Charlotte Harris with Bill Stothart who has been Chair of Trustees for the last seven years.

Cheshire Wildlife Trust's 62^nd AGM

On Saturday 8^th November, we held our 62^nd Annual General Meeting at Ness Botanic Gardens in glorious sunshine.

It was wonderful to see so many of our members and their guests who enjoyed the opportunity to meet staff, trustees, speakers and other like-minded members in the stunning setting of the gardens.

Having heard all about the ways our members are helping us to create, restore and protect wildlife and wild places in Cheshire, we hope everyone left with a sense of pride, full of hope for the future of nature.

A highlight was President Felicity Goodey's opening speech which set the tone for the day. She spoke so passionately about the political backdrop and the need for long term solutions to benefit future generations, we wanted to share it for all to read.

Felicity Goodey's opening speech

Aldred’s Lea – one of our latest land purchases in Cheshire’s Peak District.

Last year's highlights

Here's some of last year's highlights which our members helped make possible:

🌳 42 hectares of woodland created

💧 35 great crested newt ponds created and restored

🌼 65 hectares of species-rich meadows created

🍃 Local provenance trees and wildflower plug plants grown in our nursery to support habitat creation

🖼️ Secured even more land for nature thanks to a legacy gift and our 60th Anniversary Appeal

💦 121 hectares of wetland restored in the River Gowy catchment for water voles and eels

🌊 Our Dee Estuary project completed

🦫 Delamere Beaver project continues to improve habitats and water quality at Hatchmere

🐞 MPs and Councillors have been influenced to put nature first

📋 Contributed to 3 Local Nature Recovery Strategies, influenced 14 planning proposals and supported 3 neighbourhood plans

🐝 22,000 actions for nature have been inspired

🧒 2,000 school children visited nature reserves

👩 50 teachers have been trained in outdoor learning

🤝 Engaged with 17,600 members, 39,000 social media followers and met 5,000 people at events.

Thank you to David Parker of the Dee Estuary Conservation Group, Mark O'Sullivan of Hob Hey Wood Friends and Izzy Hatton of Danes Moss Trust for their inspiring presentations demonstrating how local action can protect wildlife and bring people together to celebrate nature.

Volunteer of the Year

Stephen Ross received our highest accolade for volunteering. Chair of Wirral Wildlife since 2004, Stephen has spent the last 21 years applying his enormous networking and facilitating skills to further the activities of this local group. His life-long commitment to wildlife and the recovery of nature in Cheshire is very much appreciated. Here he is receiving his award from President Felicity Goodey. Congratulations again, Stephen.

Volunteering opportunities

We raised over £650

We were very grateful to Forest Distillery, Holmes Chapel Zoo, Fairways Garden Centre, Cotebrook Shire Horse Centre, Mimosa Tea Garden and Ness Botanic Gardens for donating raffle prizes. We raised over £650 on the day from selling raffle tickets, calendars, cards, books and other items too – a lovely boost to funds. If you’d like to buy one of our calendars, adoption packs or give the gift of membership, check out our online shop.

Shop for wildlife

Finally, thank you so much for the continued support from our members. With your help, we're bringing wildlife back for everyone, everywhere.