NORFOLK WILDLIFE TRUST

Registered charity 208734 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as THE NORFOLK NATURALISTS TRUST

Latest income

£9.4m

Latest spending

£8.7m

Registered

1963

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a surplus of £583,630 for the year ended 31 March 2025, with total income rising to £9,369,195. Per the trustees' report, the charity holds total funds of £26,104,711, including £4,036,770 in free reserves, which exceeds its stated policy target of £2,108,942. The auditor confirmed that no material uncertainties exist regarding the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £80,001 - £90,000 — above the median for charities its size (£76k)

“One employee earned between £80,000 and £90,000 in the year” — page 48

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Reserves policy: six months Trust staff costs (excluding project funded staff) (held: £4.0m)

“The policy is to provide a general reserve based on six months Trust staff costs (excluding project funded staff).”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Smith & Pinching Ltd, a corporate member, paid £5,000. Scott Pinching, a Council member, is a Director of Smith & Pinching Ltd.

“A total of £5,000 (2024: £5,000) was made as an Investors in Wildlife corporate member by Smith & Pinching Ltd. Scott Pinching, Council member, is a Director of Smith & Pinching Ltd.” — page 59

“The Trust paid £1,208,716 (2024: £1,205,027) for monies taken at visitor centres, paid into the Trust's bank account and subsequently transferred to Norfolk Wildlife Enterprises Limited.” — page 59

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Trust paid £1,208,716 to Norfolk Wildlife Enterprises Ltd for visitor centre takings.

“A total of £5,000 (2024: £5,000) was made as an Investors in Wildlife corporate member by Smith & Pinching Ltd. Scott Pinching, Council member, is a Director of Smith & Pinching Ltd.” — page 59

“The Trust paid £1,208,716 (2024: £1,205,027) for monies taken at visitor centres, paid into the Trust's bank account and subsequently transferred to Norfolk Wildlife Enterprises Limited.” — page 59

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Trust paid £240,099 to Norfolk Wildlife Services Ltd for shared services.

“A total of £5,000 (2024: £5,000) was made as an Investors in Wildlife corporate member by Smith & Pinching Ltd. Scott Pinching, Council member, is a Director of Smith & Pinching Ltd.” — page 59

“The Trust paid £1,208,716 (2024: £1,205,027) for monies taken at visitor centres, paid into the Trust's bank account and subsequently transferred to Norfolk Wildlife Enterprises Limited.” — page 59

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Trust paid £783,384 to Norfolk Wildlife Enterprises Ltd for shared services.

“A total of £5,000 (2024: £5,000) was made as an Investors in Wildlife corporate member by Smith & Pinching Ltd. Scott Pinching, Council member, is a Director of Smith & Pinching Ltd.” — page 59

“The Trust paid £1,208,716 (2024: £1,205,027) for monies taken at visitor centres, paid into the Trust's bank account and subsequently transferred to Norfolk Wildlife Enterprises Limited.” — page 59

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Trust engaged Norfolk Wildlife Services Ltd for consultancy work valued at £17,841.

“A total of £5,000 (2024: £5,000) was made as an Investors in Wildlife corporate member by Smith & Pinching Ltd. Scott Pinching, Council member, is a Director of Smith & Pinching Ltd.” — page 59

“The Trust paid £1,208,716 (2024: £1,205,027) for monies taken at visitor centres, paid into the Trust's bank account and subsequently transferred to Norfolk Wildlife Enterprises Limited.” — page 59

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Lovewell Blake LLP.

Year-over-year changes

Top pay band moved from £60,001 - £70,000 (FY2022) to £80,001 - £90,000 (FY2025).

Comparing this charity’s FY2022 and FY2025 accounts as analysed by this site.

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

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Eliot Lyne — Chief Executive Officer (source)
Natalie Bailey — Director of Engagement (source)
Kevin Hart — Director of Nature Conservation (source)
Rachel Savage — Director of Development and Partnerships (source)
Helen Hebditch — Director of Nature Recovery (source)
Clare Sisson — Director of Finance and Support Services (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.

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

Total income

£9.4m

Total spending

£8.7m

Cost of raising funds

£3.4m

Reserves (reported)

£4.0m

Employees

177

Reported reserves equal ~5.6 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Register events

Received assets from another charity (12/02/2025) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
Received assets from another charity (16/11/2023) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
Received assets from another charity (27/07/2019) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
Received assets from another charity (14/01/2019) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees

Bailey Tait
Catherine Louise Docherty
Glenn Peter Houchell
Gregory Nicholas Beeton
Harry Charles Buscall · trustee of 1 other charity
JOHN SHARPE
Katherine Anne Gill · trustee of 1 other charity
Mandy Elizabeth Loadman
Matthew Bradbury · trustee of 1 other charity
Naomi Ruth Palmer · trustee of 1 other charity
Richard Charles Powell
Richard James Carter
Robert Stephen Lucking
SCOTT BARRY PINCHING · trustee of 2 other charities

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

Operates in: Norfolk

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/03/2025	£9.4m	£8.7m
31/03/2024	£8.2m	£8.1m
31/03/2023	£6.8m	£6.7m
31/03/2022	£5.9m	£5.6m
31/03/2021	£7.2m	£4.7m

Common questions

Is NORFOLK WILDLIFE TRUST financially healthy?

The accounts state that the charity reported a surplus of £583,630 for the year ended 31 March 2025, with total income rising to £9,369,195. Per the trustees' report, the charity holds total funds of £26,104,711, including £4,036,770 in free reserves, which exceeds its stated policy target of £2,108,942. The auditor confirmed that no material uncertainties exist regarding the charity's ability to continue as a going concern. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Lovewell Blake LLP.

What does the highest-paid employee of NORFOLK WILDLIFE TRUST earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £80,001 - £90,000 band.

Who funds NORFOLK WILDLIFE TRUST?

Funders whose own accounts filings name NORFOLK WILDLIFE TRUST as a grant recipient include ROYAL SOCIETY OF WILDLIFE TRUSTS, THE BANISTER CHARITABLE TRUST, THE GEOFFREY WATLING CHARITY, THE LESLIE MARY CARTER CHARITABLE TRUST, THE RANWORTH TRUST 1985.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount
ROYAL SOCIETY OF WILDLIFE TRUSTS	FY2024	£271k
THE BANISTER CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£166k
THE BANISTER CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£165k
THE GEOFFREY WATLING CHARITY	FY2025	£40k
THE LESLIE MARY CARTER CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£10k
THE BANISTER CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£10k
THE RANWORTH TRUST 1985	FY2025	£5k
THE RANWORTH TRUST 1985	FY2024	£5k
THE PAUL BASSHAM CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£5k
THE RANWORTH TRUST 1985	FY2023	£5k
CLAN TRUST LIMITED	FY2023	£750
CLAN TRUST LIMITED	FY2024	£210
ANSON CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£138
ROYAL SOCIETY OF WILDLIFE TRUSTS	FY2024	£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	04/03/2026	£453k	"Wilder Hickling - a haven for nature, heritage and people"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	26/10/2023	£242k	"Norfolk Wildlife Trust - Building Foundations for the Future"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	10/08/2020	£48k	"COVID19: Norfolk Wildlife Trust"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	22/03/2018	£59k	"Norfolk's Wildlife in Common"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	23/02/2016	£21k	"The Year of Norfolk's Nature - A celebration of 90 years of Norfolk Wildlife Trust"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	17/12/2015	£82k	"Norfolk County Wildlife Action"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	18/07/2013	£80k	"Delivering Living Landscapes: Discover, Explore, Take Action, engaging communities with the Bure and Gaywood Valleys"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	20/11/2012	£1.6m	"Cley and Salthouse: A Living Coast"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	15/03/2007	£207k	"Natural Connections: Connecting people to heritage in Norfolk"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	12/11/2004	£5k	"The Award Will Be Used To Host An Environmental Education Event In A City Park In Norwich That Will Show Local People How They Can Use Their"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	11/07/2003	£50k	"Conservation & Heritage Inspired Projects with Schools"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	12/06/2003	£288k	"People & Wildlife - Reaching Out"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	27/11/2002	£294k	"Upton Broad and Marshes-land acquisition"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	08/03/2002	£109k	"Land purchase at Upton marshes, Norfolk"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	13/09/1999	£260k	"Upton Marshes Land - Acquisition"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	22/05/1998	£2.3m	"Norfolk Wildlife Trust Bid - securing the future"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	21/05/1998	£13k	"Martham Reserves Additional Land Acquisition"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	23/01/1998	£48k	"Thompson Common Land Extension"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	10/06/1997	£374k	"Hickling Broad Nature Reserve - Restoration"

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
GARFIELD WESTON FOUNDATION	2	£450k
THE DRW FOUNDATION	2	£189k
THE ICTHIUS CHARITABLE TRUST	2	£46k
LILIAN FRANCES HIND BEQUEST (TRUSTEES OF LADY HIND)	2	£26k
PEACOCK CHARITABLE TRUST	2	£21k
THE THOMAS RAWCLIFFE CHARITABLE TRUST	2	£5k
ETHEL AND GWYNNE MORGAN TRUST	2	£1k
THE GUNTER CHARITABLE TRUST	1	—

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE NORFOLK CHURCHES TRUST LIMITED.

THE NORFOLK CHURCHES TRUST LIMITED income £451k
ROYAL NORFOLK AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION income £4.0m
ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS income £195.0m
THE WOODLAND TRUST income £89.4m
Sheldrick Wildlife Trust UK income £10.4m
SUFFOLK NATURALISTS' SOCIETY income £438k