RSPCA and Police host Wildlife Friends Community Day in North Yorkshire

The event on Sunday (September 14), was held at the North Yorkshire Water Park, in Wykeham.

It has been organised with the help of RSPCA Scarborough and District Branch and was hosted by the animal charity’s Wildlife Partnership Manager Geoff Edmond and Wildlife Friends volunteer Paul Bateman (pictured) as well as officers from the police’s Rural Neighbourhood Team.

Wildlife Friends is the RSPCA’s popular microvolunteering scheme which was launched in 2023 to encourage people to undertake simple tasks in their gardens and outdoor spaces to create environments that are friendly to wildlife and help support a balanced eco system.

From planting wildlife-friendly plants to creating bug hotels, from leaving food out for hedgehogs and birds to carrying out litter picks, to removing hazards such as discarded angling tackle that could harm wildlife, Wildlife Friends offers volunteers the opportunity to take action at a time when wildlife is under threat more than ever before. The State of Nature 2023 report * found that one in six (16%) of over 10,000 species studied in Great Britain are at risk of becoming extinct.

The animal welfare charity wants to recruit 2,500 new Wildlife Friends in 2025 and hopes the Yorkshire event will attract people in the region who are interested in helping wildlife in their own communities to attend to learn what they can do and also share their own experiences.

They will also get the chance to find out how they can help the RSPCA and North Yorkshire Police tackle wildlife crime (pictured right with Geoff at a recent event in Scarborough).

Geoff said: “ Wildlife Friends is an exciting opportunity for anyone who wants to volunteer to help protect wildlife in their local community. Animals are facing more challenges than ever which is why we’re recruiting Wildlife Friends to join our million strong movement of people who are ready to help animals.

“Whether you have five minutes or an hour of time to spare doing small things, which most of these simple tasks are, can make a big difference to help wildlife. By putting a bird feeder up in your garden, making a hedgehog house or planting some wild flower seeds to help pollinators you are being a Wildlife Friend.

Wildlife Friends volunteer Paul, from Rawcliffe in East Yorkshire, is a former park ranger who has expertise in tackling wildlife crime. He says his wildlife volunteering helped him manage chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia.

“As a Wildlife Friend I’ve completed tasks such as cleaning bird feeders, litter picks and checking drains for hedgehogs. There is a shortage of volunteers in the North and East Yorkshire area and we need more people involved,” said Paul, who has undertaken the National Police Wildlife Crime Officers training course and serves as a local rural and wildlife coordinator for Crimestoppers.

“I get together with other Wildlife Friends around Yorkshire and we meet up regularly to monitor local sett. We drop hay during the birthing season and we have set up cameras, which as well as providing a fascinating insight into the lives of badgers can provide evidence if setts are disturbed.

“Badger baiting is a horrific crime and perpetrators think they can get away with their crimes because they operate in isolated areas. It is essential wildlife lovers and enforcement officers are armed with the knowledge and skills to prove what they are doing.”

You can sign up as an RSPCA Wildlife Friend at the RSPCA website.