Press Release Archive: Wednesday 06 April 2011
Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust celebrates 25,000 members
The county’s leading conservation charity has passed a milestone with 25,000 supporters from Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and North-East Lincolnshire.
Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust Chairman, Sir John Mason, said: "This is a fantastic achievement, especially considering the current financial situation. We are extremely grateful to all our members; it’s only through their support that we are able to undertake the work we do. It illustrates that people value wildlife and are willing to take part in helping to protect it."
Support from more than 25,000 members enables the Wildlife Trust to protect over 3,500 hectares of the county’s finest countryside on almost 100 nature reserves, to educate and inspire 11,500 school children every year, and to campaign for wildlife conservation and influence decision makers.
As a charity, the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust relies on the generosity of the general public. Those who support Wildlife Trust through membership are making a direct and positive contribution to safeguarding Lincolnshire’s precious wildlife and wild places. Members also receive a magazine three times a year, which is packed with local news, project updates and features; opportunities to get involved locally through a network of 16 area groups; an events programme; and details of nature reserves across the county. In addition, family members also receive magazines, a wildlife watchers handbook, wildlife stickers and other goodies specifically for children.
To find out more and sign up to support the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust visit our membership pages. |
Notes to Editors
1. Sir John Mason joined the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust Board in 2007 and became chairman in 2010. He has been Senior Partner in the Solicitors’ Practice of Mason Baggott and Garton whose main office is in Scunthorpe since 1978.
2. Support of the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust through membership enables funding to be secured and work to be carried out from the Humber to The Wash.
2.1. In Scunthorpe, the Trust has 1,140 members (parliamentary constituency). Although urban, fragments of rare heathland remain. The UK possesses approximately 20% of the world’s total area of lowland heathland, but it only has a sixth of the heathland it had 200 years ago. Since 2003, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust has been working in partnership with other organisations to restore and re-create the heathlands. Heritage Lottery Fund and Aggregate Levy funding has now finished, but partners are maintaining heathland that has been restored.
2.2. In Lincoln, the Trust has 4,230 members (parliamentary constituency). Lincoln is a biodiversity hotspot: its wetlands, waterways, commons, parkland and woods provide people with natural green space for a wide range of outdoor experiences and activities. The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust is working in partnership to create a country park from central Lincoln to the surrounding countryside. The core area will include Whisby Nature Park, Boultham Mere and Tunman Wood, Hartsholme Country Park and Swanholme Lakes. People and wildlife will be able to make best use of the varied landscape, including restored mineral workings and ancient woodlands.
2.3. In Grimsby and Cleethorpes, the Trust has 1,470 members (parliamentary constituencies of Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes). The Humber Estuary is the country’s largest port complex but also a world-class wetland. On the banks of the Humber estuary is the Trust’s flagship Far Ings National Nature Reserve. Here, the Trust has a successful track record in providing environmental education at our Far Ings National Nature Reserve. This gives a unique opportunity for hundreds of children from urban areas to gain first-hand experience of the natural world and our place within it.
2.4. In South Holland and the Deepings, the Trust has 1,620 members (parliamentary constituency). The Trust leads the South Lincolnshire Fenlands Partnership, which aims to restore and re-create up to 800 hectares of wild fenland between Pinchbeck and Baston. Working with landowners, farm tenants, the mineral industry and local communities, the project is seeking to create a sustainably managed landscape in which wildlife and people will thrive. The recent acquisition of 114 hectares at Willow Tree Fen will result in a 200% increase in fenland – a significant step towards this long-term vision. Flocks of lapwing are already homing in on the new wetlands.
3. The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust is dedicated to the conservation of wildlife and wild places throughout the historic county of Lincolnshire – from the Humber to the Wash. The Trust is Lincolnshire’s leading nature conservation charity with over 25,000 members and around 100 nature reserves. The Trust is a member of a nationwide network of 47 local trusts which work to protect wildlife - The Wildlife Trusts.
www.lincstrust.org.uk
4. The Wildlife Trusts. There are 47 Wildlife Trusts across the whole of the UK, the Isle of Man and Alderney. We are working for an environment rich in wildlife for everyone. With more than 800,000 members, we are the largest UK voluntary organisation dedicated to conserving the full range of the UK’s habitats and species, whether they be in the countryside, in cities or at sea. 150,000 of our members belong to our junior branch, Wildlife Watch. We manage around 2,300 nature reserves covering more than 90,000 hectares; we stand up for wildlife; we inspire people about the natural world and we foster sustainable living.
www.wildlifetrusts.org
For further information please contact
Rachel Shaw, Public Relations Officer
Tel: 01507 526667 (ansaphone out of office hours)
Fax: 01507 525732
Email: Rachel Shaw
Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
Banovallum House
Manor House Street
Horncastle
Lincolnshire LN9 5HF
Website: www.lincstrust.org.uk
