The Wildlife Trusts have raised £28m for the £30m Rothbury Estate and Defra adds £1.94m. MP David Smith says the sale should complete by the end of October.
The Wildlife Trusts have raised £28m towards the £30m price of the Rothbury Estate, and a £1.94m government grant is meant to close the rest of the gap. The sale is expected to complete by the end of October, according to North Northumberland MP David Smith.
Updated 30 October: the purchase has now completed, with a loan bridging pledges still to arrive. Read our report.
His office set out the figures in a statement released on Friday 30 October. It says the £1.94m comes from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) “to close the final funding gap”. Together the two sums come to £29.94m.
What is being bought
According to the MP’s statement, the estate covers 4,000 hectares and includes:
- internationally important moorland and woodland
- 12 farms
- 23 homes
- a village pub
The statement says that when the estate went up for sale there were “real concerns it could be bought by developers and broken up”. The MP says the deal will create “one of the largest conservation areas in Britain” and give “long-term certainty for those who live and work on the estate”. He says he has worked with Defra ministers and officials throughout the campaign to make the case for government money.
What David Smith said
“The response from people across North Northumberland and far beyond has been incredible, from local residents and community groups to major donors and Sir David Attenborough. People have come together to protect a truly special landscape and secure its future for generations to come.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to create a landscape where farming, rural livelihoods and nature can thrive side by side. It will help safeguard the working farms and businesses that are such an important part of the estate, while opening up more opportunities for local communities and visitors to enjoy and connect with this remarkable place.
“I’m really pleased that the Government has helped to get this over the line. It’s a major vote of confidence in North Northumberland and I want to thank everyone who has worked so hard to make this happen, particularly Northumberland Wildlife Trust and The Wildlife Trusts.”
The grant, first announced on 25 October
The £1.94m is one of the largest single grants of the two-year appeal. When it was first announced, the charities said it would not be paid until after the deadline to complete the purchase at the end of October.
The Wildlife Trusts announced the grant on Sunday 25 October. It comes from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The charity says it was announced the day before at COP17, the UN biodiversity conference in Armenia.
The catch: the money comes later
The release says the government grant “and a number of other pledges will not be released until after the fundraising deadline”. So the charities are:
- still fundraising up to the deadline
- “exploring how low-interest loans could help the appeal to meet the target by the end of the month”
This fits what the trusts had already said. In September, Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s trustees agreed a low-interest loan could cover any gap between the money raised and the £30m price. A pledge that lands in November still has to be bridged in October.
Where the money has come from
The release names the biggest sources of the appeal so far:
- over £17m from individual donors since the campaign began
- £5m from the National Lottery Heritage Fund
- £1.94m from Defra
- “several other transformational donations” from funders and anonymous philanthropists, not itemised
The appeal page also says the charities have now received a £5m gift that an anonymous donor had pledged earlier.
Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, said the grant “will take us another step closer to realising our vision for one of the largest nature recovery projects England has ever seen”.
The release links the funding to the government’s 30by30 target, which calls for at least 30% of the world’s land and sea to be conserved by 2030. Defra’s 30by30 report, published the same day, does not mention Rothbury, and we found no Defra announcement of the grant on GOV.UK.
How close is the total?
The charities have not published a new total with the grant included.
- On 16 October, Northumberland Wildlife Trust said the appeal had raised more than £28m.
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On Tuesday 27 October the appeal page counter read £27,122,801 of the £30,000,000 goal, from 24,251 supporters.
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On Friday 30 October, David Smith’s office put the total raised by the trusts at £28m, with the Defra grant on top.
The trusts’ own release of 25 October said the appeal “enters its final week” still short of the money in hand, and that loans could bridge pledges paid after the deadline. Neither the MP’s statement nor the charities have said how much, if any, will be borrowed.
What it means for you
Donations are still being doubled. A £150,000 match fund, set up by three donors on 16 October, runs until the purchase completes at the end of October. The appeal page says gifts made there are doubled. September’s match campaign raised more than £1.6m.
A pound given now is a pound less borrowed. That has not changed since the loan was agreed.
If the purchase fails, the money stays local. The appeal page says that if the estate cannot be bought in full, funds raised “will go towards nature’s recovery in the Simonside Hills and surrounding areas”. The trusts already own Simonside, bought in October 2024.
How to give. Online at the appeal page, by cheque to the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts at The Kiln, Mather Road, Newark NG24 1WT, or by bank transfer using the account details on the same page. Northumberland Wildlife Trust is registered charity number 221819.
The estate covers 9,486 acres of moorland, woodland, rivers and farmland around Rothbury, according to the charity. Cragside, just outside the town, belongs to the National Trust and is not part of the sale. Our earlier reports: the £9m gap in August and the £5.5m week.
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