Christmas is a time for sharing, so we wanted to share some of our best 2017 moments with you in the run up to the holidays.
We asked staff from across our South East reserves to send us their own personal ‘wow’ moments from this year, the little triumphs that remind them why they love working for the RSPB, and being part of the bigger picture that you have helped us to build, as members, visitors, volunteers and supporters.
As always; we know we are better together. We don’t just want to share our ‘wow’ moments, we would love to hear yours too! Was it on a visit to a reserve, spotting an unusual Big Garden Birdwatch visitor, completing a Wild Challenge or being part of the Lodge Hill campaign? Do get involved and share your own #MyRSPBmoment with us on social media!
Below are a few reminders of successes you’ve helped us achieve this year; we couldn't have done it without you!
Big Garden Birdwatch –
Our Big Garden Birdwatch event is one of our biggest events of the year, and in the South East alone, 92,029 of you took part to help us count the birds in your garden. This data helps us to track which species are doing well, and which we might need to give a little extra help too. If you missed the results, you can find these here, and don’t forget to sign up for the next Big Garden Birdwatch!
Wild Challenge
We launched our Wild Challenge earlier this year, and it’s been even more popular than we expected! Sponsored by Aldi, our Wild Challenge was developed to help families to connect to nature and create the conservationists of the future. Already people across the UK have completed over 7740 activities; that’s a great achievement for nature! Our wild challenge is free to participate in, so why not sign your family up and get involved over the Christmas holidays?
Lodge Hill
Our battle to #SaveLodgeHill, working with groups such as the Wildlife Trusts, hit a high note in September when developers withdrew their planning application to build on this nationally important Site of Special Scientific Interest in Medway, Kent, home to the best UK population of breeding nightingales. It was your efforts in responding to Medway Council's consultation that helped us make the case that losing Lodge Hill just wasn't acceptable. The battle isn't over, as we believe the developers are planning to put in a revised application in 2018 (follow the news as it happens, here) so we're very likely to need your support again in 2018 to make a difference for nature.
Big Wild Sleepout
We always have lots of overnight animal guests on our reserves, but for just a few nights a year, we open up our reserves to some human campers too. This year almost 200 of you took part in our Big Wild Sleepout events at Farnham Heath, Dungeness, Pulborough Brooks and Pagham Harbour, with many more of you taking part at home. Camping out is a great way to get connected to nature and come face to face with nocturnal creatures.
Opt In
As you may know, the way the RSPB contacts our supporters is about to change.
So unless you say it’s okay for us to do so, we won’t contact you personally with any more important information about our work. We’re doing this because of new regulations and guidance on how best to communicate with you. By asking for your permission, we are restating our commitment to you, because it has always been essential that our relationship with you is built on trust.
We need you to respond because we don’t want to lose touch. You’re part of our family and we want things to stay that way. To tell us how you want to hear from us, you just need to fill out this simple form.