We are pleased to announce that the first ever Isle of Wight Twestival will be raising funds for Gift to Nature. Big thanks to those who voted for us in the Twitter poll. Do come along and show your support, it sounds like a great evening.
Press Release
26th May 2009
For immediate release
Great Big Squirrel launches Great Little Green Guide
A 6ft Red Squirrel launched Gift to Nature’s “Great Little Green Guide to the Isle of Wight” this bank holiday Monday onboard Wightlink’s Lymington to Yarmouth ferry. Visitors to the Island were greeted by the larger-than-life Red Squirrel, and Gift to Nature’s wildlife expert Ian Boyd was on hand to point out the fascinating wildlife visible from on deck. The Green Guide received a positive response from those on board, as did the squirrel handing them out. Sam Buck, Project Manager enthused “It was great to get such a good response. One person on board didn’t know there were red squirrels on the Island. Now she does, and has the information she needs in the guide to help her track down the regular size variety! Ian’s bird spotting skills were also popular – people coming to the Island are often keen to learn more about our wildlife, and just need a little help to get the most out of their time here.”
The new guide is the latest publication from Gift to Nature, who have helped tens of thousands of visitors to the Island find out more about the Island’s fascinating wildlife and beautiful habitats in previous leaflets, postcards and walking guides. The new guide provides a taste of the varied green activities and attractions the Island has to offer, from snorkelling and tree-climbing to nature reserves and local food. The guide is designed to be fun and accessible, and a revised edition will be produced each year.
The guide features lots of information on Gift to Nature’s wildlife sites around the Island, including the Red Squirrel Safari and viewing hide at Parkhurst Forest, Sandown Wetland Walk and picnic area and the nationally acclaimed Troll Trail.
Copies of the Green Guide are available free of charge from all Island Tourist Information Centres, the Gift to Nature Website www.gifttonature.org.uk and from many Gift to Nature member businesses.
Notes for editors:
Gift to Nature is a project run by local charity Island 2000 Trust. Through its supportive member businesses it collects money from visitors and local people who want to contribute something back to the Island’s unique environment. This money is invested in wildlife enhancement projects, creating and maintaining vital habitats and sites where visitors can discover the wonders of Isle of Wight Wildlife.
Photographs are available from http://www.flickr.com/photos/gifttonature
Wightlink are a corporate member of Gift to Nature, working closely with the organisation to help support Island wildlife.
For further information contact Martin, Sam or Ian on 200074 or 298098, or see the Gift to Nature website at www.gifttonature.org.uk Review copies of the guide are available on request.
Island 2000 now has two facebook pages and twitter, erm, thingies. Keep up with the latest using the links below:
Island 2000 Trust Facebook Page
Spring is most definitely sprung and buds are bursting all over the place. No exception is the beautiful Wild Service Tree Sorbus torminalis; a rather rare species in the UK and pretty much confined to ancient woodlands and old hedgerows. There’s quite a bit of it scattered along the north of the Island on the clay but very little on the greensand or the chalk, which makes it allthe more surprising that the largest specimen (and one of the largest recorded in the country) grows on a little greensand bank near a chalk down!
Here is a picture taken yesterday of its leaves just beginning to emerge.
Hello.
Sorry we’ve been away. Things have been tough and there have had to be a lot of changes for a lot of people but here we are, on this our tenth birthday, ready for the new world of credit-free economics!
And what a day to celebrate! Bon Poisson d’Avril a Tout le Monde!
Spring is sprung and there’s much to do and you’ll be hearing a lot more from us now we’ve steadied the ship.
Just to get things going here’s some marvellous Toothwort from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust Reserve at Eaglehead Copse. This extraordinary spring flower has no chlorophyll and taps instead into tree roots for what it needs ( a lot like the broomrapes that featured on the blog last year). HIWT do a tremendous job managing this beautiful woodland and it is ablaze with spring flowerrs just now.
Gift to Nature member Corries Cabin In Cowes are holding a Fishy Fundraiser (ok I’ll stop the puns now…) next week - between 23rd and 28th February. They will be donating 50p from every purchase made to charity, with 25p of this going to Gift to Nature. They have run similar fundraising events for five years, but previously only on one day.
“The event is always well supported” said owner Richard Quigley “but people have said they cannot always make it to the shop on that particular day, so we have decided to run it for the week, so that everyone that comes in can contribute.”
We think it’s a fab idea, and will be popping in for chips during the week.
During the freezing weather recently I took these striking photos of fozen puddles. They were taken in Tout Quarry on a walk around Portland, and were almost as impressive as the Portland Stone sculptures we had come to see.
Last Saturday the Edcom Team spent the day at Newport Primary School with 70 of the Island’s brightest young people for the Gifted and Talented Engineering day. Individual schools around the Island selected promising pupils to attend the full day session which was being run by Danny and Kev. The challenge for the day was to design and build a bridge across the Medina to replace the floating bridge. The children had to take into consideration passing ship traffic, tidal levels and the load placed on the bridge.
Danny and Kev were very impressed by the innovation and creativity demonstrated throughout the day, and are looking forward taking part in future Gifted and Talented workshops.
The Edcom team have been busy recently running workshops in schools as part of the Medina Rediscovered project. The giant landmark art is one of our most popular activities. Getting a class of children into the hall and spreading out around a drawing of the River Medina to draw in all its associated landmarks is an absorbing way to spend an afternoon.
Yet more finds from the amazing Alverstone Dig continue to emerge. We have just been given a small collection of flint lithics (bits of stone to you and I) struck from hand tools in the dim and distant past. These are now a part of the Alverstone Archive with island 2000 and will be a very useful addition to the material to be studied by experts from around the country over the next 18 months as they try to unravel this extraordinary story.
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