A NEWLY formed Lake District charity has raised almost £400,000 in its first year for 16 different projects.

More than 200 businesses support the Lake District Foundation (LDF), which aims to help care for the national park by encouraging donations from visitors and local businesses for key local projects.

Building on the legacy of its predecessor Nurture Lakeland, the LDF has already supported several high-profile projects this year - many of which are household names, including The Lake District Osprey Project and the Fix the Fells scheme.

The charity has also raised more than £100,000 for a project to re-connect the storm-damaged Keswick to Threlkeld railway path.

Its one-year milestone was marked at a celebratory birthday event at the LDF’s headquarters at Murley Moss in Kendal.

“Growing a new charity is an amazing challenge for any third sector leader," said LDF Director Sarah Swindley. "We have big plans at the LDF and are working hard to achieve our ambitious goals.

"It’s been a busy year so far, running two organisations in parallel as we said goodbye to Nurture Lakeland and transitioned all our work into the new structure.

The LDF has enlisted the support of record-breaker Sean Conway, who is the charity’s adventure ambassador. The endurance adventurer, author and motivational speaker became the first person to cycle, swim, and run the length of Great Britain, from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

In 2016 he completed the world’s longest triathlon, a 4,200-mile journey around the coast of Britain. This year he also became the fastest person to cycle unsupported across Europe from Portugal to Russia.