Penrith and District Red Squirrel Group Newsletter Winter 2013 Squirrel Ranger - We Take the Plunge in Ullswater P&DRSG have jumped in with both feet and are delighted to confirm that as of 1st February 2013 Christian Bensaid is the new Red Squirrel Ranger for Ullswater. Christian is employed on a part time (three days per week) self employed basis. He is already well known in the area as one of our more active volunteers (regularly seen at shows and events), he has a wealth of experience from his current position as a red squirrel ranger at Center Parcs where he will continue to work for the other two days. We have long aspired to have ranger cover for Ullswater to support and coordi- nate the tremendous volunteer effort and landowner support that already exists throughout the valley but have simply not had the necessary local funding. All this changed however when the Lake District National Park Authority came forward with a grant for funding, sufficiently generous to kick start the project and give us the confidence we needed. All that remains for us to address now, is how on earth do we keep it going? We have applied to Nurture Eden for their support to the project and they have indicated a keen interest to be involved. They provide funding to pay for local conservation and environmental work by inviting voluntary donations from visitors who feel inspired to put something back into looking after the places they love. We would therefore encourage all tourism businesses in Eden/Ullswater to sign up to their innovative scheme. Members will not only benefit from additional positive publicity but also demonstrate their green credentials and commitment to sustainable tourism. Please visit www.nurturelakeland.org for more information. Local support is the key to all our undertakings and we would urge individuals, landowners and businesses in ANY of our ranger coordinated areas to help fund but most importantly to retain their local ranger by becoming a member of this group. Details and the application form are at the end of this publication. New Year Greetings from HRH the Prince of Wales Irrepressible volunteer, Sarah McNeil (seen here in her new woolly squirrel hat) regularly corresponds with our Honor- ary Member HRH the Price of Wales to keep him up to date with our activities and she recently received the following; "Dear Sarah, The Prince of Wales has asked me to thank you most warmly for your letter and has asked me to pass on his warmest New Year best wishes to you and everyone at the Penrith and District Red Squirrel Group. His Royal Highness is thrilled that 2012 has been so successful for everyone in Cumbria. It is most encouraging that the message about red squirrels is spreading far and wide thanks to the internet. The Prince of Wales believes that your enthusiasm might have helped too!“ Thanks Thank you to Center Parcs once again for generously sponsoring the cost of printing our newsletters to our Center Parcs support for red squirrel conservation goes beyond mere commercialism. Their long term commitment to the cause is nationally recognised and here locally Sponsor we have done likewise by appointing them as a Corporate Sponsor ‘Patron’ Fund Raising, Shows & Events Unfortunately, the washout summer meant the cancellation of many shows and events we would normally have attended to raise awareness and funds, so we had to work harder last year to keep the momentum going. It was good therefore to see the return of Apple Day at the National Trust’s Acorn Bank in Temple Sowerby. Charles the Squirrel made his premier appearance, modelled by Pip Bellsham and seen left here with Gary Murphy and Sarah McNeil. An unexpected but very welcome £100 recently came our way courtesy of Keith Wells, Chairman of Brampton & District Red Squirrel Group. Keith works at Center Parcs and is a member of their Employee Council Forum, he applied to the CP Charity Fund on behalf of both groups and hey presto £100 each. Thank you. Many thanks also to Andrew and Elaine Forsyth from W easd ale N urserie s, Newbiggin on Lune who raised £100 from their excellent initiative to include Squirrel Added Tax to the price of their squirrel friendly trees. We were touched and delighted when they also signed up to become Silver Corporate Sponsors by standing order (That’s £25 per month). This gives our fund raising in support of Gary Murphy a real boost as we have been somewhat puzzled at the slow uptake of business and landowner giving in the Upper Eden Valley project area. Looking at the beautiful hand fed Weasdale red (pictured right) it’s hard to see why that is. Please visit www.weasdale.com Visit From Northern Ireland Volunteers Following on from a visit to Northern Ireland by the Red Squirrels Survival Trust, a group of Red Squirrel activists obtained sponsorship from RSST to visit Cumbria and see a well-established operation. The group hoped to return with a better understanding of all the different facets of red squirrel conservation currently being undertaken in northern England. P&DRSG volunteered to host and organise the weekend last November which inexplicably seemed to centre around the hospitality afforded by the Boot & Shoe, Greystoke. The group is pictured left (L to R) Daniel McAfee & Joe Dowdall (The Glens RSG), Dave Farnam (Mourne Heritage Trust), Charles the Squirrel, Ken Moore (Fermanagh RSG), Jackie Foott (Northern Red Squirrels Cumbria) and Rachel Bain (Bio-Diversity Officer- Co Derry/Antrim). Saturday morning visits were made to Center Parcs at Whinfell Forest and Aira Force Waterfall, Ullswater to meet up with the rangers and volunteers who coordinate our activities. This was followed by an afternoon of presentations by Jackie Foot of Northern Red Squirrels, Janet Wickens of RSST and Nick Mason of RSNE. Sunday was taken up with a grey squirrel control workshop given by red squirrel rangers Jerry Moss and Christian Bensaid. Our visitors seemed impressed not only by the level of volunteer activity but also by the practical involvement of national bodies such as Natural England and the Forestry Commission and we thought they’d give their eye teeth to have an organisation like RSNE supporting their work. We in turn were impressed with their level of organisation and believe we all learned something from the visit. We wish them luck in persuading the powers that be in NI to wake up and become involved and hope we can maintain the links now established, perhaps even a return visit? Date for your diary — PENRITH & DISTRICT RED SQUIRREL GROUP ANNUAL PUBLIC MEETING 7pm Monday 15th July 2013 at Penrith Rugby Club — Come and join us to hear the very latest news on red squirrel conservation — Guest Speaker is Janet Wickens, Director, Red Squirrel Survival Trust New Red Squirrel Jewellery The Necessary Angel in Packhorse Court, Keswick has a new and exclusive range of hand made Red Squirrel jewellery by the designer-maker, Helen Lea and will be donating 10% of each sale to the Penrith & District Red Squirrel Group. In addition, their gift wrapping service will also be raising vital funds to help us with red squirrel conservation projects. The jewellery is made of sterling silver with rose gold plating to accentuate the details of the pieces. Tam Dent, who is co-ordinating the appeal said “We really loved Helen’s squirrel design. The touch of rose gold ties in beautifully with the colour of our local red squirrels. We think our customers will enjoy wearing the jewellery and it is a lovely reminder of one of our country’s beautiful yet endangered animals. We thought that donating a percentage of sales for a red squirrel charity would be an excellent idea” Visit The Necessary Angel in Packhorse Court to buy this from beautiful range or visit them on-line at www.artangel.co.uk Tam, Deborah and Shana from the Necessary Angel Aira Force Squirrel Trail - Another Step Nearer In November, the National Trust launched the newly created Red Squirrel Trai1 at Aira Force, Ullswater when a ‘living’ willow viewing hide was bui1t with the help of local school children from Patterdale and Penruddock schools. Targeted with an Easter 2013 opening, the trail has squirrel feeders strategically placed near to the footpaths that run up and down the falls giving visitors an opportunity to glimpse red squirrels in the wild. It is planned to include live camera links to a visitor viewing monitor in the car park together with information display boards and squirrel 'fun' days. P&DRSG are partners in the project and have raised and donated £6000 towards the costs. It is also supported by The Birds’ Bistro, of Penruddock, Lakeland's wild bird and red squirrel feeding specialists, who have a long history of work- ing with the NT and who donated the feeders and feed. Jonathan Taylor (Birds Bistro), Steve Dowson (NT) & Richard Dyke (PDRSG) John Pring (NT) dressed as Sammy the Squirrel Our Youngest Member - Born to be Wild Sarah McNeil enrolled her Great Niece as a member of P&DRSG at the very tender age of just one hour old! Two years on and Brooklyn Rose Hale has become a huge fan of the ‘reds’ and has an ever growing collection of cuddly red squirrel toys in her play room. But what pleases her most is when she comes to visit her Great Aunt and they go out and watch the real thing. Photo - Sarah McNeil The survival of the red squirrel depends entirely on this and future generations of volunteers, so it`s encouraging to see that Brooklyn is already taking such a keen interest in conservation and the great outdoors.