YOU ARE VIEWING ARTICLE - ID:20121211037

Title: Christmas Wildlife Appeal Gets Off to a Flying Start Author: Yorkshire Wildlife Trust  ID & Publication: 20121211037 ~ The-Villager.co.uk  Area: Yorkshire  Subject: Environment

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust launched an urgent fundraising appeal earlier this week and has been bowled over by the great response so far. Over £5,000 has come in towards a £16,453 target to support three projects that will help improve habitats for Yorkshire’s wildlife and also help visitors enjoy visiting some of the Trust’s key sites.

The Appeal was launched in the latest magazine received by Trust members this weekend; the immediate response by local members has been overwhelming. The Appeal is now being extended to general members of the public whose local areas will benefit from the work.

Jono Leadley, Director of Development is delighted:
‘It is such a tough time for everybody with price rises and the approach of Christmas so I am really touched that people have spared a little money to help Yorkshire’s wildlife.’

‘If we can hit our target of £16,453 we can release ten times the value from the Landfill Communities Fund, enabling us to do a huge amount of work. With less than a week gone we are almost a third of the way there.’

The Trust plans to improve the fabulous wildflower meadows at Wheldrake Ings near York, by putting in perimeter fencing to enable the land to be grazed in the autumn. This will provide optimum conditions for rare plant species such as great burnet, but will also help the birds that nest in the grasslands, such as curlew and lapwing.

Near Hull, the Trust’s celebrated North Cave Wetlands nature reserve will benefit from an improved entrance, with composting loos for visitors and a new viewing area so that people can enjoy a cuppa whilst watching the avocets and other wetland birds.

To the south of York, the Trust plans to work with landowners to improve a suite of limestone grasslands, benefitting several species of orchids and butterflies like the elegant marbled white.

However, this can only happen if the Trust hits its appeal target.

The Trust has applied to three grant schemes within the umbrella of the Landfill Communities Fund. If successful, the Trust must raise 10% of the value of the grants in order to release the funding. Therefore, for every pound the Trust can raise, ten pounds is released for wildlife.

If you would like to help Yorkshire Wildlife Trust this Christmas by making a donation to this exciting appeal, please telephone 01904 659570 with your credit card details or visit justgiving.com/investing-in-yorkshires-wildlife. Alternatively, send a cheque payable to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Appeal, 1 St George’s Place, York, YO24 1GN.

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