This time of year, many of you will be busy thinking about Christmas and nature might not be in the forefront of your mind. Recently, the team have been out and about spreading the word about Giving Nature a Home and trying to recruit members at lots of off-site events as well as here at the reserve.
Mark and Me (Rachel) at Severn Trent's Carsington Water outside the RSPB shop. Making Xmas crafts and talking about membership. (Image A Burrows)
You may have read recently about what we are doing here at Coombes Valley and what you can do in your own back gardens to help our local wildlife, however, we wouldn’t be able to continue doing what we are doing without the continuous support from our members.
You too can build a hedgehog home by putting a small piles of logs and leaves tucked away in a corner in your garden. (Image A Burrows)
Just why are members so important? As you are reading this many of you are possibly members already, and I would like to say a massive thank you on behalf of the RSPB and all the wildlife we give a helping hand. As members, I hope you are familiar with the range of work the RSPB is involved in, but for those of you who are not, here is a brief explanation about just what we do with some of the money we get from our supporters and why it is so important.
The RSPB is the biggest conservation charity in Europe. We have the largest conservation club for children in Europe (Wildlife Explorers) and over a million members in total. Ok, so we are pretty big, so why does this matter? The more members we have the bigger the voice we have.
The RSPB started back in 1889 by a small group of women in Manchester. At the time, the fashion was to wear feathers on garments of clothing such as in hats. This led to declines in birds such as little egrets and great crested grebes. The group of women campaigned to ban the feather trade in the UK and they were successful. The RSPB was born.
We still have strong roots in campaigning today, the bigger the voice we have, the more likely we are to be heard. As well as managing, protecting and conserving the 215 nature reserves we have across the UK, we also work with other organisations, landowners and farmers, to give advice on best practices, and what people can get in the way of grants to encourage them to do what they can to benefit wildlife. We even have our own farm!
Birds only make up a small proportion of species the RSPB protects and conserves. The aim of our work is to provide a healthy enviornment for future generations (Image ladybird by S Gray)
We are a charity backed by science so we can find the solutions to nature’s problems today and in the future. We work with schools to bring children to our reserves to teach them about the environment as one day it will be up to the next generation to look after our much-loved wildlife.
If we stopped recruiting members today, we would cease to exist between 9-12 weeks. We may be big but we do not have lots of money in reserve. We try to get money where it is needed as soon as possible so it can start making a difference.
With regular small donations, received through membership, we can forward plan as much as we are able so we can continue to carry on with our vital work.
As a thank you, members get free entry into RSPB reserves, a gift plus a quarterly magazine (funded by adverts placed in the magazine) as well as 20% off most events. However, the main reason most people decide to join is to support the cause. 90% of all money received goes directly into conservation which more important than ever as we have seen our much loved wildlife such as hedgehogs, house sparrows and garden butterflies have declined in recent years.
So next time you are thinking just what to buy the person that has everything, consider RSPB membership as a gift. A gift that lasts much longer than Christmas time.
(Image A Burrows)