The Don Hanson Charitable Foundation

Thank you for your interest in Don’s British charity.

The charity was established by Don Hanson in 2007 to support causes close to his heart and around geographical areas that had been a part of his life.

Here we showcase our two flagship projects within our Schools Program: Hanson Boxes and DARWIN200.

Hanson Boxes

From 2019 to 2024 the Foundation has proudly created and distributed educational ‘Hanson Boxes’ to 56,500 primary schools worldwide. Every UK primary school has received at least one box, and we are also proud to have sent Hanson Boxes to all schools across the UK Overseas Territories with thanks to the British Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office. Hanson Boxes are created at our facility in Poole, Dorset and they have also been delivered to thousands of schools in Australia and the United States with Canada and New Zealand next.

To June 2024, we have sent 38,000 Hanson Boxes in the UK, 16,000 to schools in Australia, and 2500 to schools in the USA free of charge to schools to support the education of the next generation.

We aim to produce a new set of custom-made resources each year, so that every round of Hanson Boxes we produce are new and exciting. To date, we have published over 25 high quality hardback books on a wide range of subjects including conservation, geography, history, archaeology, astronomy, poetry, English language, the UK Overseas Territories and more. Our Hanson Boxes also include lesson plans, fact sheets, posters, maps, DVDs, seed kits, insect hotel kits and competitions with exciting prizes.

Hanson Boxes are much loved and anticipated by schools who sign up for our free global ‘Schools Program’ to maintain real time contact and access to other offerings.

For more information please visit www.hansonbox.org
A short video is here.

DARWIN200 Voyages

The Foundation nurtured the DARWIN200 project from its genesis in 2019, leading to two trial voyages around the British Isles in 2020 and 2021 on the tallship Pelican of London in preparation for the first global two-year voyage in on tallship Oosterschelde which departed Plymouth in August 2023. DARWIN200 is a charitable and educational project that aims to change the world. The project’s primary goal is to train and empower two hundred young (18+) exceptional conservation leaders (known as ‘Darwin Leaders’). Each Darwin Leader undertakes a very focused training program in one of the ports Charles Darwin visited, and has to study and take part in the conservation of a chosen animal or plant species to produce a series of short films for broadcast worldwide. DARWIN200’s mission of educating global audiences in the conservation of nature is amplified through one hundred (weekly) ‘World’s Most Exciting Classroom’ events that are broadcast in partnership with Exploring By The Seat Of Your Pants and promoted to schools through the Foundation’s ‘Schools Program’.

The DARWIN200 project also covers specialised research projects carried out at key points during the global voyage, as well as community engagement initiatives in ports visited. Examples include planting 2500 trees with local students in Rio de Janeiro, donating free sailing places to underprivileged youngsters from the favelas of Brazil, documenting the marine life (for the very first time) of seamounts off the coast of Uruguay to support the establishment of a new marine reserve, offering the opportunity of visiting the Falkland Island to British Paratroop cadets and a 1982 Veteran to honour their regiment’s past, free day-sail trips and onboard science activities for over 150 local children in the Galapagos Islands, donating iPads and books to schools, giving lectures at schools and so on. As part of the DARWIN200 project, donations of US $1000 are sent to each of the conservation partners that collaborate to train Darwin Leaders. To date, over US$ 75,000 have been dispersed to conservation partners in this way. DARWIN200’s global mission to educate and raise conservation awareness has achieved amazing media interest – see here.

The Don Hanson Charitable Foundation
Charity number 1122463

Correspondence: Room 3, Rose House, 70 Barnes High Street, Barnes, London SW13 9LD, United Kingdom

Registered office: Linden House, Linden Close, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 8HH, United Kingdom