On encountering Dartington Hall for the first time, visitors are often surprised to find a remarkable collection of glorious historic buildings and gardens at the heart of the estate.
People are even more surprised when they find that, within these historic walls, an extraordinary range of artistic, educational and environmental activities take place throughout the year. Elsewhere on this website you can read about these activities, and about Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst – the visionary couple who were the founders of Dartington Hall in 1925
The legacy of inspirational activities, extensive art collection and glorious buildings left to us by Leonard and Dorothy is truly wonderful… but it was a gift that brought with it substantial maintenance needs and virtually no endowment with which to sustain the fabric and activities. Visitors to the estate today could be forgiven for assuming that Dartington is rich and has deep pockets from which to fund its activities. This is not so!
The Trust grants what it can to support the charitable activities, whilst, at the same time, maintaining a commitment to sustaining the fabric of this historic place for all to enjoy. However, there is not a deep well of money on which to rely, and all activities – from the smallest to the most ambitious – are run on surprisingly small budgets. They are assisted by the constant efforts of enthusiastic and loyal volunteers, supporters, funders and friends.
In order to ensure the future of the estate and its activities, the Trust has reviewed its approach to fundraising and is introducing new ways for supporters of Dartington to contribute their gifts. The first step has been to establish a number of Action Funds, the purpose of which is to raise income for the infrastructure and charitable activities of Dartington. The four Action Funds are:
The Arts Action Fund – which focuses on all the Trust’s Arts activities, including the work of Dartington Plus Dartington International Summer School Dartington Arts and the Craft Education Centre
The Ecology Action Fund – which covers all the ecological, environmental and conservation activities carried out on the estate, including the work of Schumacher College and the Woodlands and Conservation department
The Social Justice Action Fund – currently concentrating primarily on the work of Research in Practice
The Place Action Fund – which covers the activities and facilities at the heart of the estate, including its historic buildings and gardens, as well as the Trust’s archive and art collection
Click here if you would like to make a donation to one of the Action Funds
Click here to see a list of our donors
Click here to contact us. We would be delighted to talk to you about the numerous ways that you could support the charitable activities of The Dartington Hall Trust, or how you could help us to protect this historic place for future generations to enjoy
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The Dartington Hall Trust is a registered charity no. 279756. Company no. 1485560. Registered Office: The Elmhirst Centre, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EL United Kingdom. Telephone 01803 847000; Fax 01803 847007;