Environment · Reg 1126535
Downlands Trust
Charity rating & review
55/100 Clarity Score · 2 stars · Charity Commission filings · How we score
Clarity score
Poor
Quick answer
Is Downlands Trust a good charity?
Downlands Trust scores 55/100 (2 stars, Poor) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, calculated from its UK regulator filings. Its latest accounts year is 2025 (£1.1m total income, 96% of spending on charitable activities). This reflects financial transparency and stewardship on paper — not the real-world impact of its programmes. See the full breakdown.
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What does Downlands Trust do?
Downlands Trust is a registered charity (no. 1126535) working in environment in SM2 5JA. Its latest Charity Commission filing directs 96% of spending to charitable activities, holding roughly 287 months of reserves, though its recent accounts were filed late. Reported income changed sharply in 2025 (likely a merger, transfer or reporting change) — year-on-year trend labels are not meaningful across that step. CharityCompare's Clarity Score rates the organisation only from public Charity Commission accounts — accountability, financial health, efficiency and community support — not the quality or impact of its programmes.
Summarised from public filings — Downlands Trust hasn't added its own description yet. Work here? Add it free →
In short: DOWNLANDS TRUST scores 55 out of 100 (2 stars). 96% average program spend (Latest year, disclosed years only). Review the pillar breakdown below.
What is Downlands Trust?
Downlands Trust has a Clarity Score of 55 out of 100 on CharityCompare (2 stars, Poor). Charity Commission registration number 1126535. Status: Registered. Primary cause area: Environment. Latest accounts year 2025: total income £1.1m, with 96% of expenditure on charitable activities. Accounts filing: late. Reserves: approximately 287 months of operating costs. 2 filing concern(s) noted on this profile. Scores are independent and based on official filings — not a donation recommendation.
Data from Charity Commission register, last updated .
Overall score
55/100
2★ · Poor
Cause spend
96%
latest year · charitable activities
Accountability
50/100
Finance beacon
Income
£1.1m
Latest year 2025
Reserves
287 mo
Months of running costs
Accounts filing
Late
Check register
£484.0 raised per £1 fundraising (latest year) · 2% overhead · Website on register · Confidence: medium
How does DOWNLANDS TRUST compare?
Clarity Score percentile against similar UK charities — the share of peers DOWNLANDS TRUST scores higher than.
Scores higher than 6% of 2,776 charities in its income band · 55/100 vs 78 peer average (marker).
Scores higher than 8% of 460 charities in this cause · 55/100 vs 76 peer average (marker).
How reliable is Downlands Trust's data?
- Source
- Charity Commission (England & Wales)
- Accounts year
- 2025
- Filing date
- Profile reviewed
Medium confidence — some data missing or late
Scores reflect the latest annual accounts on the register. Clarity Score measures how clearly the charity accounts for money in those filings — not programme impact.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Sources: Charity Commission for England and Wales, Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator and Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. Open Government Licence v3.0 .
What is Downlands Trust's Beacon report?
Detailed accountability and finance metrics from UK regulator filings — structured for transparency in our four-beacon report.
Accountability & Transparency
Baseline trust from filing discipline, board oversight, and declared governance policies.
50/100
| Metric | Score | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Filing history (5 years) 100% on-time over five years = 15 pts · one late filing = 5 pts · two or more = 0 pts. | 33% | 5/15 pts |
| Trustee oversight Three or more trustees on the register = 15 pts, scaled down for fewer (governance red flag below three). | 100% | 7 trustees · 15/15 pts |
| Declared policies Safeguarding (4) · conflict of interest (3) · volunteer management (3) — from Charity Commission annual return. | 0% | 0/10 pts |
Financial Health
Stability and solvency — reserves, revenue trend, and debt from Charity Commission accounts.
50/100
| Metric | Score | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Reserves (months of cash) 3–24 months = full marks, tapering on both sides · 0 months or 4+ years (hoarding) = 0 pts. | 0% | 287 months · 0/15 pts |
| Income stability / growth +20% or more over the window = 10 pts · flat = 5 pts · −20% or worse = 0 pts, scaled between. | 100% | 10/10 pts · 3-year average |
| Liabilities to assets 0% liabilities-to-assets = 5 pts, scaling down to 0 pts at 60%+ debt. | 100% | 1% · 5/5 pts |
Financial Efficiency
How efficiently funds reach the cause — program spend and fundraising cost ratios.
100/100
| Metric | Score | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Program expense ratio 90%+ on charitable activities = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 50% or below. | 100% | 96% · 10/10 pts (3-year average) |
| Fundraising efficiency ≤10p to raise £1 = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 40p or above (fundraising cost ÷ income). | 100% | 0p per £1 income · 10/10 pts (3-year average) |
Community Support
Grassroots backing from Charity Commission workforce data — volunteers vs paid staff.
0/100
| Metric | Score | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Volunteer-to-staff ratio Volunteers at 2x staff or more = full marks · no volunteers = 0 pts, scaled between. | 0% | Not reported · 0/10 pts |
What is Downlands Trust's Clarity Score?
55/100 total · Poor · 2 of 5 stars
Four pillars (40 + 30 + 20 + 10 points) from Charity Commission filings — see methodology for full weightings.
Accountability & Transparency
Baseline trust from filing discipline, board oversight, and declared governance policies.
50/100
Financial Health
Stability and solvency — reserves, revenue trend, and debt from Charity Commission accounts.
50/100
Financial Efficiency
How efficiently funds reach the cause — program spend and fundraising cost ratios.
100/100
Community Support
Grassroots backing from Charity Commission workforce data — volunteers vs paid staff.
0/100
How much does Downlands Trust raise and spend?
Latest filed year 2025 · Source: Charity Commission filings
| Category | Amount | % of spend |
|---|---|---|
| Total income | £1.1m | — |
| Total expenditure | £56k | — |
| Charitable activities | £53k | 96% |
| Fundraising | £2k | 4% |
| Governance & admin | £600 | 1% |
Where does the money go?
Latest accounts (2025) · £56k spent
- Charitable activities96% · £53k
- Fundraising4% · £2k
- Governance1% · £600
What trust indicators does Downlands Trust have?
Pulled from the Charity Commission register — filing behaviour, board size, and workforce where reported.
-
Accounts filed on time
Filing status: late
-
Trustee board size (3–12)
7 trustees on the Charity Commission register
Fundraising Regulator
Status not yet checked
Separate from our financial scores — shows whether the charity follows the Code of Fundraising Practice.
Check Fundraising Regulator →Official register
Reg 1126535
Full trustee list, accounts, and regulatory history on the Charity Commission.
View on Charity Commission →Trustees & officers
- ROGER JAMES FINDLAY
- PAMELA MASCALL since 2011
- NOREEN SIBA since 2018
- Sarah Milan since 2018
- Peter Wakeham since 2019
- Geoffrey Haseler since 2019
- Elspeth Pringle since 2020
How we score charities +
The Clarity Score is a 100-point rating from UK regulator filings (Charity Commission for England and Wales, OSCR and CCNI). Four pillars — Accountability & Transparency (40), Financial Health (30), Financial Efficiency (20), and Community Support (10) — each scored on a continuous scale, not pass/fail cutoffs. A statutory inquiry sets the score to 0 automatically.
Accountability & Transparency
Scored from filings
40 points — filing history (15), trustee oversight (15, scaling up to a board of three or more), declared policies (10).
Financial Health
Scored from filings
30 points — reserves (15, full marks 3–24 months, tapering on both sides), income stability (10), liabilities to assets (5, scaling down as debt rises).
Financial Efficiency
Scored from filings
20 points — program expense ratio and fundraising cost, each on a graduated scale (not a single cutoff). Kept at 20% of the total: financial-ratio scoring alone is not a reliable effectiveness signal (see "why not just an overhead ratio?" below).
Community Support
Scored from filings
10 points — volunteer-to-staff ratio from Charity Commission workforce data, scaling continuously up to a 2:1 ratio.
Overall score
Sum of all pillar points. Display stars use the same bands as the labels: 90–100 → 5★ Exceptional; 75–89 → 4★ Good; 60–74 → 3★ Needs improvement; 1–59 → 2★ Poor; 0 → not rated.
How have Downlands Trust's finances changed over five years?
- Income
- Spending
- Cause spend
Values in £ thousands · Cause spend plotted only when the filing discloses a split · Source: Charity Commission accounts
What are the key facts about Downlands Trust?
- Overall score
- 55/100 (2★)
- Income
- £1.1m
- Cause spend
- 96% of expenditure
- Reg number
- 1126535
- Scope
- Local (—)
- Reserves
- 287 months
- Trustees
- 7
- Accounts year
- 2025
- Filing
- late
How does DOWNLANDS TRUST compare, and where else can you look?
Where DOWNLANDS TRUST sits
The causes this charity is classified under, and other charities working nearby.
Similar environment charities
Top-rated peers by CharityCompare score
- ESSEX AND SUFFOLK RIVERS TRUST 100/100 · £963k
- GREAT WESTERN SOCIETY LIMITED 99/100 · £3.9m
- THE MID-NORFOLK RAILWAY PRESERVATION TRUST 99/100 · £2.5m
- THE SHARPHAM TRUST 99/100 · £2.2m
How can you share Downlands Trust's rating?
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How do you add Downlands Trust's rating to your site?
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What red flags does Downlands Trust have?
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Downlands Trust's rating, finances, and Charity Commission status.
Is Downlands Trust a good charity? +
Downlands Trust scores 55 out of 100 (2 stars — Poor) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, our independent read of its UK regulator filings. Around 96% of its spending goes to charitable activities and its accounts are late. That reflects how transparent and financially healthy it looks on paper — it does not measure the real-world impact of its work, so treat it as one factor alongside the cause you care about. CharityCompare never tells you where to donate.
Is Downlands Trust a legitimate charity? +
Yes — Downlands Trust is a legitimate registered charity (charity number 1126535). Verify it on the official register: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/1126535. Registration proves status; Clarity Score then summarises filing transparency on paper, not programme impact.
What is Downlands Trust's charity number? +
Downlands Trust's charity number is 1126535. Check that number on the official register (Charity Commission, OSCR or CCNI) or this CharityCompare profile before you donate — scammers sometimes reuse real numbers on fake appeals.
What is Downlands Trust's charity rating? +
Downlands Trust scores 55 out of 100 on CharityCompare (2 stars — Poor). The Clarity Score V1 sums four pillars from UK regulator filings: Accountability & Transparency (40 pts), Financial Health (30), Financial Efficiency (20), and Community Support (10). Stars use the same bands as those labels — 90+ is 5★ Exceptional. It is not an impact ranking.
Does Downlands Trust have reviews and complaints? +
CharityCompare does not host public user reviews for Downlands Trust. Instead you get a filing-based Clarity Score, cause spend, reserves and red flags such as late accounts (2 filing concern(s) noted on this profile). For formal complaints about a charity, contact the Charity Commission, OSCR, CCNI or the Fundraising Regulator as appropriate.
How much of my donation reaches Downlands Trust? +
According to its 2025 regulator filing, 96% of Downlands Trust's total spending went to charitable activities. That is the closest official figure to "how much of your donation reaches the cause" — it is an average across all spending in the filing, not a pound-by-pound breakdown of an individual gift.
What are Downlands Trust's overheads? +
According to its 2025 regulator filing, fundraising costs were about 4% of total expenditure and combined overheads (fundraising plus governance) were about 2% of total expenditure at Downlands Trust. The filings CharityCompare uses do not publish CEO or senior-staff pay, so we cannot say what Downlands Trust's chief executive is paid — where disclosure rules apply, senior pay appears in the trustees' annual report on the Charity Commission register.
How much income does Downlands Trust receive? +
Downlands Trust reported £1.1m total income in its 2025 accounts, based on UK regulator filings. Five-year trend: restructured.
Are Downlands Trust's accounts up to date? +
Filing status: late (last filing 2026-06-24). CharityCompare flags late or missing accounts separately from the financial score.
Where is Downlands Trust based? +
Downlands Trust is listed at SM2 5JA, focused on environment.
How does CharityCompare score Downlands Trust? +
We calculate a Clarity Score of 0–100 from four pillars in Downlands Trust's regulator filings: Accountability & Transparency (40 points — filing history, trustees, policies), Financial Health (30 — reserves, income trend, debt), Financial Efficiency (20 — cause spend and fundraising cost, on a graduated scale) and Community Support (10 — volunteer-to-staff ratio). An open statutory inquiry scores 0. The score measures reporting on paper, not programme impact. CharityCompare is free for donors, takes no commission on donations, and scores cannot be bought.
How often is this page updated? +
This profile was last updated on 17 July 2026 from the latest UK regulator data available to CharityCompare, and Downlands Trust's most recent accounts cover 2025. Scores and figures refresh whenever we re-ingest the register, so the page reflects our latest data pull rather than a one-off review.