Member Article

Trust supporter wins Business Charity Award

A wildlife-friendly farmer’s efforts in contributing towards the conservation of UK wildlife have been recognised with an accolade at the Third Sector Business Charity Awards 2016.

Vine House Farm picked up the ‘Charity Partnership Small Business Award’ for its achievements and the impacts its partnership with the UK’s 47 Wildlife Trusts, including Northumberland Wildlife Trust, is having on wildlife in this country.

Fourth-generation farmer Nicholas Watts has been working the land at Vine House Farm in Deeping St Nicholas in Lincolnshire, since he was a boy. His passion for birds has shaped his method of wildlife-friendly farming, and led to Vine House Farm’s partnership with The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts in 2007. Through this partnership, five per cent of bird food sales are donated to Vine House Farm customers’ Wildlife Trusts near them, resulting in more than £1,000,000 received by The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts by 2015.

Nicholas Watts MBE said: “At Vine House Farm, we have always had a clear vision which still holds true today: farming in a way that encourages wildlife and the wide range of habitats it needs. Our aspirations have always been to contribute to the conservation of wildlife through the growth of various wild bird foods and our support of local charities.

“We’re thrilled that this has been acknowledged on a national level at the Business Charity Awards and it just goes to prove you don’t need to be a large business to make a significant impact to a worthy cause.”

Mike Pratt, Northumberland Wildlife Trust Chief Executive said: “It is great that the Wildlife Trust’s partnership with Vine House Farm has been recognised in this way.

“It is not just that Nicholas recognised the terrible impact that modern farming methods were having on the birds he had grown to love as a child, but he had the courage to act on his findings, to change things and to influence others to do the same.

“Now through this partnership he has not only ensured countless people across the UK are feeding their birds high quality seed, but he has donated over £1million to do even more for the natural world. This has meant we can bring the joy of nature closer to many more people. The future of wildlife in the UK, with this our own health and prosperity, depends on there being people with the vision and courage that Nicholas has in abundance.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sue Bishop .