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Environment · Reg 803428

The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew

57 /100

Clarity score

Poor

Charity accounts, evidence & financial rating

57/100 Clarity Score · 2 stars · Charity Commission filings · How we score

Register checked 4 October 2026 · latest accounts 2026

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Quick answer

Is The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew a good charity?

The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew scores 57/100 (2 stars, Poor) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, calculated from its UK regulator filings. Its latest accounts year is 2026 (£3.4m total income, 92% cause spend, 3-yr avg). This reflects financial transparency and stewardship on paper — not the real-world impact of its programmes. See the full breakdown.

Income

£3.4m

Accounts 2026-03-31

Spending

£5.2m

Accounts 2026-03-31

Charitable activities

92%

3-yr avg · share of spending

Accounts filing

On time

Charity Commission

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London · TW9 3AE Reg 803428 Registered charity Official website Charity Commission register

What does The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew do?

THE PURPOSE OF THE CHARITY IS TO SUPPORT THE OBJECTS OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW.IT RAISES VOLUNTARY INCOME FROM TWO PRINCIPAL SOURCES FOR THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW: FUNDS RAISED THROUGH ITS LEGACY PROGRAMME; AND RETURNS FROM ITS ENDOWMENT VIA INVESTED FUNDS.

Activities reported by the charity on the official register · extract . This is separate from the accounts data used for its rating.

The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew hasn't added a description directly to CharityCompare yet. Work here? Add it free →

How much does The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew raise and spend?

Accounts period 2025-04-01 to 2026-03-31 · Source: Charity Commission filings

The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew revenue and expenses for 2026
Category Amount % of spend
Total income £3.4m —
Total expenditure £5.2m —
Charitable activities £5.0m 97%
Fundraising £155k 3%
Reported governance £0 0%

Governance can already be allocated within other expenditure categories. It is not a separate measure of all administration costs; do not add these rows without checking the accounts notes.

What changed in The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew’s latest accounts?

Reported totals for 2026 compared with 2025. Changes can reflect the accounting period, restricted grants or restructuring as well as the charity’s work.

Income change
+27.5%
£2.6m → £3.4m
Spending change
+22.1%
£4.2m → £5.2m
Charitable activities share
+11.4 pp
86% → 97% · percentage points

These are annual figures. The Clarity Score may use averages across several disclosed years. Source: official accounts.

97%On charitable activities

Where does the money go?

Latest accounts (2026) · £5.2m spent

  • Charitable activities97%
  • Fundraising3%

From the annual return

What does The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew pay its staff, and where does its money come from?

Answers The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew gave in its annual return to the Charity Commission for the year ending 31 March 2026, plus its register entry. These are the charity's own disclosures, not part of the Clarity Score.

Where does The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew's money come from?

The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew reported £3.4m total income for the year ending 31 March 2026. The largest sources were donations and legacies £2.7m (81%), investments £647k (19%). Legacies (gifts in wills) contributed £2.7m.

  • Donations and legacies £2.7m · 81%
  • Investments £647k · 19%

Cash at year end: £0 · unrestricted funds: £0 · restricted funds: £0. Restricted funds can only be spent on purposes set by the donor.

Can I claim Gift Aid, and are the trustees paid?

The register records The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew as registered with HMRC for Gift Aid, so a UK taxpayer can usually add 25p to every £1 they give by making a Gift Aid declaration. Work out your Gift Aid

The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2026 reports that no trustee received remuneration or other benefits from the charity.

Registration details

Registered as a charity
Company number
02499006 (Companies House)
Also known as
Friends of Kew; Kew Foundation; The Foundation and Friends of the Rbgkew; The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Foundation
Previous names on the register
The Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; The Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew
Where it says it operates
Richmond Upon Thames · West Sussex · Brazil · Madagascar

Source: Charity Commission register and annual return data, Open Government Licence v3.0. A blank answer in the return is shown as not reported, never as “no”.

How have The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew's finances changed over five years?

Income fell 22% from £4.3m in 2022 to £3.4m in 2026; spending was £5.2m in 2026.

£0 £5.0m £10m £15m £20m 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Income 2022: £4.3m Spending 2022: £8.7m Cause spend 2022: £8.4m Income 2023: £5.5m Spending 2023: £3.6m Cause spend 2023: £3.3m Income 2024: £7.2m Spending 2024: £3.6m Cause spend 2024: £3.3m Income 2025: £2.6m Spending 2025: £4.2m Cause spend 2025: £3.6m Income 2026: £3.4m Spending 2026: £5.2m Cause spend 2026: £5.0m
  • Income
  • Spending
  • Cause spend
The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew income and spending by accounts year
Year Income Spending Charitable activities
2026 £3.4m £5.2m £5.0m
2025 £2.6m £4.2m £3.6m
2024 £7.2m £3.6m £3.3m
2023 £5.5m £3.6m £3.3m
2022 £4.3m £8.7m £8.4m

Cause spend is plotted only when the filing discloses a split · Source: Charity Commission filings

How does The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew compare?

The share of each group scoring at or below The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew, including tied scores. A group matched on cause, income band and accounts year appears when at least ten records qualify. Broader groups below may mix reporting periods and operating models. Groups include this charity; percentiles measure our financial rating, not impact.

Income band (£1m–£5m) 7thpercentile

Scores at or above 7% of 2,720 charities in its income band · 57/100 vs 78 peer average.

Environment charities 20thpercentile

Scores at or above 20% of 458 charities in this cause · 57/100 vs 72 peer average.

How does The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew compare, and where else can you look?

Compare The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew with others More environment charities How we score charities

Where The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew sits

The causes this charity is classified under, and other charities working nearby.

Similar environment charities

Top-rated peers by CharityCompare score

Evidence and interpretation

What the evidence says about The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew

In 2026, reported income was £3,377,000 and expenditure was £5,155,000. Expenditure exceeded income by £1,778,000. This annual balance is not the charity’s available cash or unrestricted reserves.

More financial context

Income rose 27.5% compared with 2025. Read the accounts notes for restricted grants, legacies and one-off receipts before treating the movement as a trend.

Calculated from our dated accounts dataset, refreshed 2026-09-06. This is not an audit or a manual review of every filing. Original register and accounts · How calculations work.

Find the right support

Who it supports and how to access its work

Reported beneficiaries: Other Charities Or Voluntary Bodies; The General Public/mankind.

How it works: Makes Grants To Organisations.

Use the official contact details to check eligibility, referrals, waiting lists and current service coverage. Broad register classifications and a contact address do not confirm that a particular service is available to you.

Explore source-checked support routes

Classifications supplied to the register; extract 2026-10-04. Register contact and activity details · Website listed for this charity

Look beyond the score

Results and impact evidence

We have not added a source-checked programme outcome for this charity. That is a gap in this profile, not evidence that the charity has no impact. Its annual report may contain results that have not been assessed here.

Reported grants to institutions: £5,000,000 (2026-03-31). This is spending reported in the annual return, not a measure of beneficiary outcomes or an open grant opportunity. It may already be included in charitable expenditure. Check the source accounts.

What these results can tell you

Counts of services delivered describe activity. They do not by themselves establish lasting change, what would have happened without the programme, or cost-effectiveness. Results with different definitions, populations or years should not be ranked against each other.

How to judge charity impact evidence

What is The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew'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.

93/100

Accountability & Transparency metrics for The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew
Metric Score Value
Filing history (5 years)

No recorded lateness in available history = 15 pts · one late filing = 5 pts · two or more or unknown status = 0 pts. Missing data is not proof of late filing.

 100% 15/15 pts
Trustee oversight

Three or more trustees on the register = 15 pts, scaled down for fewer (governance red flag below three).

 100% 3 trustees · 15/15 pts
Declared policies

Safeguarding (4) · conflict of interest (3) · volunteer management (3) — from Charity Commission annual return.

 70% 7/10 pts

Financial Health

Stability and solvency — reserves, revenue trend, and debt from Charity Commission accounts.

0/100

Financial Health metrics for The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew
Metric Score Value
Reserves (months of expenditure)

3–24 months = full marks, tapering on both sides · 0 months or 4+ years = 0 pts. Reserves are not necessarily cash; needs vary by operating model.

 0% 0 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.

 0% 0/10 pts · 3-year average
Liabilities to assets

0% liabilities-to-assets = 5 pts, scaling down to 0 pts at 60%+ debt.

 0% Not stated · 0/5 pts

Financial Efficiency

How efficiently funds reach the cause — program spend and fundraising cost ratios.

100/100

Financial Efficiency metrics for The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew
Metric Score Value
Program expense ratio

90%+ on charitable activities = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 50% or below.

 100% 92% · 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% 10p per £1 income · 10/10 pts (3-year average, disclosed years)

Community Support

Grassroots backing from Charity Commission workforce data — volunteers vs paid staff.

0/100

Community Support metrics for The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew
Metric Score Value
Volunteer-to-staff ratio

Volunteers at 2x staff or more = full marks · no volunteers = 0 pts, scaled between.

 0% 0 volunteers / 0 staff · 0/10 pts

How we calculate beacon scores →

What trust indicators does The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew have?

Pulled from the Charity Commission register — filing behaviour, board size, and workforce where reported.

  • Accounts filed on time

    up to date · last filing

  • Trustee board size (3–12)

    3 trustees on the Charity Commission register

  • Workforce on register

    0 employees · 0 volunteers

Fundraising Regulator

Status not yet checked

Separate from our financial scores. Registration records a commitment to the Code of Fundraising Practice; it does not certify every fundraising activity.

Check Fundraising Regulator →

Official register

Reg 803428

Full trustee list, accounts, and regulatory history on the Charity Commission.

View on Charity Commission →

Trustees & officers

  • Stephen Almond since 2023
  • Fern Karen Stoner since 2026
  • Rebecca Jane Munro since 2026

How reliable is The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew's data?

Source
Charity Commission (England & Wales)
Accounts year
2026
Filing date
Data refreshed

High confidence — complete filing data

Scores reflect the accounts in our dated data extract. The live register may contain newer filings. Clarity Score measures how clearly the charity accounts for money in those filings — not programme impact.

Check the current register entry · Report a data correction

Financial source extract: 2026-09-06. Organisation identifier: 803428. Method version: 1.1. View method changes.

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 .

Your donation decision

What should you check before donating to The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew?

  1. 1. Match the name and charity number

    Check 803428 on the official register. A real charity number alone does not prove that a fundraiser or appeal is authentic.

    Verify the registration →

  2. 2. Read the accounts in context

    Our latest accounts data covers 2026. Compare the accounts period, spending and reserves. An administration cost ratio alone cannot tell you how effective a charity is.

    Explore the financial evidence →

  3. 3. Look for evidence of results

    Read the trustees’ annual report for activities, outcomes and limitations. The Clarity Score measures public reporting; it does not establish the impact of a donation.

    How to read charity accounts →

  4. 4. Compare charities serving your cause

    Compare up to four charities, check the dates behind their figures, and decide which work you want to support. Complete your donation through a verified charity channel.

    Start a comparison with The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew →
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.

Full methodology →

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.

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Frequently asked questions

Common questions about The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew's rating, finances, and Charity Commission status.

Is The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew a good charity? +

The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew scores 57 out of 100 (2 stars — Poor) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, our independent read of its UK regulator filings. Around 92% of its spending goes to charitable activities (3-yr avg) and its accounts are up to date. 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 The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew a legitimate charity? +

The register data used for this profile lists The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew as a registered charity (charity number 803428). Verify it on the official register: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regId=803428&subId=0. Check the current entry and the identity of anyone requesting money. Registration does not verify a particular appeal; Clarity Score summarises filing transparency, not programme impact.

What is The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew's charity number? +

The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew's charity number is 803428. 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 The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew's charity rating? +

The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew scores 57 out of 100 on CharityCompare (2 stars — Poor). The Clarity Score (method v1.1) 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 The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew have reviews and complaints? +

CharityCompare does not host public user reviews for The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew. Instead you get a filing-based Clarity Score, cause spend, reserves and red flags such as late accounts (none flagged 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 The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew? +

Across the recent disclosed accounts used for this score, 92% of The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew's total spending went to charitable activities (3-yr avg across disclosed years). 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 The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew's overheads? +

Across the recent disclosed accounts used for this score, fundraising costs were about 8% of total expenditure and fundraising plus separately reported governance figures amount to about 9% of expenditure (2024–2026, disclosed years); these categories can overlap, so this is not a distinct total of all administration costs at The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew. The register does not show individual salaries; senior pay is disclosed in the trustees' annual report and accounts.

How much income does The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew receive? +

The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew reported £3.4m total income in its 2026 accounts, based on UK regulator filings. Five-year trend: declining.

Are The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew's accounts up to date? +

Filing status: up to date (last filing 2026-08-11). CharityCompare flags late or missing accounts separately from the financial score.

Where is The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew based? +

The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew's registered contact address is in London (TW9 3AE). It tells the regulator it operates in Richmond Upon Thames, West Sussex, Brazil, Madagascar, with a focus on environment.

Where does The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew's money come from? +

The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew reported £3.4m total income for the year ending 31 March 2026. The largest sources were donations and legacies £2.7m (81%), investments £647k (19%). Legacies (gifts in wills) contributed £2.7m.

Can I claim Gift Aid on a donation to The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew? +

The register records The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew as registered with HMRC for Gift Aid, so a UK taxpayer can usually add 25p to every £1 they give by making a Gift Aid declaration.

Are The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew's trustees paid? +

The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2026 reports that no trustee received remuneration or other benefits from the charity.

What was The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew previously called? +

The register lists these previous names for The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew: The Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; The Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew.

When was The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew registered as a charity? +

The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew was entered on the register on 20 September 1990. It is also a company registered at Companies House (company number 02499006).

How does CharityCompare score The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew? +

We calculate a Clarity Score of 0–100 from four pillars in The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew'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 6 September 2026 from the latest UK regulator data available to CharityCompare, and The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens,kew's most recent accounts cover 2026. Scores and figures refresh whenever we re-ingest the register, so the page reflects our latest data pull rather than a one-off review.