Save An Owl For £1
Campaign News

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• Photograph courtesy Brian Sherwen
• Left to Right: Trystan Williams, Tony Warburton, Clive Mojonnier, Freda Hitchen,
  Keith Hitchen (Mayor of Copeland), Eric Robson, Barbara Powell

Our long awaited ‘SAVE AN OWL FOR £1’ campaign was launched on 2nd June by TV and Radio personality Eric Robson (who very appropriately just happens to be a local farmer as well as the Chairman of the Cumbria Tourism Partnership, and Chairman of ‘Gardener’s Question Time’) in the presence of the Mayor and Mayoress of Copeland Borough Council, Keith and Freda Hitchen. On behalf of the Tourism Partnership, Eric was kind enough to launch the Appeal with the first donation of £100 – a flying start representing 100 successful appeals for the £1 donations we are seeking. We would like to express our sincere thanks to Eric, Keith and Freda for honouring us with their presence and supporting this vital initiative. We were also delighted to welcome a number of people who have already worked with the Trust in implementing the practical conservation work this project necessitates. Grateful thanks are therefore also due to them.

Disappointingly, despite many invitations being sent out, the media, both local and national, were conspicuous by their absence on the day, though this was rectified to some extent in the days and weeks which followed. Unfortunately, we had chosen a day when the arrival of the Queen in West Cumbria, a fatality in the Lakeland mountains, and Muncaster’s own ‘Fools Week’ meant that the attention of the media was understandably diverted away from owls and habitat restoration.

SUPPORTERS The Lord Forteviot – major donation.
Cumbria Tourism – major donation.
Border Fine Arts, Langholm – two superb Barn Owl sculptures; one for a raffle, one for display, plus a splendid article in their ‘collectors’ magazine, The Borderer.
‘Wild Owl’ (Ian McGuire) – major donations collected at lectures.
Ulverston Victoria High School – major donations (with special thanks to teacher and WOT member Grahame Smith).
Cumbria Waste Management Environmental Trust – major grant for Carlisle Community Owls Project.
The Ptarmigan Trust – major grant for production of leaflets.
Child-Beale Trust (Beale Wildlife & Animal Park, Basildon, Berks.) – major donation.
NFU Mutual Insurance Society Ltd. – Sponsorship.

We would also like to thank all those members and supporters (too numerous to name individually) who have responded to our Appeal by making donations.

PUBLICITY & COVERAGE TO DATE (OCTOBER) BBC TV North-East
Daily Express (National)
Evening Mail (Local)
Westmorland Gazette (Local)
Evening News & Star (Local)
Bird Watching Magazine
Cage & Aviary Birds
Friends of the Earth website
Border Fine Arts (‘The Borderer’ collectors magazine)
‘Animals & You’ Magazine

If you can help us to get more publicity for our campaign, do please contact the office (01229 717393) or to E-mail us:

SHOWS ATTENDED WITH WOT GAZEBO TO PUBLICIZE THE ‘SAOF£1’ CAMPAIGN & RAISE FUNDS Hatfield House Arts & Crafts Fair, Herts. (3 days)
Prestwich Clough, Manchester.
Eskmeals Gun Range Open Day, Cumbria.
Gosforth Show, Cumbria.
Grasmere Show, Cumbria.
Oldham Woodland Fair, Lancs.
Egremont Crab Fair, Cumbria.
Fleetwood Steam Rally, Lancs.

Thanks to all staff and volunteers who manned the gazebo at the above venues.

WE ARE GRATEFUL TO THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE WHO HAVE VOLUNTEERED THEIR HELP IN PRACTICAL WAYS Trees & Shrubs
Mrs Borthwick, Workington, Cumbria – 9 oak trees in pots.
Jenny & Tony Warburton – various pots of trees and shrubs.

We urgently need schools, Groups and individuals to grow hedgerow trees and shrubs for hedgerow creation and restoration. If you can help in this way, please contact the office (details as above).

Nest Box Making
Fred Johnson, Whitehaven, Cumbria.
Lesley Flood (Group), Ambleside, Cumbria.
H.T. Wrighton, Colwyn Bay. (Special thanks for offer to pay for materials).
Mike & Carole Gregory, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria.
Jim Miller, Ulverston, Cumbria.

We need more nest box makers, erectors and monitors from outside Cumbria. Can you help? We would especially welcome the involvement of Schools, Barn Owl, Conservation, Community and Youth Groups in other counties. We know you are out there, so PLEASE get in touch!

WHAT HAVE WE ACHIEVED SO FAR? 25 tree seedlings planted out at Santon House, Cumbria, by Capt. Shaw’s Primary School children. (Thanks to Alan & Judith Jeffrey for permission to carry out this work on their private nature reserve, and to their daughter and School Governor, Trudy Harrison for making the arrangements).

25 tree seedlings planted out around Capt. Shaw’s Primary School playing fields at Bootle Village, West Cumbria. (Thanks again to Trudy Harrison and Helen Webber, former Head Mistress of the School).

Linking of ‘SAOF£1’ with the People’s Trust for Endangered Species project ‘Hedgerows for Dormice’. Details to follow.

3 Barn Owl boxes erected on the MOD Gun Range, Eskmeals, Cumbria.

10 Barn Owl boxes erected in the Rusland Valley, South Cumbria.

Many requests for Site Visits for assessment of habitat suitability for nest box erection, hedgerow creation and wildlife corridors on-going.

5.5 acres of wildflower meadows created and 1.5 acres of conifer wood being converted to native deciduous wood at Monk Moors Meadows, Cumbria.

The ‘Stirk House Project’ created on 20 acres of grassland and mature woodland, with c.3,000 young native trees planted in 2007. Situated in the Grounds of the Stirk House Hotel, in Gisburn, Lancashire, within the historic Ribble Valley. Project courtesy of Mr Paul & Mrs Anne Caddy. Details to follow.

Liaison with Alan & Judith Jeffrey, to enhance their private nature reserve for all forms of wildlife at Santon House, West Cumbria.

We would welcome any opportunity to link this project with others being run by conservation NGO’s such as the RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts, Butterfly Conservation, Plantlife, British Trust for Ornithology, Hawk & Owl Trust, Barn Owl Conservation Network, Woodland Trust, and Mammal Society, etc.

Lune Rivers Trust The Lune Rivers Trust is a Charity dedicated to the protection, conservation and regeneration of the River Lune, its many tributaries and its bankside habitat. In recent years the group have created more than 30 habitat sites covering 50km of river bank in vulnerable areas. This in turn has created many suitable hunting areas for species such as the Barn Owl.

Through the ‘Save an Owl for £1’ funding we have been able to contribute to the erection of 10 Barn Owl boxes, in and around this habitat, and hope to work closely with the Lune Rivers Trust in the future.

To visit the Lune Rivers Trust click here

To make a donation to the Save An Owl for £1 appeal - click here

WORLD OWL TRUST
The Owl Centre
Muncaster Castle
Ravenglass
Cumbria. CA18 1RQ
United Kingdom

Telephone: (+44) (0)1229 717393
FAX: (+44) (0)1229 717107
E-mail: here

World Owl Trust Registered Charity Number: 1107529 Limited Company Number: 5296745

The World Owl Trust is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA). The Trust relies on a dedicated membership, visitors, donations and legacies.