Include a gift in your Will

Thanks to legacies given to The Wildlife Trusts, wild beavers are successfully breeding in the English landscape after an absence of 400 years. Beavers are a great addition to our landscape because they are brilliant at creating wetland habitats which can prevent flooding further downstream. In 2016, Devon Wildlife Trust were delighted to announce the birth of the first wild baby beavers in England for centuries. Tom Buckley captured the fabulous footage of the beaver and her kits. He said:

“When I saw these new born baby beavers I was totally overwhelmed and thought it must be a miracle. My first sighting of this year’s new born kits was when I saw their mother swimming with one of them in her mouth to an area nearby where their father was waiting to greet them”.

Philip has included a gift to Cheshire Wildlife Trust in his Will so that cherished local wildlife is protected for the future. Phillip said
''I decided to leave a gift to Cheshire Wildife Trust in my Will because wildlife needs all the help it can get and the Trust is the 'go to' organisation for wildlife protection in this area.''

Last year, over 7% of Cheshire Wildlife Trust’s income came directly from people like Philip who have chosen to include a gift in their Will for wildlife. These gifts are used in lots of different areas of work, including looking after more than 40 nature reserves, ​​​​​protecting the region’s most endangered habitats and species, campaigning for greater protection of local wildlife, inspiring the next generation of wildlife lovers.

Thank you, Philip.

In 1985 Anne and Lionel decided they wanted to do something extra special to help wildlife. They bought a four acre field near to their home in Staffordshire and have been working ever since to create rich and diverse habitats to help wildlife thrive. They added a further two acre piece of land in 1990. Thanks to their hard work, the land is now a haven for species such as the protected great crested newts, toads, frogs, badgers, weasels and stoats. Anne and Lionel have now been members of Staffordshire Wildlife Trust for 30 years. Recently, they decided to leave their land to the Trust as a gift in their wills, as well as money to assist with further care for the fields. They said

“By purchasing the land, we made it our aim to provide an oasis for wildlife to enjoy and then hopefully thrive…being members of the Trust has given us a lot of pleasure over the years. We have seen the charity grow from its early roots and when we were writing our Wills and deciding who to leave the land to, we felt the Trust would be the right choice.”

Thank you, Anne & Lionel

As an amateur botanist with a special interest in wild flower conservation, Tessa realised the importance of Waitby Greenriggs, Cumbria, for rare flowers such as orchids and Grass-of-Parnassus. Thanks to Tessa’s discovery, the area is now a nature reserve and thanks to a gift in her will to Cumbria Wildlife Trust, she will continue to support wild flower conservation for years to come. Tessa’s kind gift is helping to create a new wild flower meadow at Eyecott Hill Nature Reserve, Cumbria, so every year more and more people will see her passion and generosity in full bloom. 

Thank you, Tessa