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Don’t
drop the Marine Bill, Mr Brown
Halloween
Celebrations at Penwortham Education Centre!
The
Penwortham Environmental Education Centre Halloween
event is back by popular demand, and this year
it's even bigger and better!
The
events are taking place on Thursday 30th and
Friday 31st October, from 6.30pm - 8pm. The
evening is set to be a huge success, boasting
a spooky story to set the scene, followed by
an outdoor adventure through the haunted trail.
Who knows who you might meet?!
As
a special treat for those who are usually considered
too young for the event, the education centre
is also hosting a Hallowteenies Halloween party,
on Thursday 30th October 5.30-6.30pm, especially
for the under 7's.
All
events include a fancy dress competition and
indoor games to ensure everyone, young and old,
has a 'spooktacular' Halloween! For more information
about the event, or to book your place, contact
the Penwortham Environmental Education Centre
on 01772 751 110.
BRIAN'S
LUCKY DAY
Brian
Marsh was the lucky winner of a Rohan waterproof
jacket kindly donated by Outfit, at the Wildlife
Trust's volunteer conference. Brian attended
with his wife Lyn, as they are both enthusiastic
volunteers at the Trust's Mere Sands Wood Nature
Reserve near Rufford. Brian called at Outfit's
Southport showroom to collect his prize. (SEE
IMAGE - PHIL WHITAKER OF OUTFIT ON LEFT, BRIAN
MARSH ON RIGHT).
The
Conference took place at UCLAN in Preston and
all facilities were laid on by the university
at no charge to the Trust.
VOLUNTEER
CONFERENCE & AGM
4
October 2008
The
Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester &
North Merseyside reinstated their annual volunteer
conference on the 4th October 2008. The event
was held at the prestigious Harrington Building,
which is part of UCLAN in Preston.
UCLAN
very kindly agreed to let us use the building
free of charge for the day and the facilities
included a large lecture theatre as well as
rooms for our workshops.
We
had a wide and varied choice of workshops, which
included:
- Wildlife
Photography run by Jason Smalley of Wildscape
was "well presented and gave excellent
advice"
- Wildlife
Policing with Duncan Thomas, the Wildlife
Police Officer for Lancashire - "shocking
but compelling" was a quote by one of
the volunteers
- Sustainability
run by Charlie Jackson at the last minute
as our original speaker was taken ill, so
a big thanks to Charlie for "saving the
day".
- Slow
Worms run by Lorna Bousfield of Amphibian
and Reptile Group, South Lancashire.
- Living
Landscape a Local Perspective run by LWT staff
John Lamb and Dave Dunlop and gave the audience
a chance to try it themselves.
- Dragonflies
run by Graham Jones, a great quote said "gave
me the confidence to have a go".
- Lancashire's
Fabulous Ferns was run by Jennifer Newton
MBE and was extremely popular Jennifer brought
in a number of sample ferns to look at.
- Mosslands
run by Mick Weston and Martyn Walker again
of LWT, one of the comments received was "a
great double act"!!
- Sound
of Sopranos run by Sue Dunning of LWT and
Pat Waring of Ecology Services UK and was
enjoyed by all who attended.
- Tales
of the Riverbank given by our own Helen Laycock
which was said to have given "excellent
information on the species and their life
cycle".
The
event was well attended by both volunteers and
staff, with around 100 people enjoying the selection
of the workshops, lunch and at the end of the
day 'goody' bags with items having been donated
from our sponsors.
There
were various displays for the volunteers to
look at throughout the day and they had the
chance to see what was happening throughout
the trust.
Stephanie
Hilborne, CEO of the Royal Society of Wildlife
Trusts, came up from Newark to speak to the
volunteers on Living Landscape and said of the
event "the audience was great - upbeat
and responsive". Other speakers included
Tim Mitcham, who gave a Trust update and Graham
Jones who spoke about the new "Wildlife
Counts" project. Our trustees thought
that the AGM was really well attended and gave
a good overview of the year's developments.
We
would like to pass on our thanks to all of the
sponsors who helped make the day possible.
And
finally, a massive "thank you" to
our volunteers who attended on the day and made
it such a success.
Live
on Air!
The
Lancashire Wildlife Trust recently took to the
airwaves on the newly launched community radio
station, Preston FM.
The
Trust’s Wildlife After Schools project will
be spreading the word about wildlife! Their
show, The Wild Side, aims to educate Preston
FM’s listeners how their local wildlife can
be interesting and exciting.
The
first of the fortnightly shows went out live
on Monday 6th October and was packed with interesting
discussion topics, delivered in a fun and appealing
way. The soon-to-be trademark “Wildlife Quiz”
in the show challenges the hosts to test their
wildlife knowledge and invites listens to text
in the answers.
The
Wild Side is currently looking for guests, so
if you have an interesting story to tell about
wildlife, or maybe an interesting occupation,
then get in touch with the WASP team and tell
them why you should be a guest on their next
show! Call Dan on 01772 751138 or email dmcdermott@lancswt.org.uk.
To
listen to the show, tune in to 103.2 FM or listen
live at www.preston.fm between 4pm and 5pm on
20th October and 3rd November.
Bankers
escape the office!
Nine enthusiastic staff from the Royal Bank
of Scotland broke off their office shackles
on Thursday 18 September to muck in for wildlife
at Seven Acres Local Nature Reserve!
The
nine staff, from offices throughout the northwest
including Bolton, Horwich and Manchester helped
staff from Lancashire Wildlife Trust undertake
a number of practical tasks on Seven Acres to
help improve its value for the local community
and the resident wildlife.
Andrew Mather - Business
Support Consultant - Royal Bank of Scotland
One
of the tasks the group undertook was installing
a new seat overlooking a pond on the reserve.
The pond is a wildlife haven and has regular
visitors including the grey heron and kingfisher
and so will offer a great vantage point for
members of the community. The RBS staff also
installed a section of fencing alongside a series
of steps which will help make the path safer
for less mobile park users.
The
staff from RBS, normally used to managing projects
and providing business support really showed
their commitment for local wildlife by getting
knee deep in a smelly pond to clear back some
of the vegetation which has been reducing its
value for wildlife. The pond, which is home
to newts, toads and a range of dragonflies will
benefit immensely from the hard work which will
be great for school educational visits and site
users.
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Andrew
Mather, Julie Fennell, Stuart Unsworth of RBS
with James Hall of Lancashire Wildlife Trust
James Hall, Senior Project Officer for Lancashire
Wildlife Trust said, 'I was extremely impressed
with the work the group put in on the day. Despite
some of the work being really messy everyone
was really enthusiastic and it is great to see
companies allowing their staff to participate
in activities like these which will benefit
the local community'
Simon
Rother, RBS Manager at Bolton, said 'I had a
very enjoyable day - if a little hard work!
I have learnt more about conservation today
than in the last few years'
The
day was part of a scheme The Royal Bank of Scotland
deliver called Community Cashback Awards. In
addition to the volunteer efforts of the nine
staff, RBS also presented the Lancashire Wildlife
Trust with a cheque of £500 which will be used
to help improve Seven Acres Local Nature Reserve
as a community resource and a wildlife haven.
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