Trust wins funding in public vote to introduce community engagement events in Tamworth

Trust wins funding in public vote to introduce community engagement events in Tamworth

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust has scooped an £8,000 fund to boost its community engagement in Tamworth after winning the runner up prize in an online public vote.

The charity and its Wild About Tamworth project was shortlisted as one of the final five projects in the M6Toll’s Drive for Charity Partner scheme and received enough votes to finish second place thanks to support from people across the region.

The funding will allow the Trust to deliver a series of community engagement sessions aimed at improving the physical and mental health and wellbeing of children, young adults and families in Tamworth. That will include introducing sessions such as the Trust’s Wildlings, GetWild, Wildwellbeing and Wildfamilies events across the town.

The Trust was edged by Midlands Air Ambulance, who won the top prize of £20,000 in the public vote.

Shelley Pattison, Senior Community Engagement Officer for the Trust in Tamworth, said: "We were thrilled to hear we had been shortlisted alongside so many other fantastic causes, so to win the runner-up prize has given us a great deal of pride.

"Alongside our Wild About Tamworth project, we will use this money to create sessions for people of all ages in Tamworth to get them outdoors, be more connected with nature and to improve physical and mental health.

"The Wild About Tamworth project is now in its 15th year and has been supporting communities to look after their local green spaces since it launched.

"This funding will allow us to expand our engagement level in the area and we're really excited about it."

The funding initiative is part of the motorway’s £45,000 scheme to support a wide range of community projects, charities and voluntary organisations across the Midlands.

More details on the sessions will be posted on the Trust's events web page in due course. www.staffs-wildlife.org.uk/events