Gyles Brandreth is a former appeals chairman, chairman and currently vice-president of the National Playing Fields Association, now known as Fields in Trust: www.fieldsintrust.org. 

In 1986 as chairman of the Barn Elms Protection Association, Gyles visited Sir Peter Scott to trigger the creation of what became the London Wetlands Centre: www.wwt.org.uk/visit/london. 

Gyles has served on the appeals committee of what used to be called Action Research for the Crippled Child, now www.action.org.uk‎  He is the patron of PetSavers, a division of the British Small Animal Veterinary Association dedicated to improving the health of pets, providing vets with a better understanding of the illnesses that affect animals: www.petsavers.org.uk. 

He is the founder of the Poetry Together project which encourages young people and older people to learn poetry together: www.poetrytogether.com. He is a patron of the Polka Theatre for children in Wimbledon: www.polkatheatre.com, and an ambassador for the Old Sorting Office Arts Centre in Barnes: www.osoarts.org.uk and for the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond: www.orangetreetheatre.co.uk, as well as the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith: www.riversidestudios.co.uk

He is an active supporter of The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition. In 2020 he was appointed an inaugural ambassador of the Royal Commonwealth Society: www.thercs.org and in 2022 launched the Commonwealth Poetry Podcast which he co-hosts with his daughter, Aphra.

He is a founding trustee of The Queen’s Reading Room: www.royalreadingroom.uk

Other charities he supports include:

• Arthritis Research - see: https://www.rheumatoidarthritis.org/natural-solutions/

• Breadline Africa

• Christian Blind Mission

• Comic Relief

• Crohns and Colitis UK

• Ethiopiaid

• GOSH Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity

• Jennyruth Workshops - see: https://www.jennyruth.co.uk/

• Leuka – Leading Leukaemia Research

• Para Dance UK

• Rainbow Trust

• Re-act

• Say Aphasia Charity

• Smile Train

• Water Aid

• Waterloo Uncovered

• West London Churches Homeless

He is a patron, president or vice-president of a number of societies, including:

• Aphra Behn Society

• Barnes Music Festival

• Carnforth Heritage Centre

• The Friars' Club

• Friends of Tilling

• Jerome K Jerome Society

• The Lettering & Commemorative Arts Trust

• National Piers Society

• Oscar Wilde Society

• Queen's English Society

• Sarah Thorne Theatre, Broadstairs

In 1971, Gyles Brandreth founded the National Scrabble Championships. He is the president of the Association of British Scrabble Players: www.absp.org.uk

In 2023, Gyles became the first official patron for Schoolreaders, a charity providing primary schools with dedicated volunteers to support children’s reading on a one-to-one basis. With one in four children currently leaving primary school unable to read to the expected standard, this provision is vital for many children, particularly the most disadvantaged. Schoolreaders volunteers support more than 18,000 children each week. Reading is the gateway to learning which then opens up life chances.