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. They achieve this by reintroducing marine life to strategic geographical locations and working with the government to support policies that enact protection of these marine locations around the world.

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 modest backing from at least one prominent grant maker recently
  • This charity is endorsed by a respected charity impact evaluator
  • There has been strong growth in spending over the last 5 years
  • There have been no material income deficits in recent years
  • Fundraising costs are unusually low relative to funds raised
  • This charity has a robust balance sheet
  • The Board appears to be well diversified in terms of age

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

How you can help

miles
Established: 13 years

www.bluemarinefoundation.com

info@bluemarinefoundation.com

02078455850

Charity Commission for England and WalesCompanies HouseTwitterFacebookInstagramYouTube
UN SDGs
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Financial Data ?

Income & Spending ?
Sources of Income ?
Y/E Income
£k		 Spending
£k		 Surplus/
Deficit		 Fundraising
Cost £k		 Total
Funds £k		 Unrestricted
Funds £k		 Mths
Rsrvs		 Staff Volun-
teers
31/03/22£7,790£6,209£1,581£167£8,096£2,83963340
31/03/21£6,312£4,158£2,154£167£6,566£1,9826230
31/03/20£4,046£3,621£426£213£2,412£1,03432020
31/03/19£4,189£3,363£827£180£1,986£79931430
31/03/18£2,085£2,048£36£81£1,159£58731060
31/03/17£2,024£1,619£406£82£1,123£595470
31/03/16£2,140£1,964£176£108£717£531360
31/03/15£1,957£2,069£-112£273£541£342240
31/03/14£1,870£1,944£-75£319£653£487340
31/03/13£1,815£1,439£376£308£728£491430
31/03/12£1,211£1,119£93£205£352£417520
31/03/11£989£730£259£258£259£259400
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Download accounts
Financial Ratios
Fundraising Costs/Voluntary Income: 2%
Fundraising Costs/Total Spending: 3%
Senior Staff Costs/Total Spending: 15%
Liabilities/Assets: 4%
Liabilities/Income: 4%
Unrestricted Funds/Total Funds: 36%
Reserves/Spending: 5.5 months
Net Current Assets/Spending: 12 months
Quick Ratio: 14.3
Asset Split ?
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

What it does
  • Animals
  • Economic/Community Development/Employment
  • Education/Training
  • Environment/Conservation/Heritage
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.
Who works here?
  • 33 employees
  • 40 volunteers
Who it helps
  • Other Charities Or Voluntary Bodies
  • Other Defined Groups
  • The General Public/Mankind
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's supporting them? ?

Endorsed by:
  • UBS Optimus
Donations from Grant Makers ?

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

Donor
Amount/When/Months		 To be used for
John Ellerman Foundation
£99,425 25/10/2022
Improving ocean protection and management around UK Sovereign Base Akrotiri in Cyprus
John Ellerman Foundation
£37,000 25/10/2022
Core costs
The Dulverton Trust
£34,925 08/06/2022
Measuring and monitoring Solent restoration
The EQ Foundation
£25,000 16/05/2022
Big Give Green Match
John Ellerman Foundation
£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
£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 ....more
The Aim Foundation
£33,550 08/10/2021
Feasibility study of an integrated ecosystem approach to restore connected habitats of East Anglia's coastal waters
Garfield Weston Foundation
£100,000 09/07/2021
Core Costs/Unrestricted Grant
The EQ Foundation
£25,000 15/05/2021
Unrestricted
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, UK Branch
£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 ....more
John Ellerman Foundation
£150,000 26/11/2020
Core costs
Garfield Weston Foundation
£100,000 03/07/2020
Core Costs/Unrestricted Grant
Seafarers UK
£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.
The Seafarers' Charity
£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 ....more
The Dulverton Trust
£34,500 25/10/2018
Baseline mapping of the Solent Oyster Restoration Project
Garfield Weston Foundation
£100,000 23/05/2018
Core Costs
The Dulverton Trust
£35,000 14/06/2017
Restoring Solent Ecosystem Health
John Ellerman 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.
Esmée Fairbairn 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.
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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

....more
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?
Main mission: To restore the ocean to health by creating marine reserves, restoring vital habitats and establishing models of sustainable fishing
Outputs
Outcomes
Y/ENative Oysters restored to Solent watersLitres of water filtered by oysters annually
31/03/2021100,00075,000,000
31/03/202069,0005,000,000
Y/EKm2 designated as marine reserves
31/03/20211,575,000
Y/EBoxes of sustainably-caught Lyme Bay seafood delivered to market
31/03/20211,760
31/03/20202,133
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: £
Documents
Blue Marine Foundation 2021 Review Annual review Download Document
Blue Marine Foundation 2020 Review Annual review Download Document
Blue Marine Foundation 2019 Review Annual review Download Document
Blue Marine Foundation 2018 Review Annual review Download Document
Blue Marine Foundation 2017 Review Annual review Download Document
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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 (7)
Current Trustees appointed
Gender Split

Age Range of Trustees: 40-84
  • CRAIG DAVIES
    Appointed: 2013, Occupation: Chartered Accountant
  • DR ARLO BRADY
    Appointed: 2012, Occupation: Director Public Relations, Freud Communications
Legal constitution
  • Charitable company registered in England & Wales on 30/07/2010, number: 1137209
  • Registered at Companies House on 03/03/2010, number: 07176743
  • Registered with HMRC for Gift Aid
Policies in force
  • Complaints handling
  • Conflicting interests
  • Investment
  • Paying staff
  • Risk management
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

Charity Commission for England and Wales
360 Giving
CharityBase

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