Origin from 2003
A UK-based Druidic organization notable as the first Pagan religious body granted charitable status by the Charity Commission for England and Wales, following a four-year application process.
Facts
Organisation
Distinguishing FeatureIts Charity Commission decision, running to roughly twenty-one pages, was the first time a UK regulator formally examined Druidic belief and practice in order to rule on its status as a religion, and it took four years from application to decision. 2 Scope NoteRuns Honouring the Ancient Dead, a programme developed with the Manchester Museum in England for the dignified treatment of human remains recovered from ancient archaeological sites in the United Kingdom. 1 Status
Legal StatusRegistered as a charity (Charity Number 1138265) on 21 September 2010 under the religious purposes heading, after the Charity Commission for England and Wales examined Druidic belief and practice directly and concluded it met the legal test for a religion. 2 Current Statusliving-tradition, continuing to operate as a registered charity in England and Wales. 2 Classification
ActivityWorship and Religious Practice 1 Origins
Origin Period FounderEmma Restall Orr, who founded the organization in February 2003. 1 History
Historical NoteApplied for membership in the Inter Faith Network in 2012 and was initially rejected; after two years of dialogue, including a 2012 House of Lords discussion, it was admitted on 29 September 2014 and became a full voting member on 19 October 2016. 1 Learn More
Four Years to Be Recognised as a Religion
English and Welsh charity law asks a genuinely difficult question of any new applicant claiming religious purpose: is this actually a religion, in the legal sense the Charities Act requires, or is it something else wearing religious language? The Druid Network put that question to the Charity Commission for England and Wales, and the regulator took it seriously rather than deferring to precedent, because there was no real precedent for a Druidic applicant.
Four years passed between application and decision. When the ruling came, on 21 September 2010, it ran to roughly twenty-one pages, working through Druidic belief and practice on their own terms rather than by analogy to a recognised faith, and concluding that Druidry met the legal test for a religion. The Druid Network was registered as Charity Number 1138265, the first Pagan organization to hold that status in England and Wales.
The significance was never really about tax treatment. A national regulator had formally examined a modern Pagan tradition's claim to be a religion and agreed, in a reasoned public decision rather than a quiet administrative nod, which gave later Pagan organizations a documented precedent to point to that had not existed before.
Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Founded By
Source Charity Commission for England and Wales, "The Druid Network" Decision (2010)Charity Commission for England and Wales
Present in Region
Founded in England in 2003 and recognised there as a religious charity in 2010.
Source The Druid Network (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Sources
1. The Druid Network (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, WikipediaIntroduction, accessed 2026-09-07
It was founded in February 2003 by Emma Restall Orr, and approved as a religious charity in the United Kingdom in 2010.
Organization section, accessed 2026-09-07
A major project of The Druid Network is called Honouring the Ancient Dead, a programme developed in cooperation with the Manchester Museum (U.K.) for the proper and dignified treatment of human remains at ancient archaeological sites in the United Kingdom.
Inter Faith Network section, accessed 2026-09-07
TDN was eventually admitted to The Inter Faith Network on 29 September 2014 and admitted as a full voting member on 19 October 2016.
Introduction, activity
is a British druidic (neo-pagan) organisation providing a source of information and inspiration about modern Druidic traditions, practices and their histories.
- Present in Region: England
View the Source 2. Charity Commission for England and Wales, "The Druid Network" Decision (2010)
Charity Commission for England and Wales, Charity Commission for England and Wales, 2010
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