Funding success thanks to Acorn Fund donors

Thanks to your generous support of our Acorn Fund, we’ve unlocked funding for two vital conservation projects on our nature reserves.

The Acorn Fund is an ongoing pot of money that is allocated specifically to help Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust access important grants from the Landfill Communities Fund – a national scheme that supports environmental projects.

How it works:

Landfill site operators pay a tax when they bury waste. Some of this money goes into the Landfill Communities Fund, which we can apply to in order to receive funding to carry out vital nature conservation work in our area.

However, these grants are highly competitive and often require additional funds to unlock them – usually an extra 10% from supporters, that needs to be raised within a matter of weeks. We’re not allowed to use the Trust’s own funds, so without support, we could miss out entirely.

That’s why we created the Acorn Fund – a dedicated pot ready to unlock grant opportunities as soon as they come up.

To put it simply, a donation of £100 could help unlock £1,000 in funding for nature conservation.

Thanks to donations to the Acorn Fund, we’ve now secured support for two exciting new projects.

Kilnhurst Ings: Water for Wildlife

We’ve been awarded over £20,000 by FCC Communities Foundation, to carry out re-wetting work at Kilnhurst Ings, with the project due to start this Autumn.

The word Ings literally means water meadow or marsh (from the Old Norse) and provides a clue to its past as a floodplain of the River Don. However, these days the Ings are disconnected from the river due to the presence of a vital floodbank that helps protect communities from flooding.

We aim to make part of the site wetter, making space for nature to return by working with an existing watercourse and a series of ditches, scrapes and ponds.

Wading birds such as snipe and lapwing will benefit from the wet, rushy habitat and scrapes, as well as many species of damselflies and dragonflies. Our long-term ambition is for water voles to return to the site, after not being recorded there since 2007.

© FCC Communities Foundation

Supported by FCC Communities Foundation

Wyming Brook & Fox Hagg: RAD in the Rivelin – Resilience, Access & Diversity

We’ve been awarded almost £40,000 by Veolia Environmental Trust through the Landfill Communities Fund, to support tree-planting, flood-management and better access, with work due to start this Autumn.

With this funding, we will increase the adaptability of the area by planting a greater mix of tree species that are resilient to climate change. Additionally, we will create more wet features such as leaky dams that provide natural flood management.

We also plan to improve access to the reserves so that everyone can enjoy the benefits of nature and green spaces. This will include improving surfaces and steps, as well as installing new educational maps and signage to engage visitors.

© veolia Environmental Trust logo

Supported by Veolia Environmental Trust

Thank you!

Your kind donation contributed to unlocking the funds for these projects. Thank you so much!

We look forward to sending you further updates once the work is underway.