Finance Score: 1

Governance Score: 8

Support Score: 6

Multiple Deficits: -2
Fundraising costs low: +3

12+ Trustees: -1
Good trustee age range: +3
Dynamic board: +3
Gender balanced board: +3

Overall weighted support: +6

Overall GiG Score: 15

FIELD STUDIES COUNCIL

Our charitable activities are the 'bringing of environmental understanding to all'. We do this by the advancement of outdoor education, the protection of the environment and the pursuit of field studies.

Analysis by Giving is Great

Positives:

The charity has received backing from several prominent grant makers recently
Fundraising costs are unusually low relative to funds raised
The Board appears to be well diversified in terms of age and gender and dynamic in terms of composition

Regulatory & Governance issues to consider:

Why are there 15 trustees whereas the Charities Commission recommends a maximum of 12?

Financial issues to consider:

On several occasions in recent years income has been less than spending

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
31/12/23	£17,530	£16,763	£767	£624	£15,935	£14,893	10.7	389	165
31/12/22	£17,022	£15,964	£1,057	£569	£15,096	£14,174	10.7	368	162
31/12/21	£12,375	£14,144	£-1,769	£388	£14,147	£12,840	10.9	321	175
31/12/20	£9,485	£13,089	£-3,604	£997	£17,850	£15,144	13.9	373	94
31/12/19	£17,192	£17,767	£-575	£508	£21,608	£18,700	12.6	433	200
31/12/18	£18,873	£18,489	£384	£113	£21,902	£18,828	12.2	510	0
31/12/17	£18,413	£18,135	£278	£102	£21,646	£18,774	12.4	493	0
31/12/16	£17,795	£16,919	£877	£133	£21,187	£18,606	13.2	475	0
31/12/15	£17,390	£16,667	£723	£125	£20,138	£18,228	13.1	354	0
31/12/14	£17,340	£16,034	£1,305	£178	£19,341	£17,798	13.3	355	0
31/12/13	£18,226	£14,597	£3,629	£174	£17,917	£16,828	13.8	311	0
31/12/12	£14,633	£13,966	£667	£185	£14,033	£13,356	11.5	306	0
31/12/11	£14,898	£14,092	£806	£164	£13,191	£12,202	10.4	314	0
31/12/10	£14,295	£13,849	£446	£208	£12,369	£11,511	10	310	0
31/12/09	£14,454	£13,462	£992	£189	£11,831	£10,941	9.8	297	0
31/12/08	£14,335	£13,114	£1,221	£200	£10,752	£9,927	9.1	282	0
31/12/07	£11,783	£10,922	£860	£1,082	£9,755	£9,066	10	263	0
31/12/06	£11,025	£10,376	£649	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
31/12/05	£10,282	£9,718	£564	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
31/12/04	£9,583	£8,972	£610	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

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Financial Ratios

Fundraising Costs/Relevant Income: 4.1%
Fundraising Costs/Total Spending: 3.7%
Senior Staff Costs/Total Spending: 4%
Highest pay band: £140,000-£150,000
Liabilities/Assets: 36%
Liabilities/Income: 51%
Unrestricted Funds/Total Funds: 93%
Reserves/Spending: 10.7 months
Net Current Assets/Spending: -1 months
Quick Ratio: 0.7

Asset Split ?

Balance Sheet History

Established: 61 years
(78 years as a company)

www.field-studies-council.org

fsc.headoffice@field-studies-council.org

01743852100

Charity Commission for England and Wales

Tweets

Listed activities

Education/Training
Environment/Conservation/Heritage

GiG Classification

Environment conservation & animal welfare advocacy

How it operates

Provides buildings/facilities/open space
Provides services

Where it operates

Northern Ireland, Scotland, Throughout England And Wales,

Who it helps

Children/Young People
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.

Specific Donations

Amount	When Months	To be used for
The Foyle Foundation - Learning (MGS)
£40,000	18/09/2023	to cover visual learning aids for botany courses to increase accessibility for neurodiverse adult learners
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - ALB - Rural Payments Agency - State Aid Funded (RD Measure 10) SA
£14,975	01/04/2022	This measure is the primary Agri-environment-climate funding for England in delivering the Rural Development programme environmental land management priorities and builds on the agri-environment Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship ....more This measure is the primary Agri-environment-climate funding for England in delivering the Rural Development programme environmental land management priorities and builds on the agri-environment Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship schemes offered under the previous RD programme. The measure funds activities intended to deliver environmental land management priorities contributing to Englands Biodiversity 2020 goals and legal obligations under the Habitats, Birds and Water Framework Directives and soil commitments made in the Natural Environment White Paper and increase resilience of wildlife, habitats and ecosystems to climate change. Funding is paid according to the payment rate for each option included in the individual agreement, and the area/length/number of the commitment selected and is based on income foregone and additional costs. Agreements can be 5 year multi annual commitments with the option of annual extensions for a further two years. 10 year commitments or longer will be offered in cases where an exception is clearly justified. RPA administers for measures in England.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - M10 - Agri-environment- Climate Exchq
£4,458	01/04/2020	This measure is the primary Agri-environment-climate funding for England in delivering the Rural Development programme environmental land management priorities and builds on the agri-environment Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship ....more This measure is the primary Agri-environment-climate funding for England in delivering the Rural Development programme environmental land management priorities and builds on the agri-environment Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship schemes offered under the previous RD programme. The measure funds activities intended to deliver environmental land management priorities contributing to Englands Biodiversity 2020 goals and legal obligations under the Habitats, Birds and Water Framework Directives and soil commitments made in the Natural Environment White Paper and increase resilience of wildlife, habitats and ecosystems to climate change. Funding is paid according to the payment rate for each option included in the individual agreement, and the area/length/number of the commitment selected and is based on income foregone and additional costs. Agreements can be 5 year multi annual commitments with the option of annual extensions for a further two years. 10 year commitments or longer will be offered in cases where an exception is clearly justified. RPA administers for measures in England.
Community Foundation for Surrey - Big Nature Week
£8,802	07/01/2019 10	Nature week and events for the local community.
Esmee Fairbairn - Grant to Field Studies Council (FSC)
£40,000	24/07/2017 12	Towards the tomorrow's biodiversity project officer post to maximise learning on lesser known and uncharismatic species and explore further opportunities for learning.
National Lottery Heritage Fund - Grant to Field Studies Council (FSC)
£1,275,400	29/09/2015	BioLinks 2
Esmee Fairbairn - Grant to Field Studies Council (FSC)
£352,580	19/04/2012	Towards new core posts to work on key indicator species and shaping the work of the natural environment conservation sector for the future.
National Lottery Community Fund - Vision North West
£17,484	17/04/2012 12	A new project which will be delivered over approximately 22 days across an eight month period. The aim of the project is to improve the confidence, independence and social skills of 12 young people with visual impairments (VI), aged 14 to 18 years ....more A new project which will be delivered over approximately 22 days across an eight month period. The aim of the project is to improve the confidence, independence and social skills of 12 young people with visual impairments (VI), aged 14 to 18 years old and at a crucial transitional stage in their lives. The project will be delivered in partnership with Action for Blind People (Action) who will promote the project within the VI community and provide training to Field Studies Council (FSC) staff.

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Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How is it governed?

Trustees (15)

Current Trustees appointed

Gender Split

Based on 14/15 persons

Age Range of Trustees: 38-71

AMANDA CRAIG Appointed: 2019, Occupation: Director For People And Nature

CHRIS LANE Appointed: 2014, Occupation: Teacher

CHRISTOPHER BROOK Appointed: 2024, Occupation: Chartered Surveyor

DAVID WESTGATE Appointed: 2024, Occupation: Retired

DELIA GARRATT Appointed: 2024, Occupation: Chief Executive

DR MARTIN CHRISTIE Appointed: 2021, Occupation: Senior Advisor

DR RUTH COPELAND-PHILLIPS Appointed: 2024, Occupation: Company Director

GILL MILLER Appointed: 2013, Occupation: University Lecturer

JEFF SISSONS Appointed: 2018, Occupation: Company Director

KEITH GODDARD Appointed: 2024, Occupation: Company Director

MALCOLM BEATTY OBE Appointed: 2021

NICHOLAS PETER O'LOUGHLIN Appointed: 2022, Occupation: Teacher

NICOLA LYNES Appointed: 2024, Occupation: Charity Manager

PETER WILLIAM ANDERSON Appointed: 2016, Occupation: None

PROF PETER HIGGINS (Chair) Appointed: 2015, Occupation: University Lecturer Prof

Legal constitution

Charitable company registered in England & Wales on 12/09/1963, number: 313364
Registered at Companies House on 13/06/1946, number: 00412621

Gift Aid

Registered with HMRC for Gift Aid

Policies in force

Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
Campaigns and political activity 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
Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
Social media policy and procedures
Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
Trustee expenses policy and procedures
Volunteer management

Filing Record

20 returns made; all on time

Main office

FIELD STUDIES COUNCIL
PRESTON MONTFORD
SHREWSBURY
SY4 1HW

Objectives

(A) TO PROMOTE THE BENEFIT OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC BY THE PURSUIT AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF FIELD STUDIES IN THE ARTS AND THE SCIENCES WITH WHICH SUCH STUDIES ARE CONSISTENT OR IN THE OPINION OF THE COUNCIL CAN BE ADVANTAGEOUSLY OR USEFULLY CARRIED OUT. (B) TO ADVANCE THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC IN EVERY KIND OF FIELD WORK IN ANY SUCH ARTS AND SCIENCES AND TO ESTABLISH, EQUIP AND MAINTAIN IN ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, WALES, NORTHERN IRELAND OR ELSEWHERE A CENTRE OR CENTRES FOR FIELD STUDIES, RESEARCH, MEETINGS AND LECTURES, INSTRUCTION OR BY ANY OTHER CHARITABLE MEANS AS THE COUNCIL DETERMINE. (C) TO PROMOTE THE BENEFIT OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC BY THE PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT INCLUDING EDUCATING THE PUBLIC IN THE BENEFITS TO THE ENVIRONMENT OF SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES.

Defined Area of Benefit:

ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, WALES, NORTHERN IRELAND OR ELSEWHERE

Data Sources

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