A WILDLIFE trust says it has been bowled over by a fundraising appeal launched earlier this week.

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust began its project at the weekend (Saturday, December 15) to pay for projects that will help improve habitats for Yorkshire’s wildlife. It only has until January 31 to raise £16,453 so that it can attract further funding.

But in the first few days of the appeal, £5,000 was donated. Every £1 donated means the trust will receive £10 in aid from the Landfill Communities Fund.

The money was being raised to put in perimeter fencing at the wildflower meadows at Wheldrake Ings near York, so the land can be grazed and rare plant species flourish.

It was also to be spent on an area of York south of York, where the trust plans to work with landowners to improve some limestone grassland and encourage several species of orchids and butterflies.

Jono (CORRECT) Leadley, director of development at the trust said: “It is such a tough time for everybody with price rises and the approach of Christmas, so I am really touched that people have spared a little money to help Yorkshire’s wildlife.

“If we can hit our target of £16,453 we can release ten times the value from the Landfill Communities Fund, enabling us to do a huge amount of work.

“With less than a week gone we are almost a third of the way there.”

To donate telephone 01904-659570 with your credit card details or visit justgiving.com/investing-in-yorkshires-wildlife.

Alternatively, send a cheque payable to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Appeal, 1 St George’s Place, York, YO24 1GN.