I love the Wildlife Trusts.  They are a grassroots movement of people from all sorts of backgrounds and they are on a mission:  to restore a third of the UK’s land and seas for nature by 2030.

Each Wildlife Trust is an independent charity.  Those involved (in whatever way) want to make a difference to wildlife, to nature, to our climate. 

There are now 46 Trusts throughout the UK, from Alderney Wildlife Trust in the Channel Islands to the Scottish Wildlife Trust, from South and West Wales to Suffolk, from Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to Northumberland.  So wherever you are, or wherever the nature lover in your life is, there should be a Wildlife Trust in their area you can tap into and get involved with.

The Wildlife Trusts together have over 900,000 members.  There are 600 Trustees, over 32,500 volunteers and 2,500 staff.  That’s a lot of people who care about nature and who want to make a positive difference.  If we all work together and we are committed to making life better for nature and wildlife – and for people, too – we can achieve much.

Members are helping their Trust to look after wildlife and the natural places in their area, and they receive a welcome back, regular magazines and lots of information. It’s the sort of thing where you can get as involved as you want; if you are really manic with life, you can at least know that your membership is helping your Trust continue with its vital work.   

Membership benefits

Because each Trust is an independent charity, the memberships will vary on cost (most are about £3 a month) but generally they include a welcome pack of goodies, regular magazines full of news and features, access to beautiful nature reserves, talks, walks and events – these are a great way to meet fellow wildlife lovers who care about the natural world – and chances to campaign for wildlife.

It may be half price membership month at your local Wildlife Trust or offers may be available on memberships!

The good news is that in January, some Wildlife Trusts (but not all) have half price or memberships for the month, or an offer of some sort, so if you’ve been thinking about joining but not got round to it, this could be a great time to join.

For example:

Devon Wildlife Trust

Durham Wildlife Trust

Suffolk Wildlife Trust

Surrey Wildlife Trust

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust

Radnorshire Wildlife Trust

Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust

Somerset Wildlife Trust

Shropshire Wildlife Trust

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust

Kent Wildlife Trust

Northumberland Wildlife Trust

Manx Wildlife Trust

Ulster Wildlife Trust

Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside Wildlife Trust

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust

North Wales Wildlife Trust

Cheshire Wildlife Trust

Cornwall Wildlife Trust

Dorset Wildlife Trust

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust

 

Give a gift membership to a Wildlife Trust here

Take Action and Support your Local Wildlife Trust

Take a look at your local Wildlife Trust, you can find yours here – and sign up.  It’s a great way to show your support for nature and to help Wildlife Trusts reach the 30x30 target - that's 30% of land and sea protected by 2030. 

The Wildlife Trusts are aiming to put nature in recovery, making more space for it and connecting habitats on a large scale so that wildlife can pass safely through to new territories.  The Trusts want to restore nature so that ecosystems can function again - the UK natural world is very much depleted now.   

The Trusts are also hoping to inspire us all to act for nature and rewild our neighbourhoods, working with our communities.  I am a member of a couple of Wildlife Trusts and love to receive news of how I can get involved and make a difference - and also to see success stories.  Together we can all drive change and actually help nature help us - nature is vital for our wellbeing. 

So give a gift membership to a Wildlife Trust and you'll be giving a gift that helps nature, wildlife and people and is a win-win for nature lovers all round!