Gloucestershire's Ernest Cook Trust boosts charitable spending by a fifth

More children than ever were helped to connect with nature in 2023/24 by Gloucestershire based education charity The Ernest Cook Trust, it was revealed.
The charity, which was started over 70 years ago and has estates across six UK counties, said more than 161,000 children and young people were supported one way or another by the trust in the financial year.
It also boosted its charitable spending in the period by a fifth, bringing the total spent on helping young people connect with nature to £3.6 million.
Headline figures also included that 1,138 grants were awarded, 2,930 individual children were supported via schools programmes and 745 learning sessions were delivered on Trust land.
The Trust also has ambitious plans to increase its support to £5 million by 2029.
"As both an educational charity and landowning organisation, we are well placed to help young people flourish through connections to nature," said Ed Ikin, chief executive.
"The stories behind these headline figures bear witness to transformations made possible as we continue to leverage the value of our assets - our investments, landholdings and people, together with carefully chosen partnerships that extend the reach and influence of our work."
Find out more HERE.