Finance Score: 5

Governance Score: 1

Support Score: 12

Strong growth: +2
Fundraising costs low: +3

No volunteer policy: -2
Dynamic board: +3

Endorsed
Overall weighted support: +12

Overall GiG Score: 18

BLUE MARINE FOUNDATION

Overview

BLUE aims to restore the ocean back to full health by creating marine reserves, restoring vital habitats, and establishing models of sustainable fishing. In a relatively short period of time, they have become a significant force with campaigns succeeding in catalysing bans on electric pulse fishing in EU waters and the creation of marine protected areas around UK overseas territories.

They have an impressive executive team, accomplished in the private sector and making waves in the third sector on a mission to see 30% of the world’s ocean under effective protection by 2030 and the other 70% managed in a responsible way.

Source: Giving is Great

Mission:

To restore the ocean to health by creating marine reserves, restoring vital habitats and establishing models of sustainable fishing

Analysis by Giving is Great

Positives:

The charity has received backing from multiple prominent grant makers recently
This charity is endorsed by a respected charity impact evaluator
There has been strong growth in spending over the last 5 years
Fundraising costs are low relative to funds raised
The Board appears to be dynamic in terms of composition

Regulatory & Governance issues to consider:

Although this charity works with volunteers it does not have a Volunteer Management policy
One or more trustees receive payments or benefits from the charity for providing services to the charity

Financial Data ?

Income & Spending ?

Sources of Income ?

Y/E		Income £k	Spending £k	Surplus/ Deficit £k	Fundraising Cost £k	Total Funds £k	Unrestricted Funds £k	Mths Rsrvs	Staff	Volun- teers
31/03/23		£11,300	£9,502	£1,798	£665	£9,711	£3,442	4.3	40	150
31/03/22		£7,790	£6,209	£1,581	£167	£8,096	£2,917	5.6	33	40
31/03/21		£6,312	£4,158	£2,154	£167	£6,566	£2,020	5.8	23	0
31/03/20		£4,046	£3,621	£426	£213	£2,412	£1,075	3.6	20	20
31/03/19		£4,189	£3,363	£827	£180	£1,986	£814	2.9	14	30
31/03/18		£2,085	£2,048	£36	£81	£1,159	£587	3.4	10	0
31/03/17		£2,024	£1,619	£406	£82	£1,123	£606	4.5	7	0
31/03/16	*	£2,140	£1,964	£176	£108	£717	£543	3.3	6	0
31/03/15		£1,957	£2,069	£-112	£273	£541	£342	2	4	0
31/03/14		£1,870	£1,944	£-75	£319	£653	£487	3	4	0
31/03/13		£1,815	£1,439	£376	£308	£728	£491	4.1	3	0
31/03/12	*	£1,211	£1,119	£93	£205	£352	£352	3.8	2	0
31/03/11	*	£989	£730	£259	£258	£259	£259	4.3	0	0

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Financial Ratios

Fundraising Costs/Relevant Income: 6.3%
Fundraising Costs/Total Spending: 7%
Senior Staff Costs/Total Spending: 8%
Highest pay band: £110,000-£120,000
Liabilities/Assets: 4%
Liabilities/Income: 4%
Unrestricted Funds/Total Funds: 35%
Reserves/Spending: 4.3 months
Net Current Assets/Spending: 10 months
Quick Ratio: 17.6

Asset Split ?

Balance Sheet History

Comment: Revenue in 2020/1 included an endowment of £2m from UK Government to deliver an annual income in perpetuity for community projects chosen by Ascension Island representatives to make up for income that would have been received from the sale of fishing licences.

Source: Giving is Great

Established: 14 years

www.bluemarinefoundation.com

info@bluemarinefoundation.com

02078455850

Charity Commission for England and Wales

Tweets

How you can help

What it does

Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE) exists to combat overfishing and the destruction of biodiversity through the creation of large-scale marine reserves and by delivering new models of sustainable fishing.

Listed activities

Animals
Economic/Community Development/Employment
Education/Training
Environment/Conservation/Heritage

GiG Classification

Land or water management
Environment conservation & animal welfare advocacy

How it operates

Other charitable activities
Provides services
Sponsors or undertakes research

Where it operates

Belize, British Indian Ocean Territory, Chile, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Maldives, Saint Helena, Scotland,

Who it helps

Other Charities Or Voluntary Bodies
Other Defined Groups
The General Public/Mankind

Who supports them? ?

Donations from Grant Makers ?

We have details on the following donations. Multi-year donations are allocated to the years for which they are earmarked.

Major supporters in last 5 years

John Ellerman Foundation	£435,570
Postcode Planet Trust	£300,000
Garfield Weston Foundation	£200,000
The EQ Foundation	£100,000

Specific Donations

Amount	When Months	To be used for
The EQ Foundation - Grant to Blue Marine Foundation
£25,000	18/07/2024	Big Give Green Match
The EQ Foundation - Grant to Blue Marine Foundation
£25,000	16/05/2023	Big Give Green Match
John Ellerman Foundation - Improving ocean protection and management around UK Sovereign Base Akrotiri in Cyprus
£99,425	25/10/2022	Improving ocean protection and management around UK Sovereign Base Akrotiri in Cyprus
John Ellerman Foundation - Core costs
£37,000	25/10/2022	Core costs
Postcode Planet Trust - 2022 Special Award
£300,000	20/10/2022	One-off award
Dulverton Trust - Measuring and monitoring Solent restoration
£34,925	08/06/2022	Measuring and monitoring Solent restoration
The EQ Foundation - Grant to Blue Marine Foundation
£25,000	16/05/2022	Big Give Green Match
John Ellerman Foundation - BLUE resourcing 2 members of marine team staff (head of marine conservation and marine team member) Fieldwork expenses
£149,145	15/12/2021 36	BLUE resourcing 2 members of marine team staff (head of marine conservation and marine team member) Fieldwork expenses
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, UK Branch - Blue Marine Foundation
£58,500	27/10/2021	Support for the Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE) to project an immersive video simulation representing the climate change mitigation and adaptation benefits offered by blue carbon habitats in the main café of the Blue Zone (the UN negotiating zone) at ....more Support for the Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE) to project an immersive video simulation representing the climate change mitigation and adaptation benefits offered by blue carbon habitats in the main café of the Blue Zone (the UN negotiating zone) at COP26.
Garfield Weston Foundation - Multi-Year Grant (3 Years) award
£100,000	09/07/2021 36	Core Costs/Unrestricted Grant
LUND TRUST - UK Sturgeon Project
£10,000	23/05/2021	To reverse the decline of the UK’s native sturgeon species.
The EQ Foundation - Grant to Blue Marine
£25,000	15/05/2021	Unrestricted
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, UK Branch - Blue Marine Foundation
£22,000	03/03/2021	Support for the Blue Marine Foundation to hold a blue carbon conference in June 2021 and build a coalition of marine NGOs and climate scientists focused on advancing domestic blue carbon/blue climate solutions.
John Ellerman Foundation - Core costs
£150,000	26/11/2020	Core costs
Garfield Weston Foundation - Multi-Year Grant (3 Years) award
£100,000	03/07/2020 36	Core Costs/Unrestricted Grant
Seafarers UK - Grant to Blue Marine Foundation
£7,750	04/04/2019	Grant funding to support an apprenticeship feasability study, within the Plymouth Marine Park area, aimed at recruiting local young people into the fishing community.
Seafarers UK - Grant to Blue Marine Foundation
£7,750	04/04/2019	Grant funding for an apprenticeships feasability study - within the Plymouth Marine Park area - which aims to recruit local young people into the fishing community inc train them with the skills needed to collect on board fish data and samples for ....more Grant funding for an apprenticeships feasability study - within the Plymouth Marine Park area - which aims to recruit local young people into the fishing community inc train them with the skills needed to collect on board fish data and samples for scientists to evaluate.
Dulverton Trust - Baseline mapping of the Solent Oyster Restoration Project
£34,500	25/10/2018	Baseline mapping of the Solent Oyster Restoration Project
Garfield Weston Foundation - Multi-Year Grant (2 Years) award
£100,000	23/05/2018 24	Core Costs
Dulverton Trust - Restoring Solent Ecosystem Health
£35,000	14/06/2017	Restoring Solent Ecosystem Health
John Ellerman Foundation - Grant to Blue Marine Foundation
£150,000	23/03/2016 36	Towards the core costs of its work in the UK and the Overseas Territories, tackling overfishing and promoting sustainable fishing.
Esmee Fairbairn - Grant to Blue Marine Foundation
£150,000	24/04/2014	Towards the Lyme Bay Fisheries and Conservation Reserve, a project working with local fishing communities to develop a model for the sustainable and equitable management of marine resources.

Show more rows

Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How do they operate?

BLUE Carbon

Objectives: BLUE Carbon aims to raise the profile of the ocean as a climate change solution

Description: BLUE Carbon develop targeted evidence to better understand the role of marine habitats in mitigating and adapting to climate change. The major BLUE carbon habitats (mangroves, saltmarsh, and seagrass) are in rapid global decline. These habitats remain little understood and largely overlooked by policymakers. BLUE carbon therefore acts as a catalyst to build political ambition. This includes ensuring that the voluntary blue carbon market supports biodiversity recovery, is well-evidenced, transparent, and socially equitable

BLUE Economics

Objectives: BLUE Economics aims to quantify the real cost of destructive fishing while developing new ways of directing capital at scale towards ocean protection and restoration

Description: BLUE Economics examines and quantifies the oceans use including poor economics in areas like overfishing, assessment of sustainable fishing models and the value it can bring to local livelihoods. They also examine how protection and restoration can be delivered at scale and calculate the value of carbon, methane and nitrogen stored in marine life is being protected

BLUE Legal

Objectives: BLUE Legal aims to support the proper creation and enforcement of law at sea

Description: BLUE Legal develops strategic legal interventions to protect the marine environment in the UK and abroad, Working in collaboration with other environmental NGOs, and ﬁshing and community groups. They have fronted legal challenges, both in London and Brussels, over the continued (and potentially unlawful) presence of destructive bottom-towed ﬁshing gears on the Dogger Bank, an area protected by the powerful Habitats Directive and called the European Union’s distant-water ﬂeet out for ﬁshing for tuna beyond legal limits in the Indian Ocean

BLUE Education

Objectives: BLUE Education aims to raise public awareness of how to restore healthy oceans through engaging with local communities, fishermen and young people

Description: Marine conservation education rarely features within school curriculum, meaning that younger generations often lack a personal interest in protecting the ocean. BLUE Education is bridging this gap through innovative educational materials, community engagement, capacity building, empowering ambassadors, connecting with schools and enhancing career opportunities for young adults

BLUE Investigations

Objectives: BLUE Investigations aims to investigate harmful and unsustainable practices affecting oceans

Description: BLUE Investigations works to research, expose and combat harmful and unsustainable practices affecting oceans. Their investigations have included exposing and combating the overfishing of tropical tuna in the Indian Ocean and highlighting the UK’s role in the opaque deep-sea mining industry

BLUE Media

Objectives: Blue Media aims to use short films, social and digital media to get the ocean’s story heard by global audiences

Description: BLUE Media work with partners and in coalitions to create short films, social media campaigns, virtual reality experiences and mainstream television that amplifies impacts of projects and finds key audiences within a conservation to inspire specific action for marine conservation

How effective are they?

	Outputs	Outcomes
Y/E	Native Oysters restored to Solent waters	Litres of water filtered by oysters annually
31/03/2021	100,000	75,000,000
Y/E	Km2 designated as marine reserves
31/03/2021	1,575,000
Y/E	Boxes of sustainably-caught Lyme Bay seafood delivered to market
31/03/2021	1,760

Commentary: The nature of most of BLUE's interventions make it challenging to view impacts in tangible figures. However, the influence of their research and advocacy has led to millions of square kilometers of ocean around British Overseas Territories to become classified as marine reserves. With encouraging indications that this has led to the virtual elimination of fishing in those waters, we believe it is likely that efforts to extend these reserves will be successful

See what you could achieve with a donation of: £

How do we calculate this?

Who works here?

CLARE BROOK
CEO
Appointed: March 2015

Clare was a pioneer of environmental investing before joining BLUE in November 2014. She managed SRI funds at Jupiter, NPI and Henderson and was Head of Socially Responsible Investment at Aviva. In 2009 she founded WHEB Asset Management. As CEO of the Blue Marine foundation, she aims to combine the rigour of the investment world with her passion for solving environmental problems.

CHARLES CLOVER
Co-founder and Executive Director

Charles made his name as an author and environmental journalist writing principally for The Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph for which he was Environment Editor for 22 years. His book The End of The Line and the award-winning documentary film that it inspired raised overfishing as a global problem.

DR DAVID TUDOR
Projects Director

David has worked in marine management for over 20 years. His experience includes running environmental campaigns on the beaches of Australia, researching marine plastic pollution in the Pacific, leading on policy advice at a pivotal time for the UK’s marine legislation, and working on the world’s largest offshore renewable energy programme.

LYNNE SMITH
Finance Director

Lynne is an ACCA qualified accountant with a passion for being underwater. Witnessing first-hand the effects of overfishing and pollution on marine life drew her from the corporate environment to the marine environment and as the Finance Director of BLUE, she helps protect our oceans through her love of spreadsheets

DAN CROCKETT
Development Director

Dan started working for BLUE after freediving in the Orkney Islands and realising the extraordinary marine biodiversity (and absence of it) in our waters. With fifteen years of business experience, he supports BLUE project development and overall organisational growth, while also directing projects focused on the high seas and national marine parks.

ADRIAN GAHAN
Government Affairs Adviser

Adrian has 10+ years of policy and political experience in London, Brussels and Washington DC. He was Managing Director of Sancroft, has been Special Adviser to various Conservative MPs and worked at the Delegation of the European Commission to the United States. He has a degree in European Studies from the University of Cambridge.

SARA-JANE SKINNER
Head of Partnerships

Sara-Jane used her experience in events management, design and marketing to set up a company in Indonesia helping to support domestic and international brands across the Asia Pacific region. Back in the UK, where she was brought up close to the Channel, she has brought her expertise and affinity with the sea to BLUE.

EMILY NORRIS
Head off Development

Emily was previously Head of Business Development at cleantech start-up bio-bean, the first UK company to industrialise the recycling of waste coffee grounds into biofuels, having joined the company at its inception. She studied Biological Sciences at Oxford University, specialising in species conservation and marine ecology.

JESS RATTLE
Head of Investigations

As Head of BLUE’s Investigations Unit, Jess works to research, expose and combat harmful and unsustainable fishing practices. Her current focus is on the mismanagement of tuna stocks by RFMOs, as well as on the UK Government’s role in supporting potentially catastrophic deep-sea mining. She has a master’s degree in Environmental Science from the University of Cape Town and is a dual British-South African national.

RORY MOORE
Head of International Projects

Halfway across the Pacific in an old sailboat, Rory came across an unregistered fishing vessel hauling tonnes of illegally caught bluefin tuna from the ocean. He sailed right home to help BLUE to reverse the crisis of overfishing. He is a Plymouth graduate with a love for underwater photography and surfing.

JO COUMBE
Head of Communications

Jo spent 12 years as a journalist and editor at the Guardian and Trinity Mirror, leading digital innovation and global storytelling. Working from her coastal home in Cornwall she has delivered some of BLUE’s most successful campaigns including #BackTheBlueBelt, #LocalFishForDinner and #FishForTomorrow.

MORVEN ROBERTSON
Head of Projects (UK)

Morven is an experienced marine conservationist who has worked in a range of marine research, conservation and fisheries posts, such as management for recreational fisheries, addressing gear conflict and monitoring Marine Protected Areas. She has an MSc (Marine Environmental Management) from the University of York and has focused her interests around UK inshore fisheries.

How is it governed?

Trustees (8)

Current Trustees appointed

Gender Split

Based on 7/8 persons

Age Range of Trustees: 45-64

CHRIS GORELL BARNES

CHARLES DEREK NELSON Appointed: 2024, Occupation: Director

DR ARLO BRADY Appointed: 2012, Occupation: Director Public Relations, Freud Communications

DR CELINE HERWEIJER Appointed: 2020, Occupation: Partner

ELSA PALANZA Appointed: 2024, Occupation: Director

GEORGE LINCOLN DUFFIELD Appointed: 2010, Occupation: Film Producer

JOVITHA VIDYAMAYA SONALI SIRIWARDENA Appointed: 2024, Occupation: Director

LORD FRANK ZACHARIAS ROBIN GOLDSMITH Appointed: 2024

Legal constitution

Charitable company registered in England & Wales on 30/07/2010, number: 1137209
Registered at Companies House on 03/03/2010, number: 07176743

Gift Aid

Registered with HMRC for Gift Aid

Policies in force

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
Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
Social media policy and procedures
Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
Trustee expenses policy and procedures

Filing Record

13 returns made; AR16: 2 days late, AR12: 13 days late, AR11: 15 days late,

Main office

Somerset House
Strand
LONDON
WC2R 1LA

Objectives

1 TO PROMOTE FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC THE CONSERVATION, PROTECTION AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE PHYSICAL AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENT BY PROMOTING MARINE PRESERVATION AND THE PREVENTION OF MARINE BIODIVERSITY DECLINE; AND 2 TO ADVANCE THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC IN THE CONSERVATION PROTECTION AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT

Defined Area of Benefit:

UNDEFINED. IN PRACTICE, NATIONAL.

Data Sources

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