The two Cornwall charities Heligan has chosen for 2026

One of them spends more than a million pounds a year on animals nobody else wanted. The other sits with people on the days when their own head is the hardest place to be. Both have just been picked by one of Cornwall’s best-known gardens to carry its fundraising through to the end of the year.

The two names on the list

The Lost Gardens of Heligan has announced that RSPCA Cornwall Branch and Cornwall Mind will be the charities it supports for the rest of 2026. The gardens describe both as carrying out essential work across the county, one on animal welfare, the other on mental health and wellbeing.

Picking a cause is not new here. The gardens have backed local charities since they opened to the public in 1992, and say tens of thousands of pounds have been raised in that time. Each year the team chooses who to get behind.

David Harland, chief executive of The Lost Gardens of Heligan, said the gardens believe in supporting “causes that make a lasting difference”. He said both organisations change the lives of people and animals in the community, and that Heligan wants to help raise awareness of the services they provide.

Cornwall Mind and the everyday side of mental health

Cornwall Mind works with people across the county to improve their mental health and wellbeing. Its services include one-to-one support, wellbeing groups, peer support and community activities, aimed at helping people build resilience, find coping strategies and feel less cut off from everyone around them.

The charity describes what it offers as safe, welcoming and non-judgemental spaces, where people can get practical help and sit with others who understand what they are dealing with. Its position is that nobody should have to face a mental health problem alone.

Paul Reeve, chief executive of Cornwall Mind, said the charity can only have the impact it does because of the support of local communities. He called the awareness the partnership will bring “incredibly valuable”, pointing to how many residents and visitors pass through the gardens.

The RSPCA branch that has to find £1 million a year

Plenty of people assume the RSPCA in Cornwall is an arm of the national organisation. It is not. RSPCA Cornwall Branch is separately registered, independent and self-funded, and every year it takes in hundreds of neglected, abandoned and unwanted animals, covering veterinary treatment, behavioural support and rehoming.

The work goes wider than the animal centre. The branch runs a community welfare scheme offering advice, support and education to pet owners, a Young People’s Project that helps young people build compassion and empathy while working through obstacles of their own, and a wildlife garden that shows visitors why wildlife needs space of its own.

All of that costs more than £1 million a year, and almost all of it has to be raised locally. The branch says every donation made through the Heligan partnership stays in Cornwall.

Emily Bowen, chief executive of RSPCA Cornwall Branch, said Heligan’s commitment to nature, conservation, education and community reflects many of the branch’s own values. She pointed to the gardens being dog-friendly as a natural fit for raising awareness of animal welfare across the county.

What happens next

How the money will be raised has not been spelled out yet. Heligan says updates on the fundraising and awareness work will follow over the coming months, so anyone visiting the gardens at Heligan can expect to see the two charities appearing around the site through the rest of the season.

Other Cornish charities hoping for support can apply through Heligan’s own donation request form, which sits on its charity partnerships page along with the address to send it to.

For the RSPCA branch, a partnership does not change the arithmetic. The animal centre and the welfare services still cost over £1 million every year, and almost all of that has to come from Cornwall itself.

📷Credit: The Lost Gardens of Heligan