Although the Hurtwood is owned by a few private landowners, the care of the Hurtwood’s 60 miles of trails and the 15 car parks and general safety of the public is the responsibility of the Friends of the Hurtwood, a small charity with the aim of maintaining the natural beauty and improving public access so that everyone can enjoy this much loved landscape.

The Friends do this with limited resources, through annual subscriptions from members and much needed donations from individuals and organisations and through small grants from the landowners and local authorities.

These donations are vitally important to enable the Friends to continue to maintain the standard of access that we all currently enjoy, and look to make improvements in the future.

Donations are used to support our Ranger, Mark Beaumont, in his work. They pay for his equipment and machinery, diesel fuel for his truck to allow him to patrol the trails, carry out clearance work, trail remediation and vital clean-up work that make the Hurtwood the attractive environment that we expect when we visit. Individual donations and member subscriptions that the Friends receive do not quite cover half of the cost of supporting Mark and his work. Currently we are fortunate that grants make up the shortfall so we are able to carry out essential maintenance work.

Donations in the past have made a significant contribution to the environment of the Hurtwood, with new ponds created to capture run-off and provide important wildlife habitat. Donations have supported the opening up of vistas, the creation of new trails and work to reveal the archaeological heritage of the hill forts on Holmbury Hill.

As well as donations, volunteering work by the local community offers enormous support to the Friends. Our Trustees are all volunteers, as are the teams of enthusiastic Friends who work to raise awareness and funds, as well as get their hands dirty on volunteer work days. Everyone is welcome to get involved, and we couldn’t do the work that we do without the enthusiastic people who volunteer their time for the benefit of the Hurtwood!

Can I help?

YES! You can become a Friend. Through your subscription, you will make a vital contribution to the work of the Friends of the Hurtwood, helping to maintain this precious part of Surrey for all to enjoy, Through becoming a Friend, you will be able to find out more about the Hurtwood and its wild inhabitants, become more in tune with the changes of the seasons and play an active part in maintaining it while making new friends through a shared love of the countryside.