National Woodlands is structured as a Community Interest Company — which means our purpose, our governance and our finances are all aligned around delivering benefit for communities and the natural environment.
A Community Interest Company (CIC) is a legal structure specifically created for organisations that want to use business principles to deliver social or community benefit. It sits between a conventional business and a registered charity.
For National Woodlands, the CIC structure was a deliberate choice. We are not a charity dependent on donations for survival. We are not a business that must prioritise profit for shareholders. We are an organisation designed to generate activity, reinvest its resources, and grow its positive impact over time — in a way that is legally bound to the benefit of communities.
Our constitution includes an asset lock: this means that the assets and resources of National Woodlands can only ever be used for community benefit. They cannot be distributed to members or directors for private gain.
An asset lock is a legal requirement that prevents the assets of a CIC from being distributed to shareholders or directors for private benefit. Everything National Woodlands owns or earns must be used for its community purpose or transferred to another asset-locked organisation.
This is regulated by the CIC Regulator — an independent body within Companies House that oversees all Community Interest Companies.
We identify neglected, disputed, derelict or underused land through community referrals, our own research and public records. We assess each site for its potential community and ecological value.
We engage with all relevant parties — landowners, local authorities, community groups, funders and specialists — openly and in good faith. Our approach is always constructive, never adversarial.
Where appropriate, we work to secure the appropriate rights to use and manage land — through purchase, lease, licence, community right to bid or other legal mechanisms. We never occupy land without proper authority.
We restore woodland and green space with care — planting native species, improving habitat, removing hazards and creating long-term management plans informed by ecology and community need.
We open restored land to responsible community use through access management, education programmes, volunteering opportunities, heritage interpretation and wellbeing activities.
We build lasting stewardship arrangements — with local communities, councils and partner organisations — so that every site we restore remains protected, productive and accessible for the long term.
National Woodlands is funded through a combination of sources that reflect our community purpose. We do not rely on any single funding stream, and our model is designed to become increasingly self-sustaining as we grow.
Any surplus generated is reinvested into acquiring, restoring and managing more land for community benefit. This is not optional — it is written into our constitution.
