THE SIR HAROLD HILLIER GARDENS AND ARBORETUM

Registered charity 274737 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · Wikidata: Q7527037 · Wikipedia · also known as SIR HAROLD HILLIER GARDENS, THE HILLIER ARBORETUM, THE SIR HAROLD HILLIER GARDENS

1. To preserve and develop one of the largest collections of hardy trees,shrubs and herbaceous perennials in the western temperate world.2.To maximise the plant collection's formal and informal education potential3. To be a significant contributor to conservation4. To meet the needs of an increasing number of visitors

Objects

(1) THE OBJECT OF THE CHARITY IS TO PROVIDE FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT AN ARBORETUM AND BOTANIC GARDEN KNOWN AS THE ¶SIR HAROLD HILLIER GARDENS÷ AS A PUBLIC FACILITY TO BE ENJOYED BY PEOPLE OF ALL AGES AND, IN PARTICULAR BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY, AS A MEANS TO PROMOTE:(A) THE CONSERVATION, PROTECTION AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE COLLECTION OF PLANT SPECIES OF THE TEMPERATE WORLD FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT BY THE CULTIVATION AND MAINTENANCE OF SUCH PLANTS;(B) THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC ABOUT THE CULTIVATION, PRESERVATION, PROPAGATION AND CONSERVATION OF SUCH PLANTS AND THEIR IMPACT UPON BIODIVERSITY AND THE CONSERVATION OF THE PHYSICAL AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENT.

Area of benefit: NOT DEFINED

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 · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Environment/conservation/heritage · Recreation · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Winchester, South East, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a net deficit of £537,956 for the year ended 31 March 2025, driven largely by the full-year impact of transferring catering operations in-house. Per the trustees' report, unrestricted reserves stood at £245,311, comprising a £160,000 designated reserve and an £85,311 development fund, while total net assets were valued at approximately £12.4 million. The trustees expressed confidence in the charity's ability to continue as a going concern, noting that risks are mitigated through reserves and income growth strategies.

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

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Compass Accountants. 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
• Campaigns and political activity 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.

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

Reported reserves equal ~0.7 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (88% 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: 0.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.3%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• Hampshire County Council · trustee of 3 other charities

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

Operates in: Hampshire

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 HOWARD GARDEN SOCIAL AND DAY CARE CENTRE.

• HOWARD GARDEN SOCIAL AND DAY CARE CENTRE income £91k
• THE HUTTS FOUNDATION income £325k
• HAYGROVE COMMUNITY GARDENS income £96k
• THE HARDY PLANT SOCIETY income £142k
• WOODLAND HERITAGE LIMITED income £1.7m
• BORDE HILL GARDEN LIMITED income £678k

Side by side with its peers

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