annual report and accounts 2012 - RSPB

RSPB trustees’ report and accounts 2011-12
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements 2011-12 – thank you for supporting us
Members
The support and loyalty of our members is critical to
the success and achievements of the RSPB. Meeting
the rigorous conservation targets that we set would
not be possible without the enormous contributions
that members make. Members help in many ways,
all of them equally important: financially, through
volunteering, by supporting RSPB campaigns
through letter writing, and by helping to deliver
RSPB projects on the ground through local groups.
Community Groups
RSPB local groups, RSPB Wildlife Explorer groups
and RSPB Phoenix groups worked unstintingly over
the year. Local groups provide a great focus for us in
local communities, involve many people in our
work, and raised over £431,500 for RSPB
conservation projects. Wildlife Explorers (our junior
members) raised more than £23,000 to help Save
Birds of Prey.
On behalf of the RSPB, RSPB local groups and
Wildlife Explorer groups throughout the UK, we
would like to thank Awards for All (supported by
the “good cause” Lottery distributors across the UK)
for their continued support of local projects through
their community grants scheme.
Volunteers
The RSPB enjoyed the support of over 17,600
volunteers last year, giving the RSPB a gift of time of
over 1,017,782 hours. This is equivalent to an extra
591 full-time staff working for nature conservation.
These volunteers helped with virtually every aspect
of the RSPB’s work, and we cannot thank them
enough for their generous support. Additionally,
594,684 people gave an hour of their time to
participate in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch, and
90,043 took part in our new survey Make Your
Nature Count.
Legacies
This year, as ever, we are grateful to individuals who
generously remember the RSPB in their wills. The
income generated in this way makes a significant
impact on the amount of conservation work we are
able to carry out throughout the year. Whilst it is
impossible to thank each and everyone of our
benefactors, there are a few we would like to
mention:
Ronald Charles North
Vera Constance Messam
Eileen Nora Campbell White
William John Else
Stephen Cooper Shepherd
James William Hardcastle
Anna Margaretha Moesker
Mary Collins
Kathleen Mary Davidson
Stanley James Baldry
Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund has provided essential
support for RSPB projects to restore and secure
natural heritage for current and future generations
to discover, learn about and enjoy. Big Lottery has
helped us create opportunities for people from all
backgrounds to have greater access to the natural
environment, involve local communities and
provide sustainable energy initiatives. The RSPB is
indebted to HLF and BIG for their continued
support for our work.
44 www.rspb.org.uk