Charity Doesn’t Monkey Around When it Comes to Food
Wild Futures, a charity known as a leader in primate welfare and conservation, has shown that it has more than one string to its bow by winning a grant from the Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food Scheme of over £4,000 in recognition of its efforts in sustainability and local food production. The grant was won in support of the development of a new forest garden area, greenhouse and a series of workshops which will offer training and information to visitors to the charity’s Monkey Sanctuary site on how they too can grow their own food.
The benefits of the project will be far-reaching, with an estimated 8,000 people benefiting from it in the first year alone. Says Patrick Saunders, Head of Grounds and Gardens at The Monkey Sanctuary:
“We have always grown food for the monkeys in our garden and with so much emphasis now on the importance of sustainable practice and local production we thought: “we have the space, we have the skills, why not show our visitors how to grow their own food too?”. Forest gardening is not only simple and rewarding but is also an inexpensive way to put food on the table. In the current financial climate, this practice could be a real support for families across the region”.
Once established, the greenhouse and garden will not only be great educational tools but will provide the Sanctuary’s café with fresh, home-grown and organic vegetables. The workshops will be conducted free-of-charge over the next 12 months. More details can be found by visiting the Wild Futures website.
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Wild Futures (Charity reg. No. 1102532) is an educational and environmental charity promoting the welfare and conservation of primates, and working to end the abuses of primates in captivity. Its flagship project, The Monkey Sanctuary, in Cornwall, is home to victims of the primate pet trade. Drawing on over 40 years of primate expertise, Wild Futures acts as an advisory body to sanctuaries and conservation organisations in the UK and overseas and advises DEFRA on UK animal welfare legislation. www.wildfutures.org
Local Food: has been developed by a consortium of 16 national environmental organisations, and is managed on their behalf by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT). Supported by the Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces programme, Local Food will distribute grants to a variety of food related projects to make locally grown food more accessible. www.localfood.org
The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT): is a registered charity, incorporated by Royal Charter, to promote conservation and manage environmental programmes throughout the whole of the UK. It has established management systems for holding and distributing funds totalling more than £20 million annually to environmental projects across the UK.
The Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces programme was launched in November 2005 to help communities enjoy and improve their local environments. The programme funds a range
of activities from local food schemes and farmers markets, to education projects teaching people about the local environment.
The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out £2 million in Lottery good cause money every 24 hours to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. www.biglotteryfund.org.uk.
For more information or pictures contact:
Liz Tyson, Public Relations and Communication Manager
www.wildfutures.org +44 (0) 1503 262 532