The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity and our mission is to be the leading organisation demonstrating excellence in horticulture and promoting gardening.
Our charitable purpose is: “the encouragement and improvement of the science, art and practice of horticulture in all its branches”.
Our strategy
To enable us to deliver our charitable purpose, we have adopted the following strategic aims that underline and build on our commitment to horticultural excellence.
To bring the joy of gardening to the lives of a significant number of UK children
Gardening adds to the health, wellbeing and general quality of life for everyone and we recognise that getting young people involved in gardens and gardening is central to our role as an educational charity. They are the horticulturists and gardeners of tomorrow; they are also our future members. Engaging with children also has the benefit of introducing them to the importance of their environment and their place within it.
To transform our environmental performance, credentials and culture
Issues of sustainability and resource consumption are foremost in the minds of UK gardeners and we consider it essential for the RHS to reflect this, represent these concerns and provide relevant advice on how gardening can meet the challenge and help tackle the causes of climate change.
To achieve a substantial growth in membership
Membership is the most effective way we can bring gardening to as many people as possible and share our passion for plants, gardens and gardening. It enables us to continue to be the recognised voice of UK horticulture and gardening and provide us with the resources that we need to deliver our charitable purpose.
In order to sustain and deliver these aims, we have identified the following additional goals.
To build a range of audiences
Increasing our presence in UK horticulture and gardening by enhancing our relevance and offering is essential to widening our beneficiaries and growing our ability to deliver public benefit. We also recognise the need to engage with and provide access to those groups who, for whatever reason, would not usually come into contact with the RHS and our work.
To deliver financial performance targets
Our strategy can only be delivered if we are able to increase our income, generate efficiency savings and ensure value for money.
To sharply improve ways of working.
We continue to simplify our governance and decision making arrangements and strengthen our business planning and performance management capabilities. Developing our staff and communications – both internal and external – will also be key to our future success.