This year we developed a bid through the Big Give Green Match Fund for our Wild Lakes: Reed Revival Project around Lake Windermere. Running from 18th – 25th April, the Green Match Fund doubled all donations received. This is done through pledged support from Champions, who support global projects of their choosing.

We needed to reach a target of £80,000 for the project – which we didn’t quite reach but the public and businesses who pledged support helped us raise a massive £42,000 for reedbed restoration around Lake Windermere. We would like to thank everyone who donated to the project. Your donations will have a direct impact, improving Windermere for nature and for people.

The Lake District Foundation, South Cumbria Rivers Trust and Windermere Science Festival have teamed up to deliver 1400square meters of reedbed restoration around the shores of Lake Windermere.

Reedbeds boost biodiversity, support water quality and sustain ecosystems for plants, wildlife and people. They are a priority habitat for a range of species including rare birds like the Great Crested Grebe. They also support mammals, as well as invertebrates and fish. About 10 years ago we commissioned a study about reedbed decline around Windermere, finding that 90% of reedbeds have declined since 1870. We are determined to reverse that. This isn’t our first reedbed restoration project around the lake – so far we have restored 6 hectares of reedbeds but we still have a long way to go.

We have four sites lined up for restoration and with your funding and support we can now get started.

Thank you so much again and keep posted for updates about progress!

The BigGive Campaign page: bit.ly/reedbeds