Lovebirds Gail and Jeff give a gift for wildlife
Thursday 7th September 2017
Two newly wed volunteers from Staffordshire Wildlife Trust have donated funds from their wedding to purchase a floating platform designed to attract birds like terns and oystercatchers and encourage them to breed.
The money, raised by Gail and Jeff Brough, has gone towards purchasing a tern raft – a floating platform which provides an ideal location for birds to nest which is safe from flooding, disturbance or predators.
Common terns often breed on coasts, in dunes and on islands but also breed inland on gravelly banks of lakes and rivers. While not common inland, there are breeding pairs or colonies elsewhere in Staffordshire, such as at Croxall Lakes, Alrewas.
Gail and Jeff, from Little Haywood, met at the Trust’s Wolseley Centre headquarters, near Rugeley, in 2013 at a monthly coffee morning. After hitting it off straight away, they married earlier this year and instead of asking for presents, wanted people to donate money to Staffordshire Wildlife Trust.
The couple are part of the Trust’s Tuesday volunteer group and managed to raise £865 from their wedding day, which they have put towards purchasing a tern raft which has been installed on Swan Lake at the Wolseley Centre.
Jeff, who is also Secretary of the Trust’s Cannock Local Group, said: “We wanted to leave a legacy and put the money towards something which will be of huge benefit to wildlife.
“The Wolseley Centre is a very special place to us so it made sense for us to donate the funds raised from our wedding to a tern raft.
“We are very pleased with it and we want to thank our fellow Tuesday volunteers for helping install it on the lake. We’d also like to thank all those people who donated so we could put the money towards the raft.”
The tern raft can be seen on Swan Lake when visiting The Wolseley Centre. For more information about Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, head to www.staffs-wildlife.org.uk