Charity Details

Action to Protect Rural Scotland

SC016139Registered charity from 01 March 1929

2MB ZIP file, with green, blue and mono style logos

Download the charity’s registration logos

2MB ZIP file, with green, blue and mono style logos

Notes:

This SCIO was incorporated on 26/01/2026 as a result of the conversion of a charitable company (Company number: SC154563, company name: THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF RURAL SCOTLAND)

Charity Information:

The Name the Charity is Known By APRS

Address Augustine United Church
41 George IV Bridge
EDINBURGH

Postcode EH1 1EL

Website www.aprs.scot

Regulatory Type Standard

Object:

The organisation’s purposes are: ● The advancement of environmental protection or improvement; ● The advancement of community development; and ● The advancement of education. And in furtherance thereof: ● To protect Scotland’s countryside and rural landscapes, including settlements and built heritage, for the benefit and enjoyment of the public and communities, ensuring that decisions on land use respect, safeguard and, where possible, enhance the character and qualities of countryside and rural landscapes; ● To promote the designation, conservation, and management of protected landscapes ● To provide support, advice, information, training, and a point of connection and coordination for community representatives, and individuals (in each case) on the above matters . ● To undertake, support and co-ordinate work in furtherance of the above. Including (without limitation) research, education, advocacy, and investigations. ● To take such other lawful action as shall be calculated to promote the above purposes.

Operations:

What the charity is set up to do and how it does this:

APRS is Scotland’s countryside charity. We campaign to protect, enhance and promote Scotland’s countryside and rural landscapes for everyone’s benefit, and we support others to do the same. We campaign with communities, on behalf of all landscapes, from the countryside surrounding the places where most people live, to the wilder more remote ones. The quality of people’s surroundings is central to their well-being, and the quality of Scotland’s countryside is of fundamental importance even to those who spend most of their time in towns and cities. We support communities and individuals to look after and make the most of their local landscapes and we believe that Scotland’s countryside has a key role to play in tackling the climate emergency, addressing the nature crisis and supporting the rural economy.

Charity Status: Active

Constitutional Form: SCIO (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation)

Constitutional Form Date: 26 Jan 2026

Previous Constitutional Form: Company (the charity is registered with Companies House)

Previous Constitutional Form Date: 01 Mar 1929

Main Operating Location: City of Edinburgh

Number of Staff: 4

Number of Volunteers: 1-50

Purposes: "the advancement of education", "the advancement of citizenship or community development", "the advancement of environmental protection or improvement"

Beneficiaries: "No specific group, or for the benefit of the community"

Types Of Activity Undertaken: "It carries out activities or services itself"

Annual Submissions:

Year End	Income	Expenditure	Annual Return Received	Accounts Received	Latest Annual Reports and Accounts
31 Dec 2021	£214,053	£140,789	01 Jul 2022	Yes
31 Dec 2022	£137,605	£158,024	28 Jun 2023	Yes
31 Dec 2023	£105,900	£233,651	30 May 2024	Yes
31 Dec 2024	£154,486	£164,440	04 Jun 2025	Yes	Visit Charity's Website
31 Dec 2025			No	Annual Information due by 30 Sept 2026
If an annual return has been received on time (within nine months of the Year End Date), the 'Annual Return Received' box is green . If an annual return is late, the box is red .

Income and Expenditure:

Charity Trustees:

First Name	Last Name
John	Esslemont
Graeme	Purves
Suzie	Saunders
Iain	Harrison
Andrew	Dorin
John	Thomson
Rebecca	Simpson
Robert	Reid
From 09 March 2026, OSCR is required by law to publish the names of a charity’s trustees as part of its Scottish Charity Register entry. We are also required to publish each charity’s annual report and accounts as received from this date, which may include the names of certain individuals. The only exceptions to publication are where a charity or one of its charity trustees applies for this information to be excluded, and OSCR is satisfied that publishing it would jeopardise the safety or security of a person or premises. If the charity trustee information on a Register entry appears blank, this may mean that an exemption applies or that the charity has not yet provided the required details to OSCR. Supplying this information will become mandatory as part of future annual submissions.

From 30 June 2025, OSCR began collecting charity trustee information through OSCR Online. Providing this information is a legal requirement for all charities. The names of trustees will be published on the Scottish Charity Register from early 2026 to promote transparency and strengthen public trust in the sector.

The Scottish Charity Register ("The Register") is subject to Crown database right.

The Scottish Charity Register is licenced under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

When you use this information under the OGL, you should include the following attribution: © Crown Copyright and database right 2020. Contains information from the Scottish Charity Register supplied by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator and licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0.

Charity accounts and constitution – what information do we publish?

The Scottish Charity Register contains key information about a charity’s operations and finances. This includes:

the names of a charity’s trustees (exemptions apply)
its annual report and full accounts, if submitted after 9 March 2026
(Accounts submitted prior to 9 March 2026 will be redacted, or may not be published, depending on the charity’s income level or legal form.)

These changes are designed to improve transparency across the charity sector in Scotland.

Please note that we accept no responsibility for the functionality, accuracy, or content of external websites. If you experience a technical issue with an external link, you should contact the charity directly.

Under section 23(1)(a) and (b) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, you have the right to request the following information directly from the charity:

a copy of the charity’s latest statement of accounts
a copy of the charity’s constitution

Back to Previous Page

Charity Number Copied to the Clipboard

Scottish Charity Register