Latest News

September 2007

Schoolboy Raises Cash for Squirrels

Everyone at Save our Squirrels would like to say a big thank you and well done to Edward Sim of Lazonby Cof E Primary School, Penrith, Cumbria. Over the summer Edward, aged eight, worked tirelessly selling cakes at his school to raise money for us. He managed an impressive £108! This was a task he took upon himself, with no prompting, so an extra well done to him. August 2007

Running for Squirrels

Philippa, the SoS People and Wildlife Officer for Northumberland, is busy training for her first ever half-marathon. In a moment of madness, she signed up for the Great North Run to raise funds for Save our Squirrels and Northumberland Wildlife Trust. If you would like to sponsor her, please do get in touch. Thank You.

Shows and Events

The SoS Team have had a good summer at shows and events across the region, helping to raise awareness about red squirrels and what actions need to be taken to ensure the survival of these adorable animals into the future. We have had an excellent response from the people we talk to, encouraging us in our work and offering to get involved. For some visitors, these events have helped them to realise the impact of grey squirrels on our native reds and they have changed their attitude to the necessity of grey control.

A big thank you from the SoS Team to all volunteers who have helped out at shows and events this year.

We still have a few events coming up - please do come and see us.

July 2007

Thank You to Restore UK

SoS would like to say a big thank you to Restore UK for the recent grant we recieved from them to purchase traps. We can now actively support local groups in their excellent work to carry out grey control in areas which are not covered by other organisations - particularly the Tyne Valley and Cumbria.

A Sad Goodbye and A Warm Welcome

SoS wishes Kelley Sproston all the best in her new job with the National Trust. We would like to thank her for all her hard work and know that she will continue to support the cause of the red squirrel in Cumbria.

We welcome Charlotte Widgery who takes over the reins of People and Wildlife Officer for Cumbria and North Yorkshire at the end of July.

June 2007

Heaton Manor Students Design Donation Boxes

Students from Heaton Manor School in Newcastle were challenged to design and create donation boxes for the Save our Squirrels Project. Forty nine Year 9 students took part in the competition as part of their Design and Technology course. The winning designs needed to be attractive, informative, easily replicated and sturdy. The students presented their designs to Philippa, who had the very difficult job of choosing the winners. Three ideas stood out and these are now being made in bulk by the School’s Enterprise Group. These donation boxes are available for use throughout Northumberland to help raise money for red squirrel conservation.

Thank You to Ulgham Wildlife Sanctuary

“SoS would like to say a big Thank You to the Ulgham Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Club for the four squirrel feeders. The Nature Club students made the squirrel feeders and donated them to SoS for use at first schools or other suitable locations. One has gone to Kielder First School and the students there look forward to seeing regular visits from red squirrels.”

April 2007

Running for Red Squirrels in the London Marathon

A huge thankyou to Toni Chaplin-Armer, who completed the gruelling marathon in 4 hours and 25 minutes. She raised a magnificent £800 for red squirrels in the North of England. Toni, who trained with the Quakers Running Club in County Durham, became involved with red squirrels as part of her role as Operations Manager at Eshott Hall Estate in Northumberland. Here are Toni’s top tips for aspiring runners:

Project Manager Adds to the Drey.

Carri Nicholson, our Project Manager gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Elanor on 12th April. Elanor took her time arriving but mother and baby are both doing well.

Squirrel Rescue at Crosby. A squirrel had a very lucky rescue when it entered a house whose owners were away on holiday. The gardener saw the squirrel through one of the windows and became concerned, so he phoned the owners son. The son wasn’t too sure what to do, so he phone Fi and Sally at SoS.

The rescue team gathered outside the house and were quite dismayed to see that the small squirrel had already caused quite a bit of damage through knocking over pictures and plates, some of which were badly smashed.

Rescue

The rescuers went in through the back door and tried to persuade the squirrel to leave of its own accord. However, the little animal prefered to hide behind and under anything going - curtains, couches, cupboards, you name it. Eventually, Fi took off her coat and threw it over the little red squirrel. She then picked up the coat and its precious load and put the squirrel into an animal carrier.

Just before leaving, Sally noticed that the squirrel had left a deposit on the lovely lemon carpet. Fi was thrilled at the chance to have some fresh squirrel poo to examine and quickly gathered it up with some kitchen roll.

Finally the rescue team took the squirrel to a nearby woodland, where it eventually scampered out of the animal carrier and straight up a tree. It will be much happier living here with the other red squirrels.

Februay 2007

Squirrel Poxvirus - this has been seen along the Tyne Valley near Hexham and Haltwhistle and close to Longtown to the south west of Kielder. Please help us control this horrible disease and report all sightings of grey squirrels and red squirrels.

Survey Training - the first few Northumberland training days have gone very well and were much enjoyed by us and the volunteers. We are looking forward to getting out and doing the surveys now.

January 2007

Simon, our conservation officer from Cumbria, is a very proud Dad - Sam arrived on January 25th and is keeping both his parents happy and awake!