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.

To celebrate National Vegetarian Week, which runs this year from the 24^th – 30^th May 2010, Wild Futures is enlisting people to “Go Veggie” for the week and gain sponsorship for doing so. People taking up the challenge include Keith Thompson, who is based in Lilongwe Wildlife Centre in Malawi, Africa, where he works with ex-Sanctuary keeper, Andrea Donaldson, in the reintroduction of baboons and vervet monkeys into the wild as part of a programme funded by the Born Free Foundation.

The week will be a true challenge for keen fisherman, Keith, who says:

On the 5th May 2010, a small and frightened capuchin monkey named Josh was introduced to his new home at the Wild Futures Monkey Sanctuary in Cornwall. His new enclosure overlooks the territory of the centre’s existing residents – it was the first time he had seen another capuchin in over a decade. 19 year-old Josh has had a sad start to his life, but staff at the rescue centre hope that this new chapter will be a long-overdue happy ending for the little monkey.