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The Woodland Trust

95 /100

Clarity score

Exceptional

Charity accounts, evidence & financial rating

95/100 Clarity Score · 5 stars · Charity Commission filings · How we score

Register checked 4 October 2026 · latest accounts 2025

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Quick answer

Is The Woodland Trust a good charity?

The Woodland Trust scores 95/100 (5 stars, Exceptional) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, calculated from its UK regulator filings. Its latest accounts year is 2025 (£89m total income, 84% 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

£89m

Accounts 2025-05-31

Spending

£72m

Accounts 2025-05-31

Charitable activities

84%

3-yr avg · share of spending

Accounts filing

On time

Charity Commission

On this pageJump to a section
Nottingham · UK-wide · NG31 6LL Reg 294344 Registered charity Official website Charity Commission register

What does The Woodland Trust do?

Our Objects are to conserve restore & re-establish trees & in particular broad leaved trees, plants and all forms of wildlife & thereby to secure & enhance the enjoyment by the public of the natural environment.Our vision is a UK rich in native woods & trees for people & wildlife. Life's better with trees strengthening the role of woods & trees in our landscapes & rekindling our love of them.

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

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How much does The Woodland Trust raise and spend?

Accounts period 2024-06-01 to 2025-05-31 · Source: Charity Commission filings

The Woodland Trust revenue and expenses for 2025
Category Amount % of spend
Total income £89m —
Total expenditure £72m —
Charitable activities £61m 85%
Fundraising £11m 15%
Reported governance £445k 1%

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 Woodland Trust’s latest accounts?

Reported totals for 2025 compared with 2024. Changes can reflect the accounting period, restricted grants or restructuring as well as the charity’s work.

Income change
+6.1%
£84m → £89m
Spending change
+1.1%
£72m → £72m
Charitable activities share
+0.4 pp
84% → 85% · percentage points

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

85%On charitable activities

Where does the money go?

Latest accounts (2025) · £72m spent

  • Charitable activities85%
  • Fundraising15%

Charities usually allocate governance costs across their other spending categories, and these reported figures add up to more than total spending, so governance is not drawn as a separate slice. The accounts table shows it separately.

From the annual return

What does The Woodland Trust pay its staff, and where does its money come from?

Answers The Woodland Trust gave in its annual return to the Charity Commission for the year ending 31 May 2025, plus its register entry. These are the charity's own disclosures, not part of the Clarity Score.

How much are The Woodland Trust's highest-paid staff paid?

The Woodland Trust's annual return for the year ending 31 May 2025 reports 29 employees paid more than £60,000, including 2 employees paid more than £100,000. The highest reported pay band is £140,001–£150,000 (1 employee).

The Woodland Trust employees paid over £60,000, by salary band
Salary bandEmployees
£140,001–£150,000 1
£110,001–£120,000 1
£90,001–£100,000 3
£80,001–£90,000 1
£70,001–£80,000 6
£60,001–£70,000 17

The register reports headcounts in salary bands, not names. The chief executive's pay is normally disclosed in the remuneration note of the trustees' annual report.

Where does The Woodland Trust's money come from?

The Woodland Trust reported £89m total income for the year ending 31 May 2025. The largest sources were donations and legacies £64m (72%), charitable activities £20m (22%), trading and fundraising events £3.4m (4%). Legacies (gifts in wills) contributed £24m.

  • Donations and legacies £64m · 72%
  • Charitable activities (fees and contracts) £20m · 22%
  • Trading and fundraising events £3.4m · 4%
  • Investments £2m · 2%
  • Other income £304k · 0%

Cash at year end: £16m · unrestricted funds: £61m · restricted funds: £154m. 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 Woodland Trust 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 Woodland Trust's annual return for the year ending 31 May 2025 reports that no trustee received remuneration or other benefits from the charity.

Registration details

Registered as a charity
Company number
01982873 (Companies House)
Also known as
Coed Cadw; The Woodland Trust in Northern Ireland; The Woodland Trust Scotland
Where it says it operates
Throughout England and Wales · Scotland · Northern Ireland · Gibraltar · Guernsey · Isle of Man · Jersey

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 Woodland Trust's finances changed over five years?

Income rose 2% from £87m in 2021 to £89m in 2025; spending was £72m in 2025.

£0 £50m £100m £150m £200m 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Income 2021: £87m Spending 2021: £70m Cause spend 2021: £57m Income 2022: £76m Spending 2022: £69m Cause spend 2022: £59m Income 2023: £82m Spending 2023: £70m Cause spend 2023: £58m Income 2024: £84m Spending 2024: £72m Cause spend 2024: £60m Income 2025: £89m Spending 2025: £72m Cause spend 2025: £61m
  • Income
  • Spending
  • Cause spend
The Woodland Trust income and spending by accounts year
Year Income Spending Charitable activities
2025 £89m £72m £61m
2024 £84m £72m £60m
2023 £82m £70m £58m
2022 £76m £69m £59m
2021 £87m £70m £57m

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

Financial context

How do its finances compare with similar charities?

Compare The Woodland Trust with 37 other environment charities in our detailed dataset: the same regulator, £10m+ income band and accounts ending in 2025. Each period covers 50–54 weeks. These are reference points, not targets or a ranking of impact.

Swipe across the table to see the peer median and coverage.

Latest annual figures, accounts ending 2025-05-31. Peer medians exclude this charity; the median is the middle value.
MeasureThis charityPeer medianPeer coverage
Annual income £89m £18m 37 of 37
Annual spending £72m £18m 37 of 37
Charitable activities share 84.7% 87.4% 37 of 37

The annual spending share can differ from the multi-year average shown elsewhere. Missing disclosures are excluded, never counted as zero. We show a median only with at least ten peer disclosures. Different year-end months, restricted funding and delivery models can still limit comparisons.

How does The Woodland Trust compare?

The share of each group scoring at or below The Woodland Trust, 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.

Same cause, income band and accounts year (2025) 100thpercentile

Scores at or above 100% of 39 charities with the same primary cause, income band and latest accounts year · 95/100 vs 76 peer average.

Income band (£10m+) 98thpercentile

Scores at or above 98% of 930 charities in its income band · 95/100 vs 77 peer average.

Environment charities 94thpercentile

Scores at or above 94% of 458 charities in this cause · 95/100 vs 72 peer average.

Where The Woodland Trust sits

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

Evidence and interpretation

What the evidence says about The Woodland Trust

In 2025, reported income was £89,379,000 and expenditure was £72,356,000. Income exceeded expenditure by £17,023,000. This annual balance is not the charity’s available cash or unrestricted reserves.

More financial context

Income rose 6.1% compared with 2024. 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: The General Public/mankind.

How it works: Makes Grants To Individuals; Makes Grants To Organisations; Provides Buildings/facilities/open Space; Provides Advocacy/advice/information; Sponsors Or Undertakes Research; Other Charitable Activities.

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: £0 (2025-05-31). 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 Woodland 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.

100/100

Accountability & Transparency metrics for The Woodland Trust
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% 13 trustees · 15/15 pts
Declared policies

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

100% 10/10 pts

Financial Health

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

90/100

Financial Health metrics for The Woodland Trust
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.

100% 7 months · 15/15 pts
Income stability / growth

+20% or more over the window = 10 pts · flat = 5 pts · −20% or worse = 0 pts, scaled between.

70% 7/10 pts · 3-year average
Liabilities to assets

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

100% 4% · 5/5 pts

Financial Efficiency

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

90/100

Financial Efficiency metrics for The Woodland Trust
Metric Score Value
Program expense ratio

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

90% 84% · 9/10 pts (3-year average)
Fundraising efficiency

≤10p to raise £1 = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 40p or above (fundraising cost ÷ income).

90% 13p per £1 income · 9/10 pts (3-year average, disclosed years)

Community Support

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

100/100

Community Support metrics for The Woodland Trust
Metric Score Value
Volunteer-to-staff ratio

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

100% 12,368 volunteers / 568 staff · 10/10 pts

How we calculate beacon scores →

What trust indicators does The Woodland Trust 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)

    13 trustees on the Charity Commission register

  • Workforce on register

    568 employees · 12,368 volunteers (22:1 volunteer-to-staff)

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 294344

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

View on Charity Commission →

Trustees & officers

  • James Frederick Ogilvie since 2018
  • Dr Fay Margaret Cooke since 2018
  • Andrew Leigh Bryant since 2020
  • Amber Kaur Thiara since 2023
  • David Robert Saddington since 2023
  • Dr Julia Suzanna Knights since 2023
  • Briony Leigh Nesbitt since 2023
  • Professor David Hill since 2025
  • Marina Wyatt since 2025
  • Baron Hall of Birkenhead Anthony William Hall Chair · since 2024
  • Stuart John Green since 2025
  • Carole Elizabeth Pomfret since 2025

How reliable is The Woodland Trust's data?

Source
Charity Commission (England & Wales)
Accounts year
2025
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: 294344. 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 Woodland Trust?

  1. 1. Match the name and charity number

    Check 294344 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 2025. 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 Woodland Trust →
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.

How can you share The Woodland Trust's rating?

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How do you add The Woodland Trust's rating to your site?

Free to use — a lightweight HTML badge or an embeddable score widget, each linking back to this independent profile and our methodology.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about The Woodland Trust's rating, finances, and Charity Commission status.

Is The Woodland Trust a good charity? +

The Woodland Trust scores 95 out of 100 (5 stars — Exceptional) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, our independent read of its UK regulator filings. Around 84% 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 Woodland Trust a legitimate charity? +

The register data used for this profile lists The Woodland Trust as a registered charity (charity number 294344). Verify it on the official register: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regId=294344&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 Woodland Trust's charity number? +

The Woodland Trust's charity number is 294344. 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 Woodland Trust's charity rating? +

The Woodland Trust scores 95 out of 100 on CharityCompare (5 stars — Exceptional). 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 Woodland Trust have reviews and complaints? +

CharityCompare does not host public user reviews for The Woodland Trust. 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 Woodland Trust? +

Across the recent disclosed accounts used for this score, 84% of The Woodland Trust'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 Woodland Trust's overheads? +

Across the recent disclosed accounts used for this score, fundraising costs were about 16% of total expenditure and fundraising plus separately reported governance figures amount to about 16% of expenditure (2023–2025, disclosed years); these categories can overlap, so this is not a distinct total of all administration costs at The Woodland Trust. The Woodland Trust's annual return for the year ending 31 May 2025 reports 29 employees paid more than £60,000, including 2 employees paid more than £100,000. The highest reported pay band is £140,001–£150,000 (1 employee). Individual salaries, including the chief executive's, are disclosed in the trustees' annual report rather than on the register.

How much income does The Woodland Trust receive? +

The Woodland Trust reported £89m total income in its 2025 accounts, based on UK regulator filings. Five-year trend: stable.

Are The Woodland Trust's accounts up to date? +

Filing status: up to date (last filing 2026-03-04). CharityCompare flags late or missing accounts separately from the financial score.

Where is The Woodland Trust based? +

The Woodland Trust's registered contact address is in Nottingham (NG31 6LL). It tells the regulator it operates in England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Man, with a focus on environment.

How much is The Woodland Trust's chief executive paid? +

The Charity Commission register does not name individual salaries. The Woodland Trust's annual return for the year ending 31 May 2025 reports 29 employees paid more than £60,000, including 2 employees paid more than £100,000. The highest reported pay band is £140,001–£150,000 (1 employee). Charities normally disclose the chief executive's pay, or the pay of their highest-paid staff, in the remuneration note of the trustees' annual report and accounts.

Where does The Woodland Trust's money come from? +

The Woodland Trust reported £89m total income for the year ending 31 May 2025. The largest sources were donations and legacies £64m (72%), charitable activities £20m (22%), trading and fundraising events £3.4m (4%). Legacies (gifts in wills) contributed £24m.

Can I claim Gift Aid on a donation to The Woodland Trust? +

The register records The Woodland Trust 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 Woodland Trust's trustees paid? +

The Woodland Trust's annual return for the year ending 31 May 2025 reports that no trustee received remuneration or other benefits from the charity.

When was The Woodland Trust registered as a charity? +

The Woodland Trust was entered on the register on 20 May 1986. It is also a company registered at Companies House (company number 01982873).

How does CharityCompare score The Woodland Trust? +

We calculate a Clarity Score of 0–100 from four pillars in The Woodland 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 6 September 2026 from the latest UK regulator data available to CharityCompare, and The Woodland 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.