About the organisation
The Gardens Trust is the only UK charity dedicated to protecting and conserving our heritage of designed landscapes. We campaign for them, undertake research and conservation work, and encourage public involvement. More information is at www.thegardenstrust.org
We are a statutory consultee in the English planning system. This means that we are consulted on planning applications affecting the parks, gardens, cemeteries and other designed landscapes on the Register of Parks and -Gardens of Special Historic Interest. The Gardens Trust's part-time conservation staff provide constructive advice in response to consultations from local planning authorities, working closely with the County Gardens Trusts' volunteers to benefit from their local expertise and knowledge. This role is currently being reviewed by Government, making 2026 an interesting and pivotal time to be involved in the Gardens Trust.
We run volunteer support for the 35 County Gardens Trusts and others to ensure that our professional national expertise can benefit from substantial local support and expert contributions. This work enables County Gardens Trusts to be resilient and proactive in their work helping conserve historic designed landscapes, including through commenting on planning applications, and through research and recording.
We manage the Gardens Trust Community Grant scheme, in 2025 making £9300 available to volunteer projects at historic parks and gardens. We also give an annual Volunteer Award, presented at a special Volunteering Celebration event.
We publish the leading international journal, Garden History, as well as the GT Magazine and monthly GT News email bulletin. We are active on social media: Instagram, YouTube, X, Facebook, LinkedIn and TikTok. We also award the annual Mavis Batey Essay Prize, and convene the New Research Symposium.
In 2025 we published Harnessing Parks and Gardens in the 21st Century: How historic landscapes can support and enhance our today and tomorrow, which highlights the essential role that historic parks and gardens play in addressing key challenges of our time such as communities' health and wellbeing, social cohesion, climate change and nature recovery.
Over 10,000 attendees participate in GT online events, training and lectures annually, including people from other heritage or professional organisations.
Projects have included Green Futures, a Historic England funded project researching historic parks, gardens and designed landscapes in the East of England potentially affected by future infrastructure developments (NSIPs); Unforgettable Gardens, which sought to draw attention to the value of all historic designed landscapes whilst recognising their vulnerability and the role volunteers can play in protecting their future; Compiling the Record, which researched under-recognised 20th century landscapes; Celebrating Repton, a collaborative project to mark the bicentenary of Humphry Repton; Sharing Repton to bring historic landscapes to new audiences; and the Capability Brown Tercentenary celebrations to raise awareness of this great designer.
Our Impact Reports are at https://thegardenstrust.org/what-we-do/our-impact/
About the role
We have taken steps to make this role as straightforward as possible: our new Treasurer will have monthly accountancy support from our accountants and we have set up a QuickBooks system for easy information capture.
The Treasurer will need to attend Board meetings 4 times a year, by Teams. They will be required to interpret the accountant's management accounts for, and prepare new budgets with, the Board.
The Treasurer will attend Management Committee meetings 12 times a year, again by Teams. The Treasurer will need to update the committee on management accounts and progress with draft budgets.
For the AGM and reporting, the Treasurer will issue a Treasurer's report, preparation of which will be done in partnership with our accountants. They will also, with the Secretary, be responsible for filings at the Charity Commission, Companies House and HMRC.
The Treasurer will be a second, supervisory, signatory on our banking and investment mandates. Strategic decisions regarding banking and investments will be taken at Board level.
The Treasurer will work closely with and delegate to our paid Finance Officer. They will also work on specific projects as needed, such as financial modelling.
Our ideal candidate
The ideal candidate needs to be good at numbers and ideally have knowledge of charity financial procedures and the reporting requirements of the Charity Commission, SORP and Companies House. We're looking for someone who:
- is able to report financials clearly to the board, so that there is transparency and a clear understanding of our financial position;
- has experience of the financials of the grant-making process and charitable institutions;
- is able to interpret the accounts and provide future financial planning to demonstrate opportunities for growth and development.
They do not need to be an accountant, nor an expert in garden history. We are hoping to find someone:
- with a desire to support a small established organisation that is committed to protecting and conserving our heritage of designed landscapes;
- with a willingness to learn and adapt their existing skills to our need;
- who is skilled in managing investment relationships.
What’s in it for you
This is an exciting time to join the Gardens Trust. We are ambitious to be dynamic and impactful in helping protect and share historic designed landscapes for this and future generations. With the Government striving to overhaul the planning system there is a fresh impetus to be bold in developing and implementing our vision for historic designed landscapes in delivering social, economic and environmental benefit for all, and we have a key role to play. We are a growing organisation, with an energetic and keenly motivated team of Trustees, volunteers, members, supporters and staff, carrying with us 36 County and Country Gardens Trusts too. However, we are operating in increasingly challenging times, with decreasing public funding, shifting governemnt policies, and an increasingly stretched volunteer workforce. We are starting work on our 2027-30 Business Plan and have new Audience Development and Fundraising Strategies - we are energised for the future.
This is an important and rewarding role, facilitating the Gardens Trust's work conserving and sharing historic designed landscapes. The new Treasurer will work closely with the Chair and other Trustees to oversee the financial managment of the charity and advise on strategic matters during its current period of change and development. We are a welcoming and friendly bunch and are looking forward to sharing our passion for and knowledge of historic parks and gardens with you. Come and join us!
Apply for the role
Please provide a short cover note setting out your motivations for volunteering for the organisation, any relevant skills/experience and why you think you might be a suitable candidate.
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