West Cumbria Rivers Trust’s Patrons, Lord and Lady Egremont, opened up their home at Cockermouth Castle to encourage local businesses to adopt a beck or river near them to help improve water quality for people and wildlife.
The ‘Adopt a Beck’ scheme, run by West Cumbria Rivers Trust (WCRT), aims to encourage local businesses and organisations to become guardians of their local watercourse by investing in river habitat improvements, events and educational activities that encourage their staff and the local community to explore, celebrate and learn more about their watercourse.
Lord Egremont, WCRT’s Patron, commented: “Our beautiful becks in Cumbria are home to wonderful and rare wildlife, we enjoy the beauty and serenity of a walk along riverside paths, we use them for fishing, paddling or cooling off during the summer months. Healthy rivers are crucial for not only supporting wildlife but also for local businesses too, whether it’s through tourism, water supply, fishing or even providing drinking water for our livestock.”
The scheme has been running as a pilot for almost three years. Large investor – NuGEN – adopted Black Beck and Kirk Beck near the proposed Moorside site which funded a Project Officer and many conservation projects. Medium investor – Sealy UK – adopted Plumblands Gill Beck and funded fencing, tree planting and a staff volunteer day. Bassenthwaite Rotary Club adopted Dash Beck and volunteer their time doing walkover surveys, tree planting and insect monitoring. The pilot projects have been so successful that Lord and Lady Egremont wished to help the Trust expand the scheme further by inviting a wider audience of businesses to their home to find out more about the scheme.
The scheme is the brain child of Jodie Mills, WCRT director, who said: “Adopting a beck can help deliver real and measurable improvements to our communities for people and wildlife. Staff and community groups also have the opportunity to get their hands dirty and make a difference by lending a hand! The evening was a huge success and many thanks to all who attended and to our patrons for sponsoring the event and opening up their home.”
If you are interested in joining our Adopt a Beck scheme or would just like to know a bit more about it then please get in touch by emailing: [email protected] or call the office on 017687 75429.
