A GOVERNMENT minister got his hands dirty at Friends of the Lake District’s second mass-volunteering ‘Fell Care Day’ event of the year.

The charity hosted a visit from Dan Rogerson MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for water, forestry, rural affairs and resource management, at the Grasmere event yesterday.

The Minister had the opportunity to learn more about the issues surrounding our fragile upland landscapes and the vital role that volunteers can play in helping protect them.

During his visit Mr Rogerson visited the Friends' Gillside wood site, at Tongue Gill, for tree planting with volunteers

Almost 200 volunteers took part in the event, doing a whole host of practical conservation and learning tasks including tree planting, red squirrel conservation and monitoring.

The event also included story-telling, a canoe based lake litter pick, upland path maintenance and repairs with Fix the Fells, woodland management, native bulb planting and a Sky Ride guided cycle around Grasmere.

Forestry Minister Dan Rogerson said: "Cumbria boasts some of our country's most beautiful landscape and Friends of the Lake District do a fantastic job of protecting and improving it.

“Their hard work and enthusiasm makes a real difference and I enjoyed joining them for their volunteer fell care day."

Among the volunteers were 52 children from Grasmere Primary School, who carried out 14 different tasks including tree planting.

Two hundred trees were planted at Tongue Gill and 3,000 wild daffodil, snowdrop and native bluebell bulbs were planted at High Close, with volunteers averaging 355 bulbs each.

Eleven people took to canoes on Grasmere and Rydal, collecting 15 bags of litter before midday including beer bottles, cans, six plastic ducks, watering cans, a drainage pipe, crisp packets and a compost bin.

The walking litter pickers said they were pleased not to find too much litter but still collected six bags of rubbish including rubber gloves and a pair of fisherman's waders.

The Friends' Communication Officer Dawn Groundsell said 540 pieces of cake had been donated for volunteers to enjoy at the end of the day.

Friends of the Lake District’s Grasmere Fell Care Day worked with partner organisations the National Trust, Lake District National Park, British Cycling, Woodmatters and Grasmere Red Squirrel Group to deliver the day’s activities.

Ruth Kirk, Fell Care Day organiser said: “These events are a fantastic chance to join lots of like-minded people to make a real difference to looking after the spectacular landscapes that give us so much."

For more information go to http://www.fld.org.uk/fell-care-days.html.