Secret World Wildlife and Rescue centre, in East Huntspill, launched its £4.4million Call of the Wild Appeal with the help of Discworld author Sir Terry Pratchett earlier this year, aiming to create a facility to aid more injured and abandoned animals.
Now, thanks to a grant of £502,600 from the lottery fund, work on the education centre part of the project, which involves the renovation and extension of a 17th century barn, will start in October and is expected to be completed by May 2013.
Secret World founder Pauline Kidner said: “The Heritage Lottery grant provided 79 per cent of the cash needed to build, equip and run the centre as well as funding a South West schools outreach programme over the next three-and-a-half years.”
The project will give thousands of schoolchildren from across the region direct access to the natural world at a time when the UK’s wildlife has never been under a greater threat.
Pauline said: “We have been inundated with wildlife orphans over the past couple of months of the breeding season but while what we do with the rescue side of the charity is vitally important, it is the education of our children that will have the greatest impact on wildlife in the future.”
The new wildlife education centre will include meeting rooms and a lecture theatre where schools will be encouraged to take part in educational programmes, giving youngsters a unique opportunity to learn about British wildlife and how to help save it.
Sir Terry Pratchett said Secret World was the South West’s only 24-hour wildlife rescue service and its work had never been more vital. He said: “Orphaned by traffic, hurt by our pollution and rubbish and forced out of their natural habitats by our developments, Britain’s wildlife is in serious decline so much so that even the sparrow and the much-loved hedgehog are endangered.”
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