Template press release: Overwrite the red text with your own group’s details and send to your
local paper to help you publicise your activity.
PRESS RELEASE
XX September 2014
[Name of your group] Create Shelters To Protect Pollinators Over The Winter
Thousands of community groups across Britain are taking steps to support the UK’s pollinating
insects during ‘Wild About Gardens Week’
(15-21 September)
On [Monday 15 September], volunteers at [insert name of your group] will be creating winter
habitats for pollinators as part of Wild About Gardens Week 2014.
This year the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and The Wildlife Trust’s (TWT) initiative to halt
the decline of British wildlife will focus on the plight of the UK’s 1,500 species of pollinating
insects. Wildlife gardening events will be taking place across Britain throughout the week to help
protect pollinating insects and raise awareness of what can be done to support them over the
colder months when they are less active.
[Insert name of your group] is holding a free bug-hotel building master class on [date of event] at
[insert name of your group] that’s open to all. Bug hotels provide important shelter for a host of
pollinating insects over the harsh colder months.
Participants will be able to enter their creations into aRHS/TWTs ‘build a bug hotel’ competition
(www.wildaboutgardensweek.org.uk/buildabughotel).
Volunteers will be on hand to provide visitors with help and advice on the best ways to
encourage pollinating insects into their gardens. The event will run from 1pm to 4pm.
Refreshments will be provided.
As a result of the way the landscape has changed over recent decades, not all insect pollinators
can readily find the food and shelter they need. A recently published study by the International
Union for Conservation of Nature highlighted that 46% of European bumblebee species are in
decline, with 24% at risk of extinction; and we have already lost 23 bee and flower-visiting wasp
species in Britain.
The RHS and TWT are asking people to provide much-needed places in which pollinators can
spend the winter, and to plan their garden for the year ahead in an effort to provide vital pollen
and nectar-rich plants. A tailored website (www.wildaboutgardensweek.org.uk) has been created
to provide further information for gardeners.
[Insert name of spokesperson], [Insert name of your group], said: “Wild About Gardens Week is
a great opportunity for community gardening groups across the UK to come together and help
raise awareness of the decline of Britain’s wildlife. We have got at least 50 volunteers and local
schoolchildren coming down to get involved. It won’t be all work though, there’ll be drinks and
hot food served throughout the whole day – it’ll be great fun!”
Andrew Salisbury, RHS Senior Entomologist, said: “Pollinators and other invertebrates need
sheltered places to spend the cold winter months. By being a little less tidy, particularly around
the base of hedges and in garden borders, and by creating bug hotels and log piles we can
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provide much-needed overwintering sites. This will also give pollinators in the garden a head
start in spring.”
Paul Wilkinson, The Wildlife Trusts’ Head of Living Landscape, said: “Our pollinating insects
need a helping hand and we hope to see many people offer them one with inspired and creative
shelters in our bug hotel competition. Ultimately, it’s looking after the ‘small stuff’ which helps to
create a healthier bigger picture for wildlife and the natural environment. Collectively, our
gardens make up the biggest nature reserve in the UK. Let’s make it the biggest and best it can
be.”
To find out more about Wild About Gardens Week events in your area, or to access free RHS
and TWT advice about wildlife gardening, visit www.wildaboutgardensweek.org.uk
- Ends For more information, please contact Hattie Sherwood in the RHS Press Office on 020 7821
3126 or email hattiesherwood@rhs.org.uk or Anna Guthrie, Media & PR Manager, The
Wildlife Trusts on 07887 754659 or email aguthrie@wildlifetrusts.org
Notes to Editors:
Wild About Gardens Week #wildaboutgardens
An annual celebration of wildlife gardening, Wild About Gardens Week provides a focus to
encourage people to use their gardens and take action to help support wildlife. Competition
entries must be submitted in photograph format through the Wild About Gardens Week
website and Facebook page. For wildlife-gardening ideas and to enter the competition, visit
www.wildaboutgardensweek.org.uk
From September, this website will offer information about garden pollinators, ideas to help
them and other wildlife in the garden, and a 16-page A5 activity booklet. Printed copies of the
booklet will also accompany a free seed packet giveaway. The seed packets contain a 5g
mix that can be sown in autumn, allowing attendees to take action for pollinators immediately
after an event by planting early-blooming flowers as a nectar source for emerging insects.
The mix includes yarrow, nettle-leaved bellflower, autumn hawkbit, ox-eye daisy, musk
mallow, meadow buttercup, yellow rattle, red campion and devil’s bit scabious.
About the RHS
The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 by Sir Joseph Banks and John
Wedgwood for the encouragement and improvement of the science, art and practice of
horticulture. We held our first flower shows in 1820, were granted a Royal Charter in 1861
and acquired RHS Garden Wisley, our flagship garden, in 1903. From our first meetings in a
small room off London’s Piccadilly, we have grown to become the world’s largest gardening
charity.
Today the RHS is committed to providing a voice for all gardeners. We are driven by a
simple love of plants and a belief that gardeners make the world a better place. 210 years on
we continue to safeguard and advance the science, art and practice of horticulture, creating
displays that inspire people to garden. In all aspects of our work we help gardeners develop
by sharing our knowledge of plants, gardens and the environment.
RHS Registered Charity No. 222879/SC038262
About The Wildlife Trusts
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There are 47 individual Wildlife Trusts covering the whole of the UK. All are working for an
environment rich in wildlife for everyone. We have more than 800,000 members including
150,000 members of our junior branch Wildlife Watch. Our vision is to create A Living
Landscape and secure Living Seas. We manage around 2,300 nature reserves and every
year we advise thousands of landowners and organisations on how to manage their land for
wildlife. We also run marine-conservation projects around the UK, collecting vital data on the
state of our seas and celebrating our amazing marine wildlife. Every year we work with
thousands of schools, and our nature reserves and visitor centres receive millions of visitors.
Each Wildlife Trust is working within its local communities to inspire people about the future
of their area: their own Living Landscapes and Living Seas. www.wildlifetrusts.org
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