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About Us

NHSN is a voluntary organisation run by its membership. With your support, volunteers make a difference for nature, from the Tees to the Tweed.

Restoring North East Nature

Restoring North East Nature is NHSN’s plan to grow and widen public support to help tackle the climate and ecological emergency that threatens our region’s wildlife and wild places.

Thanks to your membership and support, NHSN will engage many more people each year throughout the region to restore North East nature. Find out more below.

Take a Look

Annual Report 2023/24

Thanks to our fantastic members, volunteers and supporters, 2023/24 was a great year in the long history of NHSN. Find out more by downloading a copy of our Annual Report below.

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Equity Policy

NHSN is committed to treating all people, inside and outside the organisation, with fairness and respect. NHSN strives to reach beyond its legal responsibilities to achieve and promote equity. Find out more by downloading a copy of our equity policy.

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Our Purpose

Inspiring wonder and collective action in all aspects of North East natural history through the delivery of high-quality communications, events, lifelong learning, citizen science, Gosforth Nature Reserve and a regional natural history archive & library.

Our Values

  • We’re locally focussed
  • We’re welcoming to all
  • We help each other
  • We inspire wonder
  • We encourage learning

The North East is home to spectacular wildlife and wild places. But a climate and ecological crisis, caused by human activities, is threatening the region’s natural environment.
There is so much to protect and restore back to a healthier environment. We still have time to turn things around if enough people get involved and take action for nature.

Clare Freeman, NHSN Director

NHSN Annual Report and Financial Statements

Below, you can download a copy of this year’s NHSN Annual Report and Financial Statements.

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Governance

NHSN is a registered charity with around 2,800 members. NHSN’s membership runs the organisation through an elected Council. Elections are held at an Annual Meeting which normally takes place during the winter months. Members of Council are elected for a term of 3 years.

Council meets three times per year and is NHSN’s key decision-making body although it has established a number of Committees to focus on particular areas of work, such as the running of the nature reserve or the library.

Members of Council are also Trustees for NHSN and as such are responsible in law for the NHSN’s organisation and activities.

Constitution

The rules by which the NHSN conducts its business are set out in our CIO Constitution. You can read this here.

Financial Accounts

NHSN submits its annual financial statements to the Charity Commission and these can be viewed on the Charity Commission website. Our annual financial statements are independently examined by an accountant and made available to our members. NHSN’s financial year starts on 1st August.

Charitable Objectives

NHSN was registered as a UK charity in 1963 and our charitable objectives include:

  • The encouragement by every means of the study of natural history in all its branches
  • The protection of the local flora and fauna
  • The maintenance and extension of the Society’s library and collections
  • The publication of ‘Transactions’ and other scientific papers
  • The organisation of lectures, discussions and field meetings and co-operation with other scientific societies or associations with similar objectives

NHSN shall also encourage the establishment of sections for the purpose of studying botany, geology and zoology and such other subjects as may from time to time be approved by the Council of the Society.

Registered charity number:1204306

AGM Minutes

Please click here to read the minutes from NHSN’s 2025 AGM.

Our Promise to You

Our supporters and volunteers are at the very heart of what we do. Our Supporter Promise sets out exactly what you can expect when dealing with NHSN.

Our Supporter Promise›

Our Story so Far

For almost two centuries, the passion and enthusiasm of NHSN members has made a difference for North East nature.

A community for people of all interests, backgrounds and experience levels, you can now explore the history of NHSN in a new interactive timeline.

Explore the history of NHSN›