Announcing Forest of Selwood as our 2026 – 2027 Charity Partner in Somerset
Photo: Steven Drewett
Announcing Forest of Selwood as our 2026 – 2027 Charity Partner in Somerset
Since Hauser & Wirth Somerset’s launch in 2014, the gallery has worked in partnership with 15 charitable organizations, institutions and local businesses across the South West of England. Each year, a new local charity is supported through visitor entrance donations and community events, providing a platform to promote ongoing initiatives and increase awareness to a broader audience.
From July 2024 – August 2026, Hauser & Wirth Somerset supported Good Company Bruton, a not-for-profit set up by and for the local Somerset community. Run entirely by volunteers, the organizations champions community projects that bring people together, including those that help Bruton’s most disadvantaged groups. During our two-year partnership, we have raised over £31,000 for the charity through visitor donations at the gallery and Da Costa, community programming, events and visits by appointment.
From September 2026 – August 2027, we are dedicating our support to the Forest of Selwood. Founded in 2020, the Forest of Selwood is a charity which aims to revive nature, reconnect people with the landscape and slow climate change through ecological initiatives. Their work is focused on restoring the Anglo-Saxon Forest of Selwood in Somerset and Wiltshire, an area rich in ancient trees, wildflower meadows and natural wetlands.
The charity enables actions by local communities, organizations and landowners through the Forest of Selwood Partnership to develop ambitious nature recovery projects across the local and historic landscape that mobilize people to achieve positive environmental change.
‘Our work shows that there is a great demand for nature recovery and reconnecting with the surrounding landscape. We have a growing number of farmers, landowners and local volunteers turning this vision into reality. Forest of Selwood’s partnership with Hauser & Wirth will fund more vital nature restoration projects and increase awareness of the fragile ecosystem we must protect.’—Charles Couzens, Chair of Forest of Selwood
Photo: Bob Gibbons
The Forest of Selwood’s 2026 – 2027 initiatives include:
The Dormouse Recovery Project—which surveys and improves the remaining strongholds for this critically endangered species by developing a network of volunteers and specialist ecologists to help discover the key sites for dormice, and connect them together along streams, hedgerows and woodland rides.
The Meadows Restoration Project—an initiative to restore 25 acres of wildflower-rich meadows by working with local voluntary groups to collect seed, sow and plant native wildflowers, and to enrich and recreate meadows that have disappeared from the landscape in the past century.
The Long Ham Meadow Nature Recovery Project—transforming a 15-acre site beside the River Frome to create a matrix of wet meadows, ponds and leaky dams to provide natural flood management and foster a resurgence of wild flowers, insects, water-loving birds and mammals.
In 30 years, the Forest of Selwood aims to see a nature rich landscape of regenerative farming, restored ancient wood pasture, species-rich grassland and floodplain woodland, all of which contribute to net zero through improved carbon capture and natural flood defences.
You can support our charity partner by donating online or when visiting the the gallery. Over the next year, we will be hosting several community events with Forest of Selwood, so sign-up to our newsletter for updates.
Photo: Steven Drewett
Photo: Patricia Stainton
Photo: Bob Gibbons
Photo: Patricia Stainton
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