Derbyshire's wildlife receives Lottery grant to boost recovery
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust has received a National Lottery Heritage emergency fund grant of £157,300. The funds throw the Middleton based organisation a lifeline as it manages the impact of the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
Supported through The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the project will help the Trust - which depends on membership and donations - to get back on its feet, reopen reserves, develop the popular volunteer programme safely and switch more activities online to help people stay in touch with wildlife.
When lockdown started, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust immediately lost much of their key income and nature-saving work was put on hold. Visitor centres including the newly refurbished Whistlestop Café at Matlock Bath closed immediately, most staff were furloughed and events were cancelled.
Where nature reserves remained open, lower levels of staffing combined with the warmer weather meant that some reserves including The Avenue County Park and Hilton Gravel Pits reserve suffered from antisocial behaviour such as littering and vandalism.
Jo Smith, CEO for Derbyshire Wildlife Trust said;
“This National Lottery Heritage Fund grant is a very welcome game-changer for us and a significant lifeline for the Trust during a worrying and very challenging time for us all. It will make a huge difference to the Trust and secure its future so we can get back to business saving and improving the fortunes of Derbyshire’s wild places and green spaces for wildlife and people who enjoy and depend on them.
Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said:
“Heritage has an essential role to play in making communities better places to live, supporting economic regeneration and benefiting our personal wellbeing. All of these things are going to be even more important as we emerge from this current crisis.
“Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players we are pleased to be able to lend our support to organisations such as Derbyshire Wildlife Trust during this uncertain time.”
Like Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, other charities and organisations across the UK that have been affected by the unprecedented impact of the coronavirus outbreak are being given access to a comprehensive package of support of up to £600 million of repurposed money from The National Lottery. This money is supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and span the arts, community, charity, heritage, education, environment and sports sectors.
Thanks to National Lottery players, £30 million is raised every week for good causes, including heritage of local and national importance. By playing The National Lottery, people up and down the country are making an amazing contribution to the nationwide-response to combatting the impact of COVID-19 on local communities across the UK.
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