Volunteers needed for mass conservation day on Windermere (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Volunteers needed for mass conservation day on Windermere

10:10am Friday 12th October 2012 in News

FRIENDS of the Lake District’s second mass conservation volunteer event of the year will take place at Windermere later this month.

The charity is appealing for volunteers to take part in the Windermere Fell Care Day event that is run by the Friends’ Flora of the Fells project.

It follows a very successful Fell Care Day at Ullswater in September, where more than 200 volunteers gave 1,000 hours of their time to conservation work in the Ullswater valley in one day.

Organiser and Flora of the Fells project officer Sue Manson said: “We'd like to say a really big thank you to the brilliant 200 plus volunteers who took part in the Ullswater Fell Care Day and made it such a success.

“It was really inspiring to have so many people turn out to demonstrate their appreciation of and commitment to looking after the fells.”

She said that the Windermere volunteers will be working all around the lake shore, up onto paths on the surrounding fells and even under the water.

Volunteers at Windermere Fell Care Day can choose from a range of activities to take part in.

These include footpath creation work at Wray Castle, drain clearance and path repairs to prevent erosion at Wansfell, Loughrigg, Troutbeck and Miller Ground, Bowness, hazel tree planting and pond digging at Sweden Wood, Ambleside.

They can also rebuild a dry stone wall by the lakeshore at Wray Castle, undertake a wax cap fungi survey at Mislet and wheelchair access works at White Moss Common.

Qualified divers are also wanted to take part in a diving litter pick of the lake bed of Windermere, with Kendal Sub Aqua club and Paul Rose, the television broadcaster, diver and explorer.

Volunteers are also needed on the day to help Ambleside, Hawkshead and Goodly Dale primary schools with native bulb planting, tree coppicing and environmental games.

Volunteers will meet at Ambleside Cricket Club at 9.30am, and set out in small groups led by skilled leaders from a number of organisations. Everyone will meet back together at the end of the day for tea and cakes. Activities finish by 5pm.

Over 27 groups and organisations will be taking part including volunteers and staff from Friends of the Lake District, the Lake District National Park Authority, the National Trust, Natural England, and Windermere Reflections. South Lakeland District Councilis supporting the day through its community grant fund and Windermere Lake Cruises are putting on a special ferry to transport volunteers to their tasks at Wray Castle for the day.

The full list of volunteer activities is available at http://www.floraofthefells.com/help-us/volunteering, or http://www.fld.org.uk/fell-care-days.html Anyone wanting to get involved should contact Sue Manson on sue-m@fld.org.uk or phone on 01539 733187 by Monday (Oct 22).