BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION

Registered charity 254937 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · Wikidata: Q5002927 · Wikipedia · also known as THE BRITISH BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION SOCIETY LIMITED · also registered in Scotland as SC039268 (OSCR)

The conservation of butterflies, moths and our environment

Objects

THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES BENEFICIAL TO THE COMMUNITY;1. THE STUDY, CONSERVATION AND PRESERVATION OF NATURAL FAUNA AND FLORA PARTICULARLY SPECIES OF BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND ELSEWHERE, BY CONSERVING THEM IN THE WILD BY SUCH MEANS AS ARE AVAILABLE INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THROUGH THE CREATION AND CONSERVATION OF NATURAL, SEMI-NATURAL OR OTHER HABITATS.2. TO PROMOTE, UNDERTAKE AND SPONSOR SCIENTIFIC STUDY AND RESEARCH INTO THE HABITS, DISEASES AND LIFE-CYCLES OF SUCH FLORA AND FAUNA AND PARTICULARLY BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS AND THEIR LIFE-CYCLES IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURAL, HORTICULTURAL, INDUSTRIAL AND HUMAN PRACTICES AND ACTIVITIES AND TO DISSEMINATE THE RESULTS OF SUCH RESEARCH AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE.3. TO PROMOTE OR UNDERTAKE CONSERVATION AND SOUND MANAGEMENT FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC GENERALLY OF LANDS OF ECOLOGICAL OR OTHER SCIENTIFIC IMPORTANCE.4. TO FOSTER INTEREST IN GOVERNMENTAL AND VOLUNTARY BODIES, EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS AND THE PUBLIC GENERALLY IN PROBLEMS CONCERNING THE CONSERVATION OF NATURAL FLORA AND FAUNA AND PARTICULARLY BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS.

Area of benefit: THE UNITED KINGDOM AND ELSEWHERE

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

Causes: 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 total net assets decreased to £11.87m from £12.83m in the prior year, driven by a net expenditure of £0.96m against income of £6.06m. The trustees confirm that unrestricted free financial reserves of £3.78m are sufficient to cover approximately six months of operating costs, meeting their stated policy target of £3.5m. Despite a challenging fundraising environment and staff reductions, the trustees and auditors confirm the charity has adequate resources to continue as a going concern.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Buzzacott Audit 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
• Trustee expenses 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.

Corporate structure

• Registered company of the charity Companies House 02206468
• Trading subsidiary: BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION TRADING LIMITED Companies House 07166835 · Financial health read from its filings

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

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.

• LEESON, Lynnette Mary — director, appointed 11/11/2024on trustee list
• WATERS, Ruth Dorcas, Dr — director, appointed 11/11/2024on trustee list
• ALMOND, Steve — director, appointed 09/11/2024on trustee list
• HUME, Carrie Anne — director, appointed 09/11/2024on trustee list
• THOMAS, Shaun Roger — director, appointed 09/11/2024on trustee list
• EVANS, Catrin Jayne — director, appointed 04/11/2023on trustee list
• KING, Elaine Janice, Dr — director, appointed 13/11/2021on trustee list
• HARWOOD, Laurence Marius, Professor — director, appointed 16/11/2019on trustee list
• SAVILLE, Simon — director, appointed 10/11/2018on trustee list
• WILLIAMS, Julie Marie — secretary, appointed 15/09/2005

Official officers record.

Property (HM Land Registry)

31 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (26 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 ~0.0 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 7.4% of total income — above the median for charities its size (5.3%) (benchmarks).

Register events

• Received assets from another charity (06/06/2019) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

• Carrie Anne Hume
• Catrin Jayne Evans
• Dr Elaine King
• Dr Ruth Waters · trustee of 1 other charity
• Lynnette Leeson
• Professor Laurence Harwood
• Shaun Thomas
• Simon Saville · trustee of 1 other charity
• Steve Almond

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

Operates in: Austria · Belarus · Belgium · Bulgaria · Croatia · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Hungary

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 PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL-THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY.

• PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL-THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY income £8.1m
• SOMERSET WILDLIFE TRUST income £5.3m
• LOWER URE CONSERVATION TRUST income £157k
• BUGLIFE THE INVERTEBRATE CONSERVATION TRUST income £3.7m
• THE WYMONDHAM BRIDEWELL PRESERVATION TRUST income £50k
• THE KEEPER'S TRUST income £61k

Side by side with its peers

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