHING AND STUDYING THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT; AND(C) ENGAGING PEOPLE WITH THEIR ENVIRONMENT THROUGH EVENTS, CENTRES, VOLUNTEERING AND/OR OTHER MEANS.1.1.2 TO ADVANCE THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC IN AND INFORM THEM ABOUT THE CONSERVATION, PROTECTION AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE PHYSICAL AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, AND THE NATURAL SCIENCES BOTH ON LAND AND SEA IN PARTICULAR BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY IN DORSET BY:(A) PROVIDING WALKS, TALKS, EVENTS, MEETINGS, DIGITAL AND OTHER MEANS OF COMMUNICATION; AND (B) ADVOCATING GOOD PRACTICE AND PROMOTING ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES AND WORKING.

Area of benefit: NATIONAL

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

Causes: General Charitable Purposes · Education/training · Environment/conservation/heritage · website · Get email alerts

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

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity finished the year with an unrestricted surplus of £1.22 million and free financial reserves of £4.08 million, which the Trustees believe represent approximately nine months of budgeted total costs. The charity holds unrestricted funds of £7.18 million in total, with £3.15 million held in investments, indicating a strong liquidity position relative to its stated reserves policy of holding six months' costs.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Moore (South) 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
• Paying staff
• 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
• Volunteer management

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).

• Dorset Wildlife Trust launches new appeal to drive nature recovery across Dorset bournemouthecho.co.uk · 23/10/2026
• Dorset Wildlife Trust launches new appeal to drive nature’s recovery across Dorset dorsetview.co.uk · 22/10/2026
• Dorset Wildlife Trust launches 'truly special' stay on Brownsea Island bournemouthecho.co.uk · 07/09/2026
• Dorset Wildlife Trust leads guided birdwatching walk on Brownsea Island bournemouthecho.co.uk · 01/09/2026
• Dorset Wildlife Trust secures nearly £150k of early funding with hopes to reach £1m bournemouthecho.co.uk · 29/06/2026
• Dorset Wildlife Trust receives support from National Lottery Heritage Fund dorsetecho.co.uk · 23/06/2026
• What next for Upton Heath after Dorset Wildlife Trust buys land? bbc.com · 03/06/2026
• Dorset Wildlife Trust rallying support to bring beavers back to Dorset bournemouthecho.co.uk · 22/04/2026

Corporate structure

• Registered company of the charity Companies House 00688439

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Dorset Wildlife Trust (matched by registered charity number).

Leadership, per the charity’s website

• Brian Bleese — Chief Executive (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).

• The National Lottery Heritage Fund — “Dorset Wildlife Trust has received initial support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for the Nature Connection North Dorset…” (source page)
• Natural England — “In December 2021, a bid coordinated by the Dorset Catchment Partnership to Natural England’s Nature for Climate Peatland Discovery Grant sch…” (source page)

Company officers (Companies House)

Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.

• UPCHURCH, Lisa Kerry — director, appointed 01/12/2025on trustee list
• SANGHRAJKA, Akshay Jayant — director, appointed 01/12/2025on trustee list
• HULF, Richard — director, appointed 02/12/2024on trustee list
• LITTLER, Andrew — director, appointed 02/12/2024on trustee list
• SHERLOCK, Lisbet — director, appointed 04/12/2023on trustee list
• ALEXANDER, Ian — director, appointed 04/12/2023on trustee list
• HENLEY-LOCK, Leo Julian — director, appointed 04/12/2023not on trustee list
• GOLDSACK, Simon Robert Brian — director, appointed 05/12/2022on trustee list
• STOBART, John Allan — director, appointed 05/12/2022on trustee list
• PUGH, Giles Adrian — director, appointed 03/08/2017on trustee list
• WHITE, James Robert — director, appointed 07/11/2006on trustee list
• WHEATCROFT, Anne Vivienne — director, appointed 06/10/2003on trustee list
• DAVIES, Josephine Ruby — director, appointed 17/10/1997not on trustee list
• JOHNSON, Crystal — secretary, appointed 02/03/2026

Official officers record.

Property (HM Land Registry)

18 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (13 freehold). 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 ~9.0 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 14.4% of total income — above the median for charities its size (5.3%) (benchmarks).

Register events

• Received assets from another charity (24/07/2024) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

• ANNE VIVIENNE WHEATCROFT
• Akshay Sanghrajka
• Andrew Littler
• Dr Philip Sterling
• GILES PUGH
• Ian Alexander · trustee of 1 other charity
• JAMES ROBERT WHITE
• JOSEPHINE DAVIES MBE
• John Allan Stobart
• Leo Julian Henley Lock
• Lisa Upchurch · trustee of 1 other charity
• Lisbet Sherlock · trustee of 2 other charities
• Richard Hulf
• Simon Goldsack

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

Operates in: Dorset

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

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

Grants marked “Unverified read” were flagged by automated checks as possibly misread from the funder’s filed accounts. They are listed, but left out of the totals, counts and funder relationships this site computes.

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 SOMERSET WILDLIFE TRUST.

• SOMERSET WILDLIFE TRUST income £5.3m
• WEST DORSET WILDING income £287k
• DURHAM WILDLIFE TRUST income £2.8m
• SUSSEX WILDLIFE TRUST income £7.2m
• THE HEREFORDSHIRE WILDLIFE TRUST LIMITED income £3.0m
• NORTHUMBERLAND WILDLIFE TRUST LIMITED income £5.5m

Side by side with its peers

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