Wiltshire Wildlife Trust has secured £498,800 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) its three-year Wild Connections project, which aims to increase visitors to its nature reserves through better accessibility and raised awareness.

Wild Connections - to be launched in the spring -  will focus on 15 of the trust’s key nature reserves chosen because of their proximity to local communities and natural heritage.

The trust will work with local people and a number of partners to widen the audience they can currently reach. There will be a new programme of events, increased volunteering activities and new volunteer training opportunities to encourage people to find out more about the natural world and care for their local nature reserve.

As well as this the trust will also be able to undertake a range of improvements and enhancements to increase access to these special reserves for everyone.

Michele Gard, fundraising manager, said: “We’re delighted the Heritage Lottery Fund has generously supported our Wild Connections project.

"Wild Connections is an innovative and important new project for the trust.

"We will now be able to increase and encourage access to nature for everyone, including groups that historically may not spend time in the countryside.

"This funding greatly enhances the work the trust does and takes us another step closer to achieving our aims of enabling everyone to access their natural heritage.”

Everyone in Wiltshire and Swindon lives within ten miles of a Wiltshire Wildlife Trust nature reserve.

The 15 Wild Connections sites are rich in historical and natural heritage, including features such as ancient hunting sites, wildflower rich meadows, native woodland, chalk downland, medieval terraces and even a WWII airfield. 

Wild Connections nature reserves are:

1. Lower Moor Farm, Clattinger Farm Oaksey Moor Farm Meadows & Sandpool Farm (Cricklade)

2. Blakehill Farm (Cricklade)

3. Ravensroost (Malmesbury, Cricklade)

4. St Julian’s Community Woodland (Swindon)

5. Clouts Wood (Wroughton)

6. Vincients Wood (Chippenham)

7. Morgan’s Hill (Calne/Devizes) 8.

Conigre Mead (Melksham)

9. Jones’s Mill (Pewsey)

10. Green lane Wood & Biss Wood (Trowbridge)

11. Smallbrook Meadows (Warminster)

12. Langford Lakes (Warminster/Salisbury)

13. The Devenish Reserve (Salisbury)

14. Blackmoor Copse (Salisbury/Alderbury)

15. Coombe Bissett Down (Salisbury/Alderbury)

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust manages 37 nature reserves and works with local communities to promote sustainable living. It is supported by 18,000 members and over 1,000 volunteers.

For more information about the trust visit www.wiltshirewildlife.org