The Bentley Wood Charitable Trust

Analysis

The Bentley Wood Charitable Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Fordingbridge. It was registered in February 1984, 42 years ago. Its declared purposes cover education/training and environment/conservation/heritage, which this site groups under environment and conservation. Legally it is a charitable trust. It says it makes grants to individuals, provides buildings/facilities/open space and sponsors or undertakes research.

In the financial year ending March 2025, The Bentley Wood Charitable Trust reported income of £342k and spending of £234k, leaving 32% of income unspent that year. Across the 5 years on record, from March 2021 to March 2025, income grew from £270k to £342k (+27%), an average of +6.1% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to March 2022, when income dropped by 48%. Over the whole period it spent 78% of the income it received.

Among 4,574 England and Wales charities whose main cause is environment and conservation and that reported income, The Bentley Wood Charitable Trust sits at the 88th percentile: it is larger than about 88% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 87th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include The Excelsior Trust (£341k), East Midlands Transport Heritage Trust (£346k) and Beverley Minster Old Fund (£337k).