New Forest Collection guests dig deep to support Love the Forest

PUBLISHED ON: 23 NOVEMBER 2022

Hotel staff at the New Forest Collection who had helped collect a staggering £92,000 in donations from their guests joined the volunteering programme they had helped to support.

The five hotels in the New Forest National Park – Bartley Lodge, Burley Manor, Forest Lodge in Lyndhurst, bed and breakfast Moorhill House in Burley and Beaulieu Inn plus pub restaurant The Drift, have raised the funds over 11 years, with a £1 donation added to bills and are the biggest contributor to the Love the Forest scheme.

Love the Forest is part of the New Forest Trust charity, whose charitable aims are to secures the future of the New Forest by supporting conservation and education projects as well as supporting the ancient tradition of commoning where animals roam free across the landscape.

Last year with the help of the New Forest Collection funds it gave a grant of £9,000 to support the New Forest National Park Authority’s (NPA) volunteering programme which restores habitats across the Forest.

Five team members from Bartley Lodge and Central Offices took part in an NPA conservation volunteering day to restore heathland at an RSPB site at Copythorne. They cleared birch and pine trees with hand tools so that key heathland species like heather and gorse can return and support native species such as curlew, sand lizard and grass snake.

Managing Director Garry Baldwin said: ‘We at the New Forest Collection give our guests the opportunity to support Love the Forest through a £1 donation on their bill. That gives us a great opportunity to sit at the heart of the community by supporting conservation and education projects, keeping the Forest as a great place to come and stay.’

As well as supporting the 900 National Park volunteers who help with conservation, wildlife and heritage tasks, recent Love the Forest grants have:

funded research into pine martens
promoted the New Forest Code so visitors can help care for the Forest
helped Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust to remove invading non-native plants from rivers and streams.

New Forest Trust Chairman William Ziegler said: ‘We are extremely grateful for the ongoing support of New Forest Collection guests and staff.

‘The funds raised through New Forest Collection guests’ donations are vital to support a wide range of projects across the Forest, ensuring this internationally-important landscape survives for future generations.

‘We would also like to thank the New Forest Collection staff for their practical help by putting their wellies on and joining the volunteers!’

People can donate online to Love the Forest at: https://www.justgiving.com/newforesttrust.

If your business could support the Love the Forest scheme, please get in touch at admin@lovetheforest.org.uk.

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Notes to editors

About Love the Forest

The New Forest Trust (registered charity number 1099420) was founded in 2003 with one simple aim, to secure the future of the New Forest.

It gains financial support locally through donations and from the millions of people who visit the New Forest every year through the Love the Forest visitor giving scheme.

The money raised is used to fund projects that meet the Trust’s charitable aims to support conservation, education and commoning, with some projects being delivered directly and others by local organisations through the Love the Forest scheme.

Visit the New Forest Trust’s website for more information about how you can help care for the New Forest: www.newforesttrust.org.uk

The New Forest National Park Authority supports the Love the Forest scheme and is actively involved in its promotion and administration.