Cumbria Wildlife Trust

We’re very excited that Cumbria Wildlife Trust has been selected to participate in this year’s Big Give Christmas Challenge, the UK’s largest match funding campaign.

This means we have the chance to double your donation! This money will go towards our project to work with young people - the future of conservation.

Donations to this project given online via the Big Give will be matched (from 12noon on 3^rd December closing at 12 noon on 10^th December). Giving you the chance to double the impact of your donation.

What the money will help with

Young people leaving school don't always know how to access a career in nature conservation. Those who have gone to college or university to study a relevant degree often leave without practical experience. We are committed to passing on our skills and knowledge to this next generation of nature conservation experts.

We have the skills and knowledge to spend time with these young people to train them up on the job. In the time they spend with us they do an enormous amount to help wildlife conservation including things such as habitat restoration, research projects, habitat and species surveys and monitoring, running education activities, giving talks, leading walks and more!

The young people who spend a placement with us go on to spend an entire career protecting wildlife – just one of the reasons we are committed to supporting them.

Please will you help us to do this? https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a051r00001ObWvMAAV

If you would like to support our work with young people it’s a great opportunity as your donation will be doubled and will make twice the difference. To double your donation, it needs to be given online via the Big Give between 12noon on 3^rd December and 12 noon on 10^th December.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me at michellew@cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk or you can phone me on 01539 816300.

Finally, please pass on this message to anyone who you think might be interested in supporting us and having their donation doubled.

Many thanks, Michelle

Donations must be made online at theBigGive

You can vote here https://charityfilmawards.com/videos/get-cumbria-buzzing

We're delighted to announce that we're in the running for a national award in recognition of our #GetCumbriaBuzzing animation. The Charity Film Awards have selected our short film which is designed to raise awareness of the serious decline in the numbers of bees and other pollinating insects, and to inspire people to take positive action to create wildflower-rich habitats.

Tanya St.Pierre, Project Manager of Get Cumbria Buzzing, said: “We’re delighted to be in the running for this national film award! We’re working with partners to create 115 hectares of wildflower-rich habitat in Cumbria to help boost pollinators. The hope is the film will help to spread the word and encourage everyone to grow pollinator-friendly plants in their own backyard, garden and window boxes. The Charity Film Awards are a great opportunity to bring a national spotlight to a Cumbrian project. We would be delighted if people could please get behind us and vote for the film.”

The Charity Film Awards champion effective story-telling and digital engagement among not-for-profits in the UK. Simon Burton, founder of the Charity Film Awards, commented: “All the charities that have entered deserve to be congratulated, but they need more than thanks, they need votes! It’s simple for the public to vote for their favourite charity film and many voters also go onto donate. Nearly 10% of those who voted last year also made a donation.”

Voting closes on 1 December – but please don’t leave it until the last minute, VOTE NOW! https://charityfilmawards.com/videos/get-cumbria-buzzing

The first grey seal pup to be born this breeding season has been spotted at South Walney Nature Reserve near Barrow. The pup was seen on Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s seal cam, which live streams footage of the seal colony all year round.

This is the fifth year running that pups have been born on the island. The highest number of pups born was in 2017 when 10 pups were recorded.

Dr Emily Baxter, Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Senior Marine Conservation Officer says:

“We’re really excited to see our first seal pup of the season at South Walney Nature Reserve and we hope to have a few more pups appear over the next month or two. Sadly, we also spotted a still born pup, which is not uncommon in large seal colonies.

This seal colony is the only place that seals haul out in large numbers on to the beach in the North West and is a precious new colony that has grown rapidly over the last ten years. Staff, apprentices and our placement students are all involved in surveying the seals – it’s a real team effort. In February this year 483 seals were counted, the highest number yet.”

The success of the grey seal colony at South Walney Nature Reserve is not down to luck though, as Emily explains:

“Staff and volunteers at South Walney Nature Reserve have worked really hard to make sure the colony of grey seals is protected from disturbance from people and dogs, as the beaches are closed to the public. However, more and more we are seeing disturbance coming from kayakers and other boats coming too close to seals resting on the beach. When seals are disturbed, they flee into the sea using up important energy stores. It is especially important that mums and pups are not disturbed while mums are still feeding.”