Gorse busting with the People’s Postcode Lottery

1 April 2009

The People's Postcode Lottery has so far raised almost £100,000 for Northumberland Wildlife Trust

Northumberland Wildlife Trust has kick-started 2009 with a major conservation project - made possible with funding from the People’s Postcode Lottery.

Over one hundred volunteer ‘gorse busters’ of all ages have been involved in clearing invasive gorse scrub from valuable and unique whin grassland sites in North Northumberland including areas around Dunstanburgh and Bamburgh Castles.

If the gorse is allowed to become overgrown, many rare plants such as maiden pink and wild chive will become shaded out and die resulting in the loss of a great many sites of huge conservation value; once they disappear they will be gone forever.

Steve Lowe, Head of Conservation at Northumberland Wildlife Trust said: “We had a huge army of volunteers from Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle who worked tirelessly to clear the scrub area and protect the grassland sites.”

He continued: “This was a project which desperately needed doing but we just didn’t have any money to do it and a number of unique grassland sites were in danger of disappearing. I am delighted that the People’s Postcode Lottery was able to provide us with the funding to enable us conserve the natural heritage of the area.”

The People's Postcode Lottery has so far raised almost £100,000 for Northumberland Wildlife Trust and, by playing, you can ensure that we continue to give more to this worthwhile cause. Click here to sign up and help support the great work conducted by NWT and other charities.