2025-03-31-accounts

Report and Financial Statements 2024-2025

Heal Rewilding CIO Registered charity no. 1187992 (England & Wales)

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Table of contents		Emma Lewis
A message from the Chair of Trustees	1
About Heal	4
A look back at the year	5
Trustees’ report	29
Report of the Independent Auditors	35
Statement of Financial Activities	38
Balance Sheet	39
Notes to the Financial Statements	42
Acknowledgements	54
Images	55

Report & Financial Statements 31 March 2025

Heal Rewilding

A message from the Chair of Trustees

I am pleased to present Heal’s second Annual Report, which documents another successful year of work to support nature recovery, climate action and Jonathan Simnett wellbeing.

This report covers the period April 2024 to March 2025, our fifth year as a charity and our second year of managing Heal Somerset, our ‘blueprint’ rewilding project which will inform the work on future sites.

The most significant step for the charity was the repayment of our lending from Triodos Bank UK, achieved through securing additional investment from Direct Line Group. Sincerest thanks to Triodos for having provided vital initial funding and to Direct Line for their continuing support.

The charity’s work at Heal Somerset comprises a significant part of this report.

The charity’s income grew significantly from £428,306 to £744,405, thanks to a major donation of £166,430 for a woodland regeneration project at Heal Somerset from Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, through the Government’s Projects for Nature initiative. The underlying growth year-on-year was 27%. The charity maintained its reserves and a good cash position through the year.

For a second year, the land at Heal Somerset was allowed to rest and begin its recovery. The positive impacts on wildlife as a result of this relatively simple initial management approach became increasingly apparent as the team witnessed increasing numbers of species.

The most exciting wildlife happenings were both beaver-related - the appearance of the first beaver dam on the Heal Somerset site in May 2024 and then three months later, trailcam footage of a pair of beavers!

In order to document the changes in species populations and other site features, a significant amount of further survey work was undertaken during the year, focusing primarily on professional species baseline surveys, made possible through the generosity of Heal donors.

Expert volunteers also carried out a range of surveys and, overall, 29 surveys were either underway or completed.

Some of this survey work was undertaken to align with Rewilding Britain’s new monitoring framework. Heal Somerset had been chosen as one of only three sites in England to pilot the framework. Rewilding Britain is working with rewilding practitioners and other experts within the sector to develop a framework for monitoring rewilding, to measure ecological, social and economic change across sites in Britain.

For the ecological strand, we undertook surveys of indicator species: invertebrates, birds and bats. These were carried out throughout the year into the first quarter of 2025.

Following the appointment of the charity’s first Community Engagement Manager, the year saw a major increase in work on community engagement. Achievements include a positive

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Report & Financial Statements 31 March 2025

collaboration with a committee of local residents overseeing the recovery of 30 acres adjacent to the local village. We established 13 partnerships with underserved communities, delivering over 500 engagements. Three local education partnerships resulted in work experience and youth volunteering.

There was a small increase in general visitors to Heal Somerset and a growing number of corporate volunteer groups. By the end of the financial year, over 2,000 hours of general and corporate volunteering time had been logged.

Work began on a timber-framed cabin within one of the barns on the site, to provides schools and groups with a comfortable, weatherproof space.

A lively programme of 43 events for the general public ran throughout the year, including workshops, site tours, species surveying training and wildlife walks. This was a 26% increase on 2023-24. The highlight was the inaugural Into The Light gathering in May 2024.

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Heal Rewilding
Emma Lewis
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This has been an important year of extensive progress and considerable achievement, and on behalf of the Board of Trustees, I would like to express our deepest thanks and gratitude for all those who helped us, from the Heal team and our wonderful volunteers to the donors and partners without whose support we could not continue. You all made this work possible.

Jonathan Simnett Chair of Trustees November 2025

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Report & Financial Statements 31 March 2025

Heal Rewilding

About Heal

Heal Rewilding is the UK’s first charity dedicated to being a rewilding landowner. It launched in March 2020 with the aim of acquiring and rewilding a site of around 500 acres in every English county and secured its foundation site, Heal Somerset, in December 2022. Heal’s name is its purpose: heal the land, heal nature, heal ourselves.

The charity was set up in response to the devastating biodiversity and climate crises humanity is facing and our increasing disconnection with nature, with the adverse effects this has on human health and wellbeing. To these three problems, Heal sees one clear solution: rewilding.

Rewilding Britain defines rewilding as ‘the reinstatement of natural processes and, where appropriate, missing species, allowing them to shape the landscape and the habitats within, leading to the restoration of fully functioning ecosystems’. It’s a wonderfully exciting, still relatively novel, way of restoring ecosystems, which hands the reins over to nature and as a result, brings benefit to nature, planet and people.

Rewilding gives nature the breathing space it needs to recover. It allows plants to regenerate and creates spaces where wildlife can live freely and vulnerable species can thrive. It’s also a key asset in the fight against climate change, as through natural regeneration and the restoration of wetlands, carbon is removed from the atmosphere. A report by Rewilding Britain has shown that by rewilding 30% of land in Britain, 53 million tonnes of carbon dioxide could be captured per year,

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which is more than 12% of current UK greenhouse gas emissions . Rewilding is also hugely beneficial(1) to people. It creates spaces that encourage nature connection, bring economic benefit, improve soil health, clean the air we breathe and reduce water pollution.

Our first rewilding site, Heal Somerset, is a former dairy farm comprising 460 acres of beautiful undulating countryside, with miles of hedgerows and three tributaries of the River Frome.

In the time we’ve been at Heal Somerset, our team has been dedicated to making it a place where nature and people can thrive. We have completed a comprehensive range of baseline surveys and have begun to consider which interventions will have the biggest, and most desirable, impact on the land’s recovery.

But it’s not just wildlife we’re helping. People are critical to everything we do at Heal. A core part of our mission is to increase access to nature, which is why our site is open and free to access, why we work hard to collaborate with the local community and why we run engaging and educational commercial events and experiences.

Our current focus is on developing Heal Somerset and making sure it’s the optimal blueprint for our future sites.

(1) https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/about-us/what-we-say/researchand-reports/rewilding-and-climate-breakdown

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Heal Rewilding

A look back at the year

April 2024

Otterly wonderful

We videoed not one but TWO otters, cruising along together on 26 March in one of our streams, looking very friendly.

We didn’t yet know if they are a pair, but our hopes of otter babies (officially called cubs) were rising!

Otterly wonderful news, a newt arrival and rewilding through AI

They’re here!

At last! We had official confirmation of crested newts on the land (well, one at least).

Volunteers from a local reptile and amphibian group came to do some live trapping in one of our ponds and found not only a GCN, as they're called by newt aficionados, but a palmate newt, several smooth newts and a nice fat toad.

How will AI help rewilding?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of several technologies which are already starting to revolutionise the way habitats and species are found, identified and recorded. Like us, we hoped people might be interested in discovering more, which is why we scheduled to feature the use and future of tech in rewilding on Friday 10 May, the first day of Into The Light, our two-day gathering at Heal Somerset.

With habitat conditions and food supply improving every day, we hoped this was the start of a healthy population of newts and toads.

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Back to school, a global investment blueprint and a heartfelt farewell

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Whizzing round like seeds!

Julia (our Community Engagement Manager) and two fabulous and highly skilled volunteers, Asia and Richard, went to a local primary school to talk about plants.

The year 1 and year 2 classes were learning about plant life cycles and what better way to bring it to life than the very plants living at Heal. They told stories, did a show and tell, dissected flowers and acted out the life of a plant - their favourite bit was whizzing around like seeds in the playground.

The team had a lot of fun and set up a plan to welcome the children and families for visits to Heal Somerset in the summer.

Off to pastures new

At the end of March, the Heal team said a very heartfelt farewell to Hannah Needham, our Operations Director. After four years with us, Hannah left to take up an exciting new challenge as Landscape Recovery Project Manager at Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. Hannah joined Heal as our first member of staff in August 2020, after volunteering for the charity from autumn 2019. Her impact and influence on the organisation was broad and deep, including suggesting Heal as our name, so she left behind a lasting hallmark of her outstanding contribution. She was also instrumental in shaping Heal’s communications work, our approach to inclusion and diversity, and she devised and set up the Heal Future Advisory Panel and the Big Green Hike as an industry initiative.

Heal project featured in new global investment blueprint

As part of SUSTAIN (an EU Horizon project), the Coalition for Private Investment in Conservation (CPIC) chose to feature Heal as one of four new conservation investment blueprints.

These blueprints are model financial transaction structures intended to help facilitate replicable investments in priority conservation projects. They enable financial institutions seeking to positively impact biodiversity through conservation projects to better understand existing frameworks for investment and serve as practical resources for stakeholders interested in conservation finance, including investors, financial institutions, project developers, and NGOs, offering insights into innovative approaches for channelling private finance to priority conservation projects.

The blueprints outline the investment and operating model of each project, their impact measurement practices, and opportunities for scalability and replication.

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Heal Rewilding

May 2024

Back after more than 400 years!

We saw the unmistakable signs in the stream which runs right by the path only a few hundred metres from the farmyard at Heal Somerset. Then our trail camera recorded the most amazing footage....a beaver!

When we arrived at Heal Somerset, we knew that wildliving beavers were in the locality and our biggest hope was that they would turn up here to start their amazing feats of eco-engineering. These first signs - willows chewed to stumps, bark stripped - showed that this young beaver was likely to be exploring the territory upstream or downstream from where they were born, with a view to setting up home.

Beavers return, Big Give funding success, and a wonderful workshop

We did it!

Thank you, thank you, thank you - we achieved our best-ever result for this year's Big Give Green Match campaign, with

(drumroll...) £41,663 raised! The funding helped us to secure four more acres of the land at Heal Somerset.

Building our inner resources

A wonderful workshop took place in April, led by Cindy Gale, one of Heal's Trustees, with Priyal Shah and Mutima Imani. It was a day aimed at building people's inner resources to cope better with the daily onslaught of social injustice, wars, nature destruction and climate crises.

The group focused on rest, embodiment, emotions and community, and spent joyful time out in our rewilding land.

A big thank you to Cindy, Priyal and Mutima for running the workshop and raising valuable funds for our work.

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A red-listed visitor and a new team member

Welcome Rosa!

We were joined by another new team member in May - Rosa, our new Events Coordinator. Rosa came to us with a background working in event planning, logistics and operations and a passion for working on projects with sustainability in mind. She worked on a diverse range of events for different industries, and loves how events can facilitate connections, discussion and debate.

Growing up the child of a florist, Rosa always felt connected to plants and nature, and she became a keen gardener and grower. She said how thrilled she was to be part of Heal’s bold approach and thinks it’s crucial in our technological world to champion the idea of reconnecting with nature. To her, the process of rewilding feels like a return to our roots, and a potent tool to promote balance.

Red-listed tree pipit seen at Heal Somerset

A red-listed tree pipit was seen at Heal Somerset, much to the delight of the team and the bird enthusiasts who volunteer here. These summer visitors are birds which like woodland edges and build nests on the ground. They rise up, sing and sink back down to land in the top of a tree. Their numbers have plummeted in the last 50 years, so we hoped this was the first of many and that they find food, shelter and places to breed here in the future.

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June 2024

‘Our’ beavers built a dam!

At the end of May, our ranger Dan was walking alongside the stream which runs in Heal Somerset's Southern Fields when he heard an unfamiliar sound, like a waterfall. It turned out to be water trickling through our very first beaver dam!

The transformation upstream of the dam was already significant. The water had pooled behind the structure and was deep enough for them to swim in. Before, they could only paddle. There's so much vegetation around the area that photographing the dam itself was tricky, but in the photo above, you'll see how they harvest both food and dam-building material. This tree is a hazel, from which they had neatly cut off multiple branches, coppicing the tree which should produce fresh growth. Dam building usually indicates a pair, so the next course of action was to confirm whether one beaver or a pair was present.

Beaver dams, Into The Light and regenerating aspen

All lit up at Into The Light

The universe truly smiled on us for Into The Light, our rewilding gathering in May, as we were blessed by the first days of hot sun for months - and no rain!

Over the two days, more than a hundred people heard from 20 inspiring speakers, caught up with friends and made new ones, and generally had a really chilled and happy time.

Talking ‘bout our (re)generation

The feedback we got was so positive that we started planning Into The Light 2025 immediately!

The term 'natural processes' is often mentioned in rewilding and this is one example we noticed on our site: tree regeneration.

And in cosmic synchronicity, on the Friday night of Into The Light, the aurora borealis shimmered above our gathering like a cosmic blessing. Our wonderful volunteer filmmaker Tom Francome filmed a video from the Heal Somerset campsite which was so good that it made the news!

There is an aspen amongst the trees at the top of this picture, which are in our neighbour's land on our southern border. The aspen's roots extend into our field and those roots have sent up hundreds of baby trees, which are still linked to, and fed by, the parent tree. Because they came from one parent tree and not from fertilised seeds (like acorns from oaks), these babies were clones.

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Aspen are like chocolate for deer and many were nibbled, as both roe and fallow deer are here, so ongoing monitoring will be conducted to see how the new trees fare over time.

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Heartwarming community visits and a very generous gift

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Sharing our space

We feel the healing power of nature at Heal Somerset every day and we had a very special time throughout May bringing people to Heal Somerset to experience its wellbeing impact firsthand.

People living with dementia strolled through the landscape listening to birdsong, groups with poor mental health inhaled the fresh green scent, teenagers with special needs gasped at our camera trap footage and children with disabilities peered under microscopes as their parents breathed their way through mindful movement.

Rewilding at Heal Somerset is as much about people as it is about nature. You only need to witness the joy of a child who has seen their first snake to understand why. Thank you to our community partners and volunteers for all their hard work in making this happen.

A generous gift

Our lovely neighbour gifted us this beautiful tipi!

We used it for the first time as a haven during Into The Light for those wanting a moment's peace away from the crowds, and as a fun hideout the following week for a group of children who visited. It was a big hit!

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July 2024

Heal secures biggest ever oneoff donation

In May we secured our biggest ever one-off donation from a business supporter!

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) donated £166,430 through the Projects For Nature platform, for the regeneration of woodland at the Heal Somerset rewilding site.

SSEN is the Distributor Network Operator for the north of Scotland and central southern England, and is a founding partner of Projects for Nature and the first utility company to support the platform.

The funding will be used to establish deer fencing around the perimeter of the chosen fields, to control the impact of deer on regenerating baby trees and new scrub plants, while also enabling us to keep livestock in the fields in future years. We will be working with Providence Ecological to ensure that other wildlife can transit the fencing, as the area is criss-crossed with longestablished animal paths.

Accessibility equipment, a massive donation and an exciting new advisory panel

Meet our new Heal Future Advisory Panel

We were delighted to welcome Arjun, Bella, Catherine, Clare, Hazel, James, Jesse, Galatea, Harry, Siana and Thomas as our new Heal Future Advisory Panel!

The Panel is a national collective of individuals aged 18-25 who are actively involved in ensuring that Heal remains an inclusive and relevant organisation. The Future Advisors review Heal’s key decisions, create and refine marketing and promotional materials, contribute to awareness campaigns, and suggest new ideas on how Heal can help people of all ages and backgrounds to connect with nature.

We have a Tramper!

The Disabled Ramblers charity got in touch with Heal to offer us the opportunity of buying a pre-loved Tramper from them. The Tramper is a marvellous allterrain mobility scooter which is manufactured in nearby Salisbury. Disabled Ramblers is a wonderful organisation, which helps make the countryside more accessible to people with limited mobility. We first got to know them when Paula Brunt, their Vice-Chair, spoke at the first Resurgence event we coorganised at Knepp in 2022.

Heal Rewilding

We test-drove the Tramper on its 'tortoise' setting (literally, a switch with a 'tortoise' or 'hare' speed selector) and it felt safe and very easy to drive. It coped well on the mown paths in our Southern Fields. We said yes to buying it!

The Tramper will be free to use but must be pre-arranged.

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Heal Rewilding

Volunteering updates and a welcome to our new trustee

New finance trustee appointed

Rob Quinn is passionate about the rewilding movement and its potential to help solve the world’s nature and climate crises.

His professional career combines life sciences and finance, having completed a PhD in Biochemistry and a Chartered Accountant qualification. Rob is an experienced Chief Financial Officer in the biotech industry and has helped many life sciences companies to raise money and carefully spend it to make scientific discoveries.

Our new platform for volunteering

As a very small team we realised earlier in the year that we needed a proper volunteer management system so we could better showcase our volunteering opportunities, both on the site and desk-based, track volunteer hours and automate the health and safety aspects of volunteering.

For several months we worked hard to set up a system called Team Kinetics to do this for us. It’s a great system which is used by some of the Wildlife Trusts, so is proven and well suited to what we need, making it easier to find out about, and sign up for, volunteering opportunities.

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They came, they dug, they counted worms!

A trio of corporate volunteer groups came to the Heal Somerset site in June to carry out some very important surveys for us - worm counting!

Teams from Benefact, TT Environmental Solutions and Ticket Tailor went out into a selection of fields and dug a series of soil pits, lifting out a 20cm cube of soil and then sorting, identifying and counting the worms they found. This work provides us with a vital baseline, as the presence and prevalence of worms are key indicators of soil health. By using a specific, accepted methodology for worm counts, we can repeat them in future years to track any changes.

The results proved quite dramatic. Though many pits had adult worms numbers in double figures, one pit yielded no adult worms whatsoever, which is an indication of very poor soil health.

We were very grateful to the three teams for being the guinea pigs for this volunteering task and, perhaps surprisingly, they all really enjoyed doing it.

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August 2024

Happy 90th birthday Ted!

Heal's esteemed Founder Patron, Ted Green MBE, turned 90 (going on half that) in August. We are honoured to count Ted as one of our supporters and he continues to travel round the country, making appearances, especially since he was featured in 'Wilding', the wonderful new film about Knepp.

Above, Heal co-founder Jan Stannard is pictured with Ted on one of his visits to Heal Somerset.

Happy birthday Ted! You are a legend. Thank you for all the support you give us.

A special birthday, a heart-warming donation and a huge thank you

One for the bookworms

The nascent Heal nature library had a big boost recently with a very generous donation from Brian Clews of 13 books from the WILDGuides series from publishers Princeton.

Brian made the donation in memory of Mark Hemmings, who was treasurer of Wild Maidenhead, an organisation which Jan Stannard, Heal's cofounder, and Brian helped to set up in 2016. The 'Hemmings Collection' of books now in our library range from the classic WILDGuides edition about birds to others on mammals, orchids and even plant galls.

Capture a moment, it lives forever

With our small and always flatout site team, we never seem to capture enough footage and photos of everything going on here. We owe a big debt of gratitude to three special people who bring professionalism to the visual record of Heal Somerset.

Mark had also expressed a wish for his friends and colleagues to make a donation and choose a book from his own library, and some of those funds raised also came to Heal. Thank you, Brian and Mark.

Our photographer-in-residence, Emma Lewis, visits the site regularly to capture stunning imagery. Meanwhile volunteer film maker Tom Francome and volunteer film producer Hayley Smith came to the Heal Somerset site many times since January 2023, often at very unsociable hours, to shoot footage for a short film about the first 18 months at the site.

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An upgraded camping experience and new wildlife newsletter

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A not-glamping tipi experience

Wildlife Highs

We had some lovely feedback about the first edition of Wildlife Highs, our quarterly sister newsletter to Heal Highs.

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Earlier in the year we were gifted this beautiful tipi by our neighbour Ian.

We set up the tipi as a most-definitely-notglamping option during August on our very basic but glorious campsite at Heal Somerset. The tipi sleeps four people in futon beds, one double and two singles. It is DIY - guests must bring their own sheets and duvets (or sleeping bags) and pillows, a cooking stove and supplies, and other camping essentials. We provide a mains water tap, a compost loo and stunning views!

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Heal Rewilding

September 2024

Exciting beaver news, our X- odus and badger vaccinations

Canoodling beavers

How about this?! An actual PAIR of loved-up beavers caught on camera. We had been waiting and hoping for this. When there is a pair of beavers, they not only build dams but should eventually build a lodge where they can raise a family.

Once the water level rises behind a dam, they can then burrow into the bank with the entrance submerged beneath the water's surface. The tunnel will slope upwards as the beaver digs, creating a dry chamber above the waterline. This chamber will serve as a resting and sleeping area. Then they may build a large, domed 'lodge' made of sticks and mud on the bank, with multiple chambers inside.

Bye bye birdie

Heal made the decision to leave Twitter/X. The 'good' we found on the platform through our community of rewilders was disappointingly outweighed by the bad.

There had been a concerning increase in online bullying and hate speech on Twitter/X in the last few years. Riots, with mosques and accommodation for asylum seekers attacked, were inextricably linked to online platforms, and fake news channels on X helped to disseminate false information.

We acknowledged that other platforms are not without fault, but none seem to amplify hateful content as much as Twitter/X. The platform does not align with our values.

X / Twitter

Vaccinating ‘our’ badgers

When we were asked by the local badger group if Heal Somerset would become a badger vaccination pilot site, we didn't hesitate.

We knew that vaccination might be the route out of badger culls. A small study over four years in Cornwall showed incidence of TB went down from 16% to zero when badgers were vaccinated (though the study emphasised that it doesn't demonstrate a causal link between badger vaccination and bTB epidemiology). The study team said the results suggest that vaccination was protecting badgers and might thus reduce transmission to local cattle.

During August, the badger group, all volunteers, managed to vaccinate enough of the estimated badger population on the Heal Somerset site to start to establish herd immunity over time.

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Naming ceremony donations and 1% for the Planet funds

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BrightCarbon supports Heal

We were delighted to have been supported by 1% for the Planet member BrightCarbon. The company is a presentation design agency, who design clear, compelling and persuasive presentations and use their visual storytelling skills to create effective eLearning and provide advanced PowerPoint, Google Slides and presentation skills training. Thank you to BrightCarbon!

1% for the Planet is an inspiring global movement for environmental giving, involving over 5,000 companies. Each year, certified members give 1% of their annual sales (not profits) directly to vetted environmental partners like Heal.

A ‘giving link’ for a celebration

We can create a unique 'giving link' for people to use for a special occasion like a naming ceremony, birthday, wedding or anniversary, for family and friends to donate to Heal instead of giving physical gifts. It is quick and easy for us to do and we can also collect gift aid on the donations.

BrightCarbon / 1% For The Planet

An example from earlier in the year was the naming ceremony for Arden. His parents asked relatives and friends to make a donation to Heal and we created a bespoke link for them which took donors to Enthuse, the third-party giving platform we use.

Thank you so much to Arden's family for the generous donations that came to Heal from this celebration. Arden's parents sent this lovely image of Arden (above) communing with nature. He is “identifying trees” they said! 🌳😂

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October 2024

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Supporting underserved groups

Working with community group partners, we designed and delivered 13 wellbeing days on the site involving nearly 250 visits by people from communities whose contact with nature can be minimal or non-existent. By coming to the Heal site, they connect with nature, which promotes mental and physical wellbeing, resilience and social cohesion. These groups include people living with dementia (with Wild Memories), low-income families, young people and adults with additional needs (with The Pod), young carers, and those experiencing poor mental health (with Mind Shepton Mallet). Our aim for 2025 is to create a new community nature barn on site where community groups can rest, socialise and store equipment. The barn will be co-created and co-delivered with our underserved community groups and volunteers, and in doing so it will serve the needs of our community.

Community groups, our farmhouse garden and an unexpected swarm!

New provision for wildlife

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We spent time working on changing the area in front of the Heal Somerset farmhouse from a plain lawn to something which serves wildlife and people better. And the universe did its thing again...We had the most wonderful volunteer help with this project from a very special nearby neighbour, Lulu Urquhart. Her firm's rewilding garden won gold at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2022.

Lulu proposed mown circles for seating, patches of long grass and two large native wildflower and plant beds for insects and other creatures to feed, shelter and breed.

Crane flies in their thousands!

For a couple of weeks at the end of September, the site was overrun with biblical swarms of crane flies, vastly more than last year.

We were really pleased to have tens of thousands (perhaps even millions!) of these gangly creatures about, because their larvae - leatherjackets - are such a good food source for all kinds of predators including badgers, foxes, moles and many kinds of birds. Each female lays between 200 and 500 eggs after mating.

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Fantastic corporate sponsors, grants and donations

A gamechanging grant

We were delighted to have been chosen as one of Benefact's 2024 Larger Grant winners. They awarded us an amazing £35,050!

This grant is supporting us in two transformative ways: undertaking research and business planning for a potential rewilding consultancy offering and upgrading part of the charity’s headquarters.

A nature-led land management service would accelerate Heal’s mission of restoring land to nature across England. The consultancy would work directly with landowners, providing expertise around rewilding their land, generating sustainable income for Heal, and enhancing the charity’s long-term financial sustainability. This grant also funded vital refurbishments to the farmhouse at Heal Somerset, providing a dedicated space for the project consultant to work while on site and creating more usable spaces for the team.

New corporate supporter

We were thrilled to welcome onboard:earth as a new corporate supporter. They generously donated a significant £18,000 and made Heal one of their Environmental Partners.

onboard:earth is a rapidly growing community within the live events industry, uniting festivals, events, suppliers, artists and music companies to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises. Their primary focus is on reducing the environmental impact of travel, which is the largest source of emissions from live events. By offering resources, tools and expert advice, onboard:earth helps its members minimise their travel emissions, while also encouraging collective action to drive sustainability throughout the industry.

Furthermore, onboard:earth raises critical funds for initiatives like ours. We are incredibly grateful for their support and look forward to working together to make meaningful strides towards a healthier planet.

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Heal 3x3 upkeep donations come flooding in

We began sending out notifications to Heal 3x3 square sponsors about keeping their name associated with their square(s) now that their first year's sponsorship has ended. We were thrilled because we had already had thousands of pounds in further donations, which go towards the upkeep of the site going forward. Our Heal 3x3 portal now automatically emails notifications to square holders.

onboard:earth

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November 2024

A new partner, Heal Highs Live and an adorable survey

Furry friends galore

This little cutie is a pygmy shrew, the smallest mammal in the UK, found here at Heal Somerset along with lots of common shrews.

We had our first official small mammal survey done - for shrews, voles and mice - and the headline results are phenomenal. The team reported finding the highest number of shrews ever recorded in their surveys.

London in the bag

Heal Live hit the road! The first stop was at the end of October in London, with a full house enjoying a panel discussion with Heal co-founder Jan Stannard talking to Jasmine Isa Qureshi and Elliot Newton.

Next stop was York on Wednesday 13 November, with guests Amy-Jane Beer, author, Dr Sheree Mack, writer and artist, and Samantha Mennell of the Yorkshire Rewilding Network.

Then it was on to Birmingham on Thursday 14 November, with guests Professor Chris Baines, writer and broadcaster, Dr Delia Garratt, CEO of Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust, and Cherelle Harding, Founder of

Steppers UK.

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Alex Sams
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The Curious Network x Heal

We gained a wonderful new business partner, The Curious Network. TCN found us after becoming a member of 1% for the Planet. Members pledge to donate 1% of their sales revenues to accredited charity partners like us.

TCN was established in Brixton in 2006 and the firm creates and manages unique buildings, creative workspaces and communities to help businesses thrive.

A cheery group from TCN came to visit Heal Somerset on a rather beautiful day in July and decided to become one of our partners. As well as making a donation, they sponsored the Heal Live tour. Thank you, TCN!

Heal Rewilding

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Growing goals, our BNG plans and a new rewilding platform

Food garden planning underway

We began planning our trial food garden, to be created over the winter and spring at the Heal Somerset site. We've always intended to grow food for people as well as wildlife on our sites and this first foray into food production will follow a ‘soup and salad’ theme, to give us a steer on what to grow. Our biggest challenges will be deer, rabbits and slugs - but we came up with the idea of surrounding the growing area with a moat, given the massive slug population that rewilding is producing!

We will grow food for volunteers and the community, and hope to involve people from the underserved groups we now partner with (including those with dementia, additional needs, mental health challenges, disadvantaged families and young carers). It’s really exciting to be adding food growing to what we’re already doing for wildlife, climate and wellbeing.

Biodiversity Net Gain progress

We've mentioned before that we have been exploring the potential for becoming a 'biodiversity gain site' for Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) to support the Heal Somerset operation. This means that we will deliver biodiversity gains on our land where a developer cannot do this on their development site.

By November we finalised two key documents: our statutory (official) biodiversity metric, which is the way of measuring biodiversity value for the purposes of BNG, and our Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan. The Heal Somerset site has a huge supply of units - over 600 - and we are now pursuing several pathways to developing a BNG income stream.

Heal Rewilding

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New rewilding special interest group

Heal co-founder Jan Stannard (in red in the image above) joined the first meeting of the British Ecological Society's new special interest group in rewilding.

The aim of the group is to provide a platform to advance the science and practice of rewilding. The day was very well organised by Professor Nathalie Pettorelli from the Institute of Zoology at the Zoological Society of London and Professor James Bullock of the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

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Heal Rewilding

December 2024

Social media changes, a new Chair, and festive gifts

Give the gift of rewilding

'Tis the season for naturefriendly gifting!

This year, we encouraged people to give something truly unique. For £20, people can sponsor a 3m x 3m patch of rewilding land in their loved one’s name at Heal Somerset, our beautiful 460-acre site, home to skylarks, hares, glowworms and wild-living beavers!

Every patch has a unique what3words address, so your recipient will know exactly where it is.

We have a range of lovely gift certificates for you to download for your gift recipient. It's the perfect last-minute option too as you can arrange a gift at any time, even Christmas morning!

Changing Chair

Heal's co-founder Jan Stannard served in the role of Chair of Trustees since Heal was set up in 2020, as well as running the charity day-to-day. For good charity governance and best practice, it’s important that the person acting as Chair changes every few years and Jan felt that it was the right time for a new Chair to take over the role.

Jonathan Simnett was appointed as Heal’s new Chair, having been a valued member of our Board since Heal’s inception. He brings with him a wealth of experience in business, alongside a deep passion for our mission. Jan will carry on in her role leading the team as acting CEO of Heal Rewilding.

We also said farewell to Piers Watson in October. Piers had also served as a Trustee since Heal was founded and has been a hugely valued member of the Board. It won’t be goodbye though - Piers plans to do more volunteering for Heal in the future. Thank you, Piers, for your service and dedication.

Heal Rewilding

Heal takes to the (Blue)sky

As our social followers and regular readers of Heal Highs are aware, we took the decision to stop using Twitter/X a few months ago and have not regretted it. We have been keeping an eye on Bluesky, akin to early Twitter but set up and operated very differently. Its rapid growth in recent weeks has been remarkable, with 24 million users now registered. It is, essentially, a much nicer place.

We set up an account on Bluesky, with our website as our social handle (one of Bluesky's positive differences).

Here are some of the things we like so far about Bluesky. It's a public benefit corporation and operates in a decentralised way. It has better community-based governance which fosters more diversity and inclusivity, and it enables the use of good thirdparty apps.

We hope it continues to develop in a positive way.

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Heal Rewilding

Donations abound and a garden designer extraordinaire

Food garden design concept

Regular Heal volunteer Tim Aldred is one of a group of people helping us to develop our trial food garden at Heal Somerset. Tim offered to look at how we might approach laying out the area and when he sent his concept, the team were absolutely blown away.

He came up with the most original and beautiful design, with the utterly inspired idea of basing the layout on dendritic growth. This is a common phenomenon in nature, observed in trees, roots, river systems, leaves, insect wings, fungal networks and within us - our lungs, veins and arteries.

There are growing areas separated by branching networks of woodchip paths. Our moat idea (slug defences!) has been extended by Tim to include a small pond. At its heart, the garden features a wildflower meadow, symbolising nature’s central role in the project, with plants to attract pollinators.

Support from See-Saw Films

We were thrilled to share that See-Saw Films, the renowned British-Australian production company behind award-winning productions such as The King’s Speech, Lion, Heartstopper, and The Power of the Dog, generously donated £3,500 to support our work this autumn.

Founded in 2008 by Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, See-Saw Films is celebrated for creating compelling stories that inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Their generous contribution directly supports our work at Heal Somerset. We’re deeply grateful to See-Saw Films for their support and commitment to creating new spaces for nature where wildlife can recover, positive contributions to net zero can be achieved and as many people as possible can experience the benefits of nature on their wellbeing.

A bat-tastic donation!

One of our regular volunteers, Sophie Ricardo, (@flybrarian_photos on socials) donated a bat detector to Heal!

The Echo Meter Touch 2 is a handy device from Wildlife Acoustics that helps us identify bats by listening to their unique calls. It plugs into any Android smartphone or tablet, turning it into a bat detector. Bats use ultrasonic sounds that humans can’t hear and this device captures those sounds and converts them into something audible. It even has auto ID so we will be able to identify the bat species we’re hearing!

Big thanks to Sophie for this generous gift.

See-Saw Films

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January 2025

Debut screening of Heal the Land!

We started the new year with a very exciting announcement. Tickets became available for the very first screening of our brand new short film Heal the Land!

Heal the Land is a stunningly beautiful 25-minute documentary about the Heal Somerset site. It features some of the highs and lows from the first two years and showcases much of the wonderful wildlife we saw. All the footage was filmed on the site.

We set the date of the inaugural screening for the evening of Friday 14 March at the Merlin Theatre in Frome, Somerset, with a panel discussion after the film featuring our co-founder Jan Stannard, film director Tom Francome, producer Hayley Smith and expert wildlife guide Nick Patel.

Hitting the big screen, interventions planning and food garden

2025: the year of interventions

For two years we focused on completing our baseline surveys of the Heal Somerset site. This was a crucial first step in the rewilding process to find out what species are here and where it's possible, how abundant they are. This data will be used to inform future interventions and measure our impact.

All of these baseline surveys were due to be officially completed by March, which means that the next step is to start working on interventions. While rewilding always aims to let nature take the lead, sometimes we do need to give it a helping hand. The actions we take are based on rebuilding missing or depleted ecosystem processes.

Let it grow!

Work on our food garden officially began in January, if a little slowed down by the arrival of snow on site! What you can see in the picture above, covered by that lovely blanket of white, is some of the compost we put down for the garden. We owe a big thanks to waste management company Biffa for donating all 24 tonnes of compost we needed!

There are three key areas of focus for this year: bringing in our first ecosystem engineers, renaturalising water flows and supporting scrub and tree regeneration.

We had planned to have a moat around the garden to keep slugs at bay, but after starting work, we realised that the ground isn't quite flat enough for it. We'll have to resort to more traditional approaches. The garden is still going to have a lovely pond though, which will support a whole array of species. We'll also be experimenting with straw bale gardening.

Alex Sams

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Heal Rewilding

Community engagement, National Lottery funding and willow planting days

Sharing the joy of rewilding

2024 was a bumper year for community engagement at Heal Somerset! We had nearly 300 visits by people from underserved communities, including people living with dementia, low-income families, young people and adults with additional needs, young carers and those experiencing poor mental health, as well as 80 visits from schoolchildren.

It's been wonderful sharing this special place with people and seeing them find joy and peace in it. Here are a couple of the wonderful things people have said after visiting:

“It's funny how putting yourself out in nature can feel vulnerable at first, because we are not so used to it, but then so good when you relax into it.” – Participant of a local women's support group

“I felt a real affinity to the place, as if I was coming home” – Participant of a mental health support group

The community nature barn is go!

We said a huge thank you to the National Lottery for awarding us £20,000 for our community nature barn project through their Awards for All programme.

Thanks to this funding, we've been able to kick off work on the community nature barn and are hoping to finish it by spring. The community nature barn will be a space for our community groups to rest, socialise and store equipment. It will be co-created and codeveloped with these groups to ensure the space serves their needs. We're so excited to watch this project evolve and will keep sharing progress with you along the way.

The National Lottery

Willow planting days

One of the things we decided to do on site in 2025 was support scrub and tree regeneration and the first way to do this is by planting willow.

The Heal Somerset site is in an area known as the Forest of Selwood and the name Selwood comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for sallow wood, meaning willow wood. This piece of history tells us that the area would once have had lots of willow trees. Willow is a wonderful plant and is especially important to beavers who eat it and use it for dam building. Sadly, our site has very few left and they'd struggle to regenerate on their own because the fields are covered in a thick thatch of pasture. Willow seeds can't root successfully without bare earth. Though eventually the work of the pigs should help this process along, we've made the decision to give our willows a helping hand.

A willow planting day with volunteers was run in January, with another in February.

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February 2025

The pine marten reappears

A year ago we caught a pine marten on camera in our Southern Fields but there has been no sign of it since...until this week! This February, a pine marten (the same one?) was filmed in exactly the same place, making exactly the same moves. Surely it's him/her again!

And we also captured footage of a grey squirrel on the trunk of the same tree and this could be the reason for the pine marten sticking around. Lunch!

Our new ecosystem engineers and exciting wildlife sightings

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The ginger boys have arrived!

We were joined by two new team members: Ticket and Tailor, our ecosystem engineers!

These adorable mud-lovers came to Heal Somerset as little piglets just before Christmas but we kept their arrival quiet for a few weeks while they settled in. It's safe to say they've done just that and seem to have no qualms about squealing at anyone who walks by in the hope of food. Ticket and Tailor are brothers and never leave each other’s side, spending their days rootling around getting their snouts muddy. For the time being they live in a two-acre electric-fenced area with a bijou pig residence hand-built by one of our trustees, so they have shelter while the weather is cold and we can keep a close eye on them while they’re still young. Eventually, they’ll live a wild life, roaming hundreds of acres using natural shelter and without any supplementary feeding unless we have to.

Astonishing - 17 bullfinches in one morning!

On 25 January, our regular Saturday birders group went into the Eastern Fields (not a huge area) for a couple of hours and recorded an astonishing 17 bullfinches! Soon after, six males were seen together, a pinky-red explosion of colour in the landscape. The thought is that these birds are feeding on the dock seeds and other natural food sources on the site. Once upon a time, bullfinches had a bounty on their heads in Somerset as they target the buds of fruit trees at this time of the year.

We owe a big thanks to our wonderful business partner Ticket Tailor for funding the pig project.

The Heal team then went out the following week and all of us also saw small groups of bullfinches. What a treat!

The Eastern Fields are open for all to walk at any time - we can't promise a bullfinch sighting but there's a reasonable chance in February.

Heal Rewilding

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Heal Rewilding

Uplifting bug and bird survey results and birders social impact

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Bugs, bugs, glorious bugs

We received our 2024 baseline report on our invertebrates! It ran to 70 pages, with the highlights as follows:

• 404 species (that's not great, but isn't surprising given that it's an ecologically depleted site) Nine species of importance (2.2%) Large quantities of common species (brilliant!) such as Roesel’s bush cricket, common ground beetle species, rove beetle species, and wolf spider species

• Notable percentage of species for long sward grassland habitat with few wetland, short sward and decaying wood species

In essence, the site is particularly abundant in common/widespread species but is lacking in diversity. The abundance is great news, meaning that birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians should have plenty to eat. Rewetting the site and bringing in livestock in the future will bring lots of improvement in diversity.

Birds are thriving

Survey results came in thick and fast. While we waited for our 2024 official baseline bird survey (report due later in 2025), we received the results of a survey undertaken by Nick Adams, a bird surveyor who visits a number of landholdings in the Heal Somerset locality, giving us some insight into how the birds at our site compare. This is one we plan to do annually.

Nick recorded 67 bird species at the site including 11 which are red-listed and 16 amberlisted. From the breeding bird survey, he confirmed up to eight greenfinch breeding territories, 11 for linnet, 43 for chiffchaff, 12 for bullfinch, 12 for whitethroat, 18 for skylark, seven for tree pipit and six for yellowhammer. Nick commented on the last two as being highlights for him.

Canva / Heal Rewilding

Social impact through birding

The birders group has been coming to the site for over a year and these keen volunteers (some expert, some learning) have now got to know each other well. It's great to see the camaraderie and banter on their WhatsApp group (description: 'a crack-team dedicated to the cause of surveying Heal Somerset's birdlife!'). They really help us keep a close eye on the birds here and they are often the first to see new species. This isn't just wildlife recording though - 'social impact' might sound lofty, but that's exactly what this is. They are benefiting from being in the company of others, having a laugh and doing something with purpose.

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March 2025

What a lotta otters!

We saw one otter on a trailcam every so often, then in January we saw two for the first time. But last month, wow! There was unprecedented activity by otters. They were using one particular mud bank as a regular scent-marking location and in the video footage we captured there was first only one otter, then two, then three and then (OMG) four! Having four otters together is something we never ever expected to see on this site.

We also captured footage of a fox scent-marking on the same spot. Amazing stuff.

Otterly fantastic news, newt habitat and hydrological plans

Will our site become new heaven?

Eight of these strange rectangular pits are now dotted around the Heal Somerset site. Can you guess their purpose? They have been dug at locations where we might be able to create ponds for great crested newts!

Rewetting our land

Under the topsoil at Heal Somerset, the substrate is almost all clay, which is naturally heavy and slow-draining, often causing waterlogging.

We're doing this very exciting project in collaboration with the Newt Conservation Partnership, a partnership between Freshwater Habitats Trust and Amphibian and Reptile Conservation. The process of planning and developing such ponds starts with digging test pits like the one pictured above and then monitoring them to see if they hold water right through the summer. The team who came from the Newt Conservation Partnership to do the ground investigations reported finding 'better than expected [clay] substrate, fairly consistent across the farm'. Everything crossed now as we wait to see if the testing phase is successful.

To make this sort of land more suitable for farming, the Victorians pioneered large-scale field drainage using buried clay pipes. We have these all over the Heal Somerset site, taking water off the land into streams or a network of man-made ditches. When it rains at the site, the water comes off the land much faster than it would naturally, impacting our three River Frome tributaries.

One of our important rewilding interventions is therefore the restoration of natural flows of water across the land. We are working with a hydrologist and the Environment Agency to plan and carry out this work. Over the next two or three years, this will involve blocking ditches or reducing flows in them using 'leaky dams', and breaking up field drains.

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Eventually, flows of water through the grassland will be more natural, flood resilience will improve and wetlands will start to form.

Heal Rewilding

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Heal Rewilding

BNG units with a difference, dementia group visit and an amazing donation

BNG opportunity

At Heal Somerset, we can turn your biodiversity net gain (BNG) obligation into an opportunity to do so much more. Not all BNG units offer the same quality and impact, and working with the right partner on the right project means you can make a real difference.

The Heal Somerset site will soon have its Section 106 legal agreement for BNG in place and will be offering up to 600 units, including fractional units for small developments.

Why buy units from Heal? Because we are running a high-integrity project, we can show positive impacts on people, habitats, species and carbon, and we are flexible. You can invest in us with confidence.

Generous tools donation

We were really fortunate in acquiring a fantastic array of tools, kindly donated by our rewilding ranger Dan's parents.

They bought the tools from a great charity called Tools for Self Reliance (Llanelli & Carmarthen) and donated them straight to Heal. The purchase of these tools will help that charity to fund vocational skills training in Tanzania provided by Tools For Self Reliance Cymru.

Dan puts the tools to great use out on site during volunteer days, including barbed wire removal, scrub clearance, willow planting and hedgerow management. This wonderful donation is greatly appreciated, especially as it benefits both Heal and the Tanzania project.

Heal Rewilding

Wild Memories visits again

The Wild Memories group, supporting people living with dementia, are becoming regulars at Heal Somerset. During their visit in February, they got involved in kickstarting rewilding by planting willow along the riverbank.

It was a chilly February day but spirits were high and the tea tasted all the sweeter. On the walk back, one participant mentioned that this planting was their small version of leaving a legacy on our land, a really moving tribute.

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Heal Rewilding

Trustees’ report for the year ended 31 March 2025

The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2025. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).

Objectives and activities

• to advance environmental improvement and protection for the benefit of the public through the conservation and protection of the environment and the provision of ecosystems services; and

• to advance the education and the engagement of the public in the restoration, rehabilitation, conservation and enhancement of the natural environment, and to promote study and research in such subjects and disseminate findings to the public at large.

The objectives of the charity, as set out in its constitution, are:

• to promote for the benefit of the public the conservation and improvement of the natural and physical environment in England and Wales, using the process of rewilding to restore biological diversity and ecosystems;

Public benefit

The trustees confirm that they have complied with the requirements of section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

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Jenny Vickers
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Report & Financial Statements 31 March 2025 Heal Rewilding
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Trustees’ Report continued

Financial review

During this financial year, the charity completed its fifth year and its second year of operating its first nature recovery site, Heal Somerset. External factors caused delays in the sale of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) units and the charity continued to support the operating costs of the site. A major restructuring of lending significantly reduced annual interest payments on the impact lending.

Total income for the year was £744,405. The charity benefited from a major donation of £166,430 during the year from electricity distribution network operator Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks for a Woodland Regeneration project, secured through the government’s Projects for Nature scheme. The other non-recurring income (£33,439) arose from an inter-entity licence agreement. These two outliers resulted in a significant one-off uplift to the charity’s income. If those outliers are set aside for the purposes of year-on-year comparison, the Trustees are pleased to see an underlying 27 per cent increase in income, from £428,306 to £544,536. Overall, unrestricted funding comprised 58 per cent and restricted 42 per cent.

Unrestricted expenditure was 12 per cent lower at £445,940 and restricted expenditure was higher at £143,435. The overall surplus was £155,030. Funds carried forward were £688,526, primarily accounted for by substantial amounts of deferred income reserved for expenditure in FY 2025-26. Fundraising costs were £3,464 (less than 1% of income), charitable activities direct costs were £287,741 and support costs were down by 23 per cent to £298,170 as a result of the refinancing. Within support costs finance charges were down by 48 per cent to £164,237.

The charity continued to benefit from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation’s contribution to the charity's operational costs this year, generously donating nearly £100,000 for a second year to fund several salaries for the year. In addition, seven major corporate supporters provided ongoing financial assistance, alongside nine smaller business partners who contributed during the financial year. We also benefited from invaluable pro bono support from BrightCarbon, The Curious Network and Seven Legal as contributions as part of the 1% for the Planet scheme. Furthermore, we were deeply grateful to receive £35,000 in donations from individual major donors, whose generosity continues to be a cornerstone of our success.

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Trustees’ Report continued

Fixed assets rose slightly to £6,071,906 and current assets were £538,504, with creditors of £421,884. Total assets less current liabilities were up at £6,188,526 and net assets/total funds, after creditor amounts falling due after more than one year, were £688,526.

The reserves target is three months of operating costs plus 4% and reserves were maintained throughout the year.

Interest payments on the charity's impact lending were significantly reduced following re-financing of the debt. Commercial lending from Triodos Bank UK was repaid and Direct Line Group (UK Insurance) provided additional impact investment. Following the re-financing, the charity now has loans totalling £5.5m with Direct Line Group, with the first capital repayment not due until 30 August 2027.

Going concern

and public events, and natural capital income from Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), to generate sufficient cash to meet expenditure and interest on loans as they fall due.

The Trustees have reviewed the charity's financial position, including its reserves, cash flow and future funding commitments, and have assessed its ability to continue operating as a going concern. This assessment has considered the potential risks and uncertainties facing the charity, including external economic factors, alongside the charity's strategic plans and ongoing activities.

The Trustees are satisfied that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. This confidence is supported by the charity's reserves policy, effective financial management and the anticipated level of income from diverse funding streams.

The charity is primarily engaged with the rewilding of land to restore biological diversity and ecosystems and is therefore reliant on the receipt of donations, grant funding and other income streams such as eco-tourism, corporate

Based on this review, the Trustees are confident that the charity will be successful in generating sufficient income to meet the payments due under the loan agreement and have prepared the accounts on a going concern basis.

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Report & Financial Statements 31 March 2025

Trustees’ Report continued

Future plans

The charity continues to focus on impact – upon nature, climate and people.

The charity expects to receive its first natural capital income transactions for Heal Somerset during the next 12 months, after delays caused by overstretched resources at Somerset Council. The legal agreements are now in process to secure the site’s BNG units prior to offering them to BNG buyers.

The Trustees are now beginning to plan the acquisition of the next Heal site, in parallel identifying potential sources of finance and potential properties. The acquisition strategy will base the business plan on natural capital, potentially using an equity-based model through a special purpose vehicle.

Over the next 12 months, the charity expects to see benefit from recent significant activities, including the appointment of Professor Alastair Driver as a Special Advisor, which underpins the charity’s position as the leading non-profit in the rewilding sector. The impact of the charity’s award-winning film, Heal the Land, and the interest in the transformational changes brought about by the work of beavers at the Heal Somerset site, are expected to support increased visitor flows.

The fundraising environment continues to be challenging and work is underway to replace two key business funders, whose support came to end for reasons unconnected with the charity’s operation and performance.

Following generous funding from Benefact Group, the charity has completed the research and planning work to set up a rewilding advisory service, and will be seeking funding for this venture over the next 12 months.

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Jenny Vickers
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Three major interventions at Heal Somerset – the woodland regeneration project funded by SSEN, the renaturalisation of waterflows funded by the Environment Agency and the Food and Wildlife Advisory Group, and the release of Tamworth pigs to live wild in a large area of the site – are together expected to have a marked impact on the ecosystem and the abundance and diversity of plant and animal life. Raising funds to undertake further species and habitat monitoring will be a key focus.

Structure, governance and management

Governing document

The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust and constitutes an incorporated charity.

Recruitment and appointment of new trustees

The powers of appointing new and additional trustees is vested in the trustees. The joint trustees are responsible for the day to day administration of the charity.

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Emma Lewis
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Trustees’ Report continued

Reference and administrative details

Registered charity number

1187992

Principal address

Lower West Barn Farm Witham Friary Frome Somerset BA11 5HH

Trustees

J Stannard J Coulter D Stimson J Simnett C Gale P Watson (resigned 25.10.24) R Quinn (appointed 19.4.24)

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Auditors

Knox Cropper LLP Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors 153 -155 London Road Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire HP3 9SQ

Events since the end of the year

Information relating to events since the end of the year is given in the notes to the financial statements.

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Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities

Trustees’ Report continued

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales, the Charities Act 2011, Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the trust deed requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charity for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Approved by the Trustees on 13 November 2025 and signed on their behalf by:

• observe the methods and principles in the Charity SORP;

Jan Stannard Trustee

• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.

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Report of the Independent Auditors

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Heal Rewilding (the 'charity') for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

under those standards are further described in the Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC's Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

• give a true and fair view of the state of the charity's affairs as at 31 March 2025 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, for the year then ended; have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

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Report of the Independent Auditors continued

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report, other than the financial statements and our Report of the Independent Auditors thereon.

Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

• the information given in the Report of the Trustees is inconsistent in any material respect with the financial statements; or

• sufficient accounting records have not been kept; or

• the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities, the trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements which give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charity's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditors under Section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue a Report of the Independent Auditors that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

• The Charity is required to comply with charity law and, based on our knowledge of its activities, we identified that the legal requirement to accurately account for restricted funds was of key significance.

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Report of the Independent Auditors continued

• We gained an understanding of how the charity complied with its legal and regulatory framework, including the requirement to properly account for restricted funds, through discussions with management and a review of the documented policies, procedures and controls.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our Report of the Independent Auditors.

Use of our report

• The audit team, which is experienced in the audit of charities, considered the charity's susceptibility to material misstatement and how fraud may occur. Our considerations included the risk of management override.

• Our approach was to check that all restricted income was properly identified and separately accounted for and to ensure that only valid and appropriate expenditure was charged to restricted funds. This included reviewing journal adjustments and unusual transactions.

This report is made solely to the charity's trustees, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity's trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors' report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity's trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above and, the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we would become aware of it. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion.

Knox Cropper LLP Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors 153 -155 London Road Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire HP3 9SQ

Date: 12 December 2025

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Report & Financial Statements 31 March 2025

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Statement of Financial Activities

for the Year Ended 31 March 2025

INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM Donations and legacies Other trading activities Investment income Notes Unrestricted funds Restricted funds 2025 total funds 2024 total funds £ £ £ £ 375,243 314,743 689,986 424,017 3 4 53,340 1,079 - - 53,340 1,079 4,138 151 Total 429,662 314,743 744,405 428,306 EXPENDITURE ON Raising funds 3,464 3,464 - 2,003 Charitable activities 6 Conservation 442,476 143,435 585,911 561,382 Total 445,940 143,435 589,375 563,385 NET INCOME /(EXPENDITURE) Other recognised gains/(losses) Gains/ (losses) on revaluation of fixed assets (16,278) 171,308 155,030 (135,079) - (11,294) (11,294) 451,898 Net movement in funds (16,278) 160,014 143,736 316,819 RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS Total funds brought forward 507,003 37,787 544,790 227,971 TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 490,725 197,801 688,526 544,790 2 5	INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM Donations and legacies Other trading activities Investment income Notes Unrestricted funds Restricted funds 2025 total funds 2024 total funds £ £ £ £ 375,243 314,743 689,986 424,017 3 4 53,340 1,079 - - 53,340 1,079 4,138 151 Total 429,662 314,743 744,405 428,306 EXPENDITURE ON Raising funds 3,464 3,464 - 2,003 Charitable activities 6 Conservation 442,476 143,435 585,911 561,382 Total 445,940 143,435 589,375 563,385 NET INCOME /(EXPENDITURE) Other recognised gains/(losses) Gains/ (losses) on revaluation of fixed assets (16,278) 171,308 155,030 (135,079) - (11,294) (11,294) 451,898 Net movement in funds (16,278) 160,014 143,736 316,819 RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS Total funds brought forward 507,003 37,787 544,790 227,971 TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 490,725 197,801 688,526 544,790 2 5	INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM Donations and legacies Other trading activities Investment income Notes Unrestricted funds Restricted funds 2025 total funds 2024 total funds £ £ £ £ 375,243 314,743 689,986 424,017 3 4 53,340 1,079 - - 53,340 1,079 4,138 151 Total 429,662 314,743 744,405 428,306 EXPENDITURE ON Raising funds 3,464 3,464 - 2,003 Charitable activities 6 Conservation 442,476 143,435 585,911 561,382 Total 445,940 143,435 589,375 563,385 NET INCOME /(EXPENDITURE) Other recognised gains/(losses) Gains/ (losses) on revaluation of fixed assets (16,278) 171,308 155,030 (135,079) - (11,294) (11,294) 451,898 Net movement in funds (16,278) 160,014 143,736 316,819 RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS Total funds brought forward 507,003 37,787 544,790 227,971 TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 490,725 197,801 688,526 544,790 2 5	INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM Donations and legacies Other trading activities Investment income Notes Unrestricted funds Restricted funds 2025 total funds 2024 total funds £ £ £ £ 375,243 314,743 689,986 424,017 3 4 53,340 1,079 - - 53,340 1,079 4,138 151 Total 429,662 314,743 744,405 428,306 EXPENDITURE ON Raising funds 3,464 3,464 - 2,003 Charitable activities 6 Conservation 442,476 143,435 585,911 561,382 Total 445,940 143,435 589,375 563,385 NET INCOME /(EXPENDITURE) Other recognised gains/(losses) Gains/ (losses) on revaluation of fixed assets (16,278) 171,308 155,030 (135,079) - (11,294) (11,294) 451,898 Net movement in funds (16,278) 160,014 143,736 316,819 RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS Total funds brought forward 507,003 37,787 544,790 227,971 TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 490,725 197,801 688,526 544,790 2 5	INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM Donations and legacies Other trading activities Investment income Notes Unrestricted funds Restricted funds 2025 total funds 2024 total funds £ £ £ £ 375,243 314,743 689,986 424,017 3 4 53,340 1,079 - - 53,340 1,079 4,138 151 Total 429,662 314,743 744,405 428,306 EXPENDITURE ON Raising funds 3,464 3,464 - 2,003 Charitable activities 6 Conservation 442,476 143,435 585,911 561,382 Total 445,940 143,435 589,375 563,385 NET INCOME /(EXPENDITURE) Other recognised gains/(losses) Gains/ (losses) on revaluation of fixed assets (16,278) 171,308 155,030 (135,079) - (11,294) (11,294) 451,898 Net movement in funds (16,278) 160,014 143,736 316,819 RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS Total funds brought forward 507,003 37,787 544,790 227,971 TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 490,725 197,801 688,526 544,790 2 5
				428,306
	3,464 442,476 445,940 (16,278) - (16,278) 507,003 490,725	- 143,435 143,435 171,308 (11,294)	3,464 585,911 589,375 155,030 (11,294)	2,003 561,382
				563,385
				(135,079) 451,898
		160,014 37,787	143,736 544,790	316,819 227,971
		197,801	688,526	544,790

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Balance sheet

31 March 2025

FIXED ASSETS Tangible assets Heritage assets Investments Notes Unrestricted funds Restricted funds 2025 total funds 2024 total funds £ £ £ £ 1,597,324 33,781 1,631,105 1,582,220 13 14 4,430,000 1 - - 4,430,000 1 4,430,000 3 6,038,125 33,781 6,071,906 6,026,623 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors 105,901 105,901 - 130,526 Cash at bank and in hand 15 268,584 164,019 432,603 115,637 374,485 164,019 538,504 246,163 CREDITORS Amounts falling due withing one year NET CURRENT ASSETS (421,884) - (421,884) (442,499) (47,399) 164,019 116,620 (196,336) TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 5,990,726 197,800 6,188,526 5,830,287 CREDITORS Amounts falling due after more than one year (5,500,000) - 490,726 507,003 NET ASSETS 490,726 197,800 16 Intangible assets 10,800 - 10,800 14,400 12 11 17 FUNDS Unrestricted funds Restricted funds 197,800 37,787 (5,500,000) (5,285,497) 688,526 544,790 TOTAL FUNDS 688,526 544,790 20	FIXED ASSETS Tangible assets Heritage assets Investments Notes Unrestricted funds Restricted funds 2025 total funds 2024 total funds £ £ £ £ 1,597,324 33,781 1,631,105 1,582,220 13 14 4,430,000 1 - - 4,430,000 1 4,430,000 3 6,038,125 33,781 6,071,906 6,026,623 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors 105,901 105,901 - 130,526 Cash at bank and in hand 15 268,584 164,019 432,603 115,637 374,485 164,019 538,504 246,163 CREDITORS Amounts falling due withing one year NET CURRENT ASSETS (421,884) - (421,884) (442,499) (47,399) 164,019 116,620 (196,336) TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 5,990,726 197,800 6,188,526 5,830,287 CREDITORS Amounts falling due after more than one year (5,500,000) - 490,726 507,003 NET ASSETS 490,726 197,800 16 Intangible assets 10,800 - 10,800 14,400 12 11 17 FUNDS Unrestricted funds Restricted funds 197,800 37,787 (5,500,000) (5,285,497) 688,526 544,790 TOTAL FUNDS 688,526 544,790 20	FIXED ASSETS Tangible assets Heritage assets Investments Notes Unrestricted funds Restricted funds 2025 total funds 2024 total funds £ £ £ £ 1,597,324 33,781 1,631,105 1,582,220 13 14 4,430,000 1 - - 4,430,000 1 4,430,000 3 6,038,125 33,781 6,071,906 6,026,623 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors 105,901 105,901 - 130,526 Cash at bank and in hand 15 268,584 164,019 432,603 115,637 374,485 164,019 538,504 246,163 CREDITORS Amounts falling due withing one year NET CURRENT ASSETS (421,884) - (421,884) (442,499) (47,399) 164,019 116,620 (196,336) TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 5,990,726 197,800 6,188,526 5,830,287 CREDITORS Amounts falling due after more than one year (5,500,000) - 490,726 507,003 NET ASSETS 490,726 197,800 16 Intangible assets 10,800 - 10,800 14,400 12 11 17 FUNDS Unrestricted funds Restricted funds 197,800 37,787 (5,500,000) (5,285,497) 688,526 544,790 TOTAL FUNDS 688,526 544,790 20	FIXED ASSETS Tangible assets Heritage assets Investments Notes Unrestricted funds Restricted funds 2025 total funds 2024 total funds £ £ £ £ 1,597,324 33,781 1,631,105 1,582,220 13 14 4,430,000 1 - - 4,430,000 1 4,430,000 3 6,038,125 33,781 6,071,906 6,026,623 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors 105,901 105,901 - 130,526 Cash at bank and in hand 15 268,584 164,019 432,603 115,637 374,485 164,019 538,504 246,163 CREDITORS Amounts falling due withing one year NET CURRENT ASSETS (421,884) - (421,884) (442,499) (47,399) 164,019 116,620 (196,336) TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 5,990,726 197,800 6,188,526 5,830,287 CREDITORS Amounts falling due after more than one year (5,500,000) - 490,726 507,003 NET ASSETS 490,726 197,800 16 Intangible assets 10,800 - 10,800 14,400 12 11 17 FUNDS Unrestricted funds Restricted funds 197,800 37,787 (5,500,000) (5,285,497) 688,526 544,790 TOTAL FUNDS 688,526 544,790 20	FIXED ASSETS Tangible assets Heritage assets Investments Notes Unrestricted funds Restricted funds 2025 total funds 2024 total funds £ £ £ £ 1,597,324 33,781 1,631,105 1,582,220 13 14 4,430,000 1 - - 4,430,000 1 4,430,000 3 6,038,125 33,781 6,071,906 6,026,623 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors 105,901 105,901 - 130,526 Cash at bank and in hand 15 268,584 164,019 432,603 115,637 374,485 164,019 538,504 246,163 CREDITORS Amounts falling due withing one year NET CURRENT ASSETS (421,884) - (421,884) (442,499) (47,399) 164,019 116,620 (196,336) TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 5,990,726 197,800 6,188,526 5,830,287 CREDITORS Amounts falling due after more than one year (5,500,000) - 490,726 507,003 NET ASSETS 490,726 197,800 16 Intangible assets 10,800 - 10,800 14,400 12 11 17 FUNDS Unrestricted funds Restricted funds 197,800 37,787 (5,500,000) (5,285,497) 688,526 544,790 TOTAL FUNDS 688,526 544,790 20	2024 total funds £ 1,582,220 4,430,000 3 14,400
					6,026,623 130,526 115,637
			164,019 538,504 - (421,884) 164,019 116,620		246,163 (442,499)
					(196,336)
			197,800 6,188,526 5,830,287 - 490,726 507,003 197,800 197,800 37,787 (5,500,000) (5,285,497) 688,526 544,790 688,526 544,790

The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the board and were signed on its behalf on 13 November 2025 by:

Jan Stannard Trustee

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Cash Flow Statement

31 March 2025

Cash flows from operating activities Finance costs paid Net cash provided by / (used in) operating activities Notes 2025 £ (164,113) 290,679 Cash flows from investing assets Purchase of tangible fixed assets (63,130) Sale of fixed asset investments 2 (62,049) Cash flows from financing activities New loans in year Net cash provided by financing activities (2,439,664) 88,336 Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period 316,966 Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period 115,637 Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period 432,603 Cash generated from operations 454,792 1 Interest received Net cash used in investing activities 1,079 Loan repayments in year 2,528,000		2024 £ (275,030) 245,882 (29,148)
	(37,204) - (37,053) 1,289,058 18,722 (47,479) 163,116 115,637 151 (1,270,336)	(37,204) - (37,053) 151

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Notes to Cash Flow Statement

31 March 2025

1. RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME / (EXPENDITURE) TO NET CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

Adjustments for: Net cash Debt Debts falling due within 1 year Total (5,508,860) Net income / (expenditure) for the reporting period (as per the Statement of Financial Activities) 115,637 Cash at bank and in hand At 01.04.24 Depreciation charges Interest received Finance costs Decrease in debtors Increase in creditors Net cash provided by operations 2. ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN NET DEBT Debts falling due after 1 year (339,000) (5,285,497) (5,624,497) £

2024 (135,079) 245,882 432,603 316,966 5,448 (151) 275,030 14,999 85,635 2025 155,030 6,551 454,792 (1,079) 164,113 24,625 105,552 Cash flow At 31.03.25 126,167 (214,503) (212,833) (5,500,000) (88,336) (5,712,833) 228,630 (5,280,230) £ £ £ £

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Notes to the Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2025

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements of the charity, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Charities Act 2011. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, with the exception of investments which are included at market value, as modified by the revaluation of certain assets.

Going concern

The charity is primarily engaged with the rewilding of land to restore biological diversity and ecosystems. It is therefore reliant on the receipt of donations, grant funding and other income streams such as ecotourism, corporate and public events, and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) to generate sufficient cash to meet interest and capital repayments on loans as they fall due.

In June 2024, the charity agreed an amendment to its original loan agreement with UK Insurance for an additional facility, which was used to repay in full the Triodos Loan. Following the re-financing, the charity now has loans totalling £5.5m with UK Insurance with the first capital payment not due until 30 August 2027.

The Trustees are confident that the charity will be successful in generating sufficient income to meet the payments due under this loan agreement and, on the basis of the forecasts prepared, together with the refinancing, have prepared the accounts on a going concern basis.

Income

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Intangible fixed assets

Intangible assets are initially measured at cost. After initial recognition, intangible assets are measured at cost less any accumulated amortisation and any accumulated impairment losses.

Sporting rights are being amortised evenly over their estimated useful life of 5 years.

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Notes to the Financial Statements continued

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life.

Plant and machinery - 20% on cost Fixtures and fittings - 10% on cost Motor vehicles - 20% on cost

Freehold properties have been measured at fair value by third party professional valuers. Depreciation will be charged over the estimated useful life of the properties in subsequent years.

Heritage assets

The charity holds a heritage asset, which are land and buildings held for scientific importance to advance the preservation and conservation objects of the charity. Heritage assets are recognised using the valuation method.

Taxation

The charity is exempt from tax on its charitable activities.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

Pension costs and other post-retirement benefits

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions payable to the charity's pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate.

Basis of consolidation

The financial statements present the information about the individual charity. The charity and its subsidiaries are classed a small group. Therefore, the charity has taken advantage of the exemptions provided by the Charities SORP (FRS 102) for small groups and consolidated accounts are not prepared.

2. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES

Donations Gift aid Grants	2025 £ 323,107 8,340 358,539 689,986 £ 2024 266,239 12,037 145,741 424,017

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Notes to the Financial Statements continued

3. OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES

3. OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES
Fundraising events Licence fees Other income 2025 £ 7,128 33,439 12,773 53,340 4. INVESTMENT INCOME Deposit account interest 5. RAISING FUNDS Fundraising 2025 £ 1,079 2025 £ 3,464 Raising donations and legacies 6. CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES COSTS Conservation 7. SUPPORT COSTS Conservation Support costs (see note 7) £ 298,170 Governance costs £ 15,000 Direct costs £ 287,741 Finance £ 164,237 Management £ 118,933	2024 £ 4,138 - -
	4,138 2024 £ 151 2024 £ 2,003 £ £ Totals 585,911 Totals 298,170

8. TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31 March 2025 nor for the year ended 31 March 2024, other than those disclosed in note 21.

Trustees' expenses

There were no trustees' expenses paid for the year ended 31 March 2025 nor for the year ended 31 March 2024.

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Notes to the Financial Statements continued

9. STAFF COSTS

. Wages and salaries Social security costs Other pension costs	2025 £ 170,775 9,990 3,844 184,609 2024 £ 134,009 6,453 2,946 143,408

The total employee benefits of the key management personnel of the charity were £52,870 (2024 - £31,082).

The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows:

Conservation Administration	2025 6 1 7	2024 5 1
		6

No employees received emoluments in excess of £60,000.

10. COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

Donations and legacies INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM Other trading activities Investment income Total EXPENDITURE ON Raising funds Charitable activities Conservation 331,313 4,138 151 335,602 2,003 506,465 508,468 92,704 - - 92,704 - 54,917 54,917 Unrestricted funds £ Restricted funds £ Total	Total funds £ 424,017 4,138 151
	428,306
	2,003 561,382
	563,385

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NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) (172,866) 37,787 Transfers between funds 193,099 (193,099) Net movement in funds RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS Total funds brought forward TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 472,131 34,872 507,003 (155,312) 193,099 37,787 11. INTANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS COST At 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025 AMORTISATION At 1 April 2024 NET BOOK VALUE At 31 March 2025 At 31 March 2024 Notes to the Financial Statements_continued_ Gains on revaluation of fixed assets 451,898 - Other recognised gains / (losses) Unrestricted funds £ Restricted funds £ Charge for year At 31 March 2025		(135,079) - 451,898 Total funds £
		316,819 227,971 544,790
		Sporting rights £ 18,000 3,600 10,800 14,400 3,600 7,200

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Notes to the Financial Statements continued

12. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

NET BOOK VALUE At 31 March 2025 20,137 35,537 1,570,000 At 31 March 2024 3,162 1,969 1,570,000 Cost or valuation at 31 March 2025 is represented by: Plant and machinery Fixtures and fittings £ £ Freehold property £ Valuation in 2024 - - 171,898 21,703 35,910 1,409,396 21,703 35,910 1,570,000 Cost DEPRECIATION Charge for year 1,080 213 - At 1 April 2024 486 160 - At 31 March 2025 1,566 373 - Valuation in 2025 - - (11,294) COST OR VALUATION At 1 April 2024 Additions Revalutions Plant and machinery Fixtures and fittings £ £ 3,648 2,129 18,055 - 33,781 - Freehold property £ 1,570,000 11,294 (11,294) At 31 March 2025 21,703 35,910 1,570,000

5,431 1,631,105 7,089 1,582,220 Motor vehicles Totals £ £ - 171,898 8,291 1,475,300 8,291 1,635,904 1,658 2,951 1,202 1,848 2,860 4,799 - (11,294) Motor vehicles Totals £ £ 8,291 1,584,068 - - 63,130 (11,294) 8,291 1,635,904

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Notes to the Financial Statements continued

13. HERITAGE ASSETS

MARKET VALUE At 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025 NET BOOK VALUE At 31 March 2025 At 31 March 2024 Cost or valuation at 31 March 2025 is represented by: Valuation in 2024 Cost	Total £ 4,430,000
	4,430,000
	4,430,000
	Heritage asset £ 4,150,000 4,430,000 280,000

14. FIXED ASSET INVESTMENTS

14. FIXED ASSET INVESTMENTS
	Shares in
	group
	undertakings
	£
MARKET VALUE
At 1 April 2024	3
Disposals	(2)
At 31 March 2025	1
NET BOOK VALUE
At 31 March 2025	1
At 31 March 2024	3

There were no investment assets outside the UK.

At the balance sheet date, the charity had one subsidiary company.

Heal Rewilding (Trading) Limited (company number: 13353709). Heal Rewilding owns 100% of the share capital. During the year Heal Rewilding (Trading) Limited made a loss of £2,849 and had net liabilities of £36,340 at the year end.

Heal Rewilding (Enterprises) Limited (company number: 12385872). Heal Rewilding owns 100% of the share capital. The company was dormant throughout the current and previous financial periods. The company was dissolved on 30 July 2024.

Heal North Limited (company number: 13357428). Heal Rewilding owns 100% of the share capital. The company was dormant throughout the current and previous financial periods. The company was dissolved on 30 July 2024.

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Notes to the Financial Statements continued

15. DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

Trade debtors Other debtors Owed by group undertakings VAT Prepayments and accrued income	2025 2024 £ £ - 89,632 14,195 2,074 - 77 104,751 16,680 8,969 49 105,901 130,526

16. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

Bank loans and overdrafts (see note 18) Trade creditors Taxation and social security Other creditors	2025 £ 10,007 3,106 - 408,771 421,884	2024 £ 7,934 4,917 319,000 110,648
		442,499

17. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE AFTER MORE THAN ONE YEAR

	2025	2024
	£	£
Bank loans (see note 18)	5,500,000	5,110,664
Other creditors	-	174,833
	5,500,000	5,285,497

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Notes to the Financial Statements continued

18. LOANS

An analysis of the maturity of loans is given below: Amounts falling due within one year on demand: Bank loans Other loans Bank loans - 1-2 years Other loans - 1-2 years Amounts falling between one and two years: Bank loans - 2-5 years Amounts falling due between two and five years: 2025 £ 212,833 - 212,833 - - - 5,500,000	2024 £ 20,000 319,000
	339,000
	174,833 319,000 493,833
	4,791,664

During the year, in June 2024, the charity signed an amendment agreement with UK Insurance Limited (Direct Line Group), which increased the total amount borrowed from UK Insurance Limited to £5,500,000. Following the drawdown of these additional funds, the Triodos Bank loan was repaid in full in June 2024.

The lending from UK Insurance comprises two facilities. Facility A being £3,000,000 at 0.5% interest per annum and Facility B being £2,500,000 at 3.5% interest per annum.

Interest on Facility A is payable annually in arrears. Interest on Facility B is first payable in August 2025, and thereafter annually in arrears.

Both facilities are secured over the land acquired by the charity by way of a first legal mortgage over the property and land at Witham Friary, a first fixed charge over any insurance claims, rent, contracts relating to the property, and all present and future goodwill and a first floating charge over all present and future chattels.

19. SECURED DEBTS

The following secured debts are included within creditors:

Triodos Bank UK Insurance Limited (Direct Line Group)	5,500,000 - 3,000,000 2,429,664 5,500,000 5,429,664 2025 2024 £ £	5,500,000 - 3,000,000 2,429,664 5,500,000 5,429,664 2025 2024 £ £
		5,429,664

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Notes to the Financial Statements continued

20. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS

			Net
			movement in
		At 1.4.24	funds	At 31.3.25
		£	£	£
UNRESTRICTED FUNDS
General fund		255,294	(108,052)	147,242
Designated - Land Fund		251,709	91,775	343,484
		507,003	(16,277)	490,726
RESTRICTED FUNDS
Esmee Fairbairn		-	595	595
Surveys		37,787	(37,787)	-
Projects for Nature		-	165,664	165,664
Benefact Consultancy		-	12,056	12,056
Awards for All		-	19,485	19,485
		37,787	160,013	197,800
TOTAL FUNDS		544,790	143,736	688,526
Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:
	Incoming resources	Resources expended	Gains and losses	Movement in funds
	£	£	£	£
UNRESTRICTED FUNDS
General fund	327,690	(435,742)	-	(108,052)
Designated - Land Fund	101,972	(10,197)	-	91,775
	429,662	(445,939)	-	(16,277)
RESTRICTED FUNDS
Esmee Fairbairn	73,561	(72,966)	-	595
Surveys	-	(37,787)	-	(37,787)
Movement for Good	15,000	(15,000)	-	-
Projects for Nature	166,430	(766)	-	165,664
Benefact Consultancy	35,050	(11,700)	(11,294)	12,056
Awards for All	20,485	(1,000)	-	19,485
Newby Trust	4,217	(4,217)	-	-
	314,743	(143,436)	(11,294)	160,013
TOTAL FUNDS	744,405	(589,375)	(11,294)	143,736

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Notes to the Financial Statements continued

Comparatives for movement in funds

		Net	Transfers
		movement in	between
	At 1.4.23	funds	funds	At 31.3.24
	£	£	£		£
UNRESTRICTED FUNDS
General fund	34,872	220,422	-		255,294
Designated - Land Fund	-	58,610	193,099		251,709
	34,872	279,032	193,099	507,003
RESTRICTED FUNDS
Land fund	193,099	-	(193,099)		-
Surveys	-	37,787	-		37,787
	193,099	37,787	(193,099)		37,787
TOTAL FUNDS	227,971	316,819	-	544,790

Comparative net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

	Incoming resources	Resources expended	Gains and losses	Movement in funds
	£	£	£	£
UNRESTRICTED FUNDS
General fund	270,480	(501,956)	451,898	220,422
Designated - Land Fund	65,122	(6,512)	-	58,610
	335,602	(508,468)	451,898	279,032
RESTRICTED FUNDS
Esmee Fairbairn	53,639	(53,639)	-	-
Surveys	39,065	(1,278)	-	37,787
	92,704	(54,917)	-	37,787
TOTAL FUNDS	428,306	(563,385)	451,898	316,819

Designated - Land fund

Use of the land fund is designated to the repayment of the loans taken out to purchase the land for rewilding purposes.

Esmee Fairbairn

The Esmee Fairbairn grant was received to be spent on salaries of three members of staff.

Surveys

Donations have been received to be spent on surveys.

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Notes to the Financial Statements continued

Movement For Good

The Movement For Good grant was received to be spent on the salary of one member of staff.

Projects for Nature

The Projects for Nature grant was received to be spent on the woodland regeneration project.

Benefact Consultancy

The Benefact Consultancy grant was received to be spent on consultancy costs for charity development research.

Awards for All

The Awards for All grant was received to be spent on the development of community facilities.

Newby Trust

The Newby Trust grant was received to be spent on the salary of one member of staff.

21. RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES

At the year end the total due to the charity from Heal Rewilding (Trading) Limited was £89,632 (2024: £104,751).

J Coulter provided services to the charity during the year, amounting to £7,087.

J Stannard provided services to the charity during the year, amounting to £10,100.

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Acknowledgements

All of these wonderful achievements were made possible by our incredible community of supporters, donors, volunteers, trustees, employees and advisors.

We’d like to acknowledge and thank the following individuals and organisations for their contributions to our work:

• To our Trustees for their wisdom and support: Cindy Gale, Donna Stimson, Jeremy Coulter, Jonathan Simnett, Piers Watson and Rob Quinn

• To our wonderful 2024-25 Heal team : Alice Hopkins, Caddy Outhwaite, Daniel Hill, Julia Galbenu, Katie Ross, Rosa Romeo, Ruby Batt and Sarah Winchester

• To Triodos Bank UK and Direct Line Group (UK Insurance Limited), our lenders, who shared our vision and made the acquisition of Heal Somerset possible

• To our Land Advisory Group for their knowledge and guidance: Alex Sams, Pete Cooper and Sara King

• To the dozens of Heal Helpers who undertook virtual and on-site volunteering tasks through the year

• To Heidi Briggs , who proofread this document as a volunteer

• To Esmee Fairbairn Foundation , whose funding has been vital to developing our charity, enabling us to create fundamental new roles

• To other grant-giving organisations who supported us with core funding or for key projects: Awards for All, Benefact Group, Big Give, Colbolt Trust, Hartswood Trust, Newby Trust

• To our business partners who so generously support us, particularly Caution Your Blast, Glastonbury Festivals, Greenwood Place, onboard:earth, Polar Capital, Sandler Training Cambridge, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, See Saw Films, Softcat, The Curious Network, Ticket Tailor, TT Environmental Solutions, Working Planet

• To our major donors many of whom choose to remain anonymous, whose support and confidence in us strengthen our ability to create meaningful impact and drive our mission forward

• To all the Heal 3x3 sponsors who helped us to continue to build our land fund

• To all Friends of Heal and individuals who donated throughout the year, you are the heartbeat of our giving

• To all supporters who made one-off donations and brightened our day every time one arrived

• To our compatriot rewilders from projects around the country, who contributed knowledge and experience which made all the difference

• And to Rewilding Britain , whose support has been unwavering since the earliest days and continues to be material in our work, particularly Rebecca Wrigley, Alastair Driver and Sara King

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Images

All images, with the exception of the front cover, were taken at Heal Somerset by staff or volunteers. Their descriptions are below:

Front cover: Bullfinch

Table of contents: View across Heal Somerset at Samhain

p.1 A message from the Chair of Trustees: Dusk chorus walk with Nick Patel,

p.2 A message from the Chair of Trustees: View across Heal Somerset at Imbolc, male silver-washed fritillary

p.3 Short-eared owl

p.4 About Heal: Heal Somerset in August

p.29 Trustees’ report: Female black-tailed skimmer (orthetrum cancellatum)

p.30 Trustees’ report: Beaver wetlands at Heal Somerset

p.31 Trustees’ report: Heal Somerset at dawn, from the film Heal the Land

p.32 Trustees’ report: Ruby tiger moth, acorn collecting

p.33 Trustees’ report: Male long hoverfly (sphaerophoria scripta), Heal Somerset in June

p.34 Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities: Wildlife walk at Into The Light

p.35 Report of the Independent Auditors: Thistles under a September super moon

p.37 Report of the Independent Auditors: Robin’s pincushion (bedeguar gall) on a wild rose p.53 Notes to the financial statements: Fox cub

p.55 Images: Beefsteak fungus on an oak tree

End page: Ticket and Tailor, Heal’s two Tamworth pigs

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[e-mail] 020 3355 2149

www.healrewilding.org.uk www.healsomerset.org.uk

Heal Rewilding