Raptor evening

Last nights joint CBCG/Rishworth and Heathfield schools Raptor Awareness evening held at Rishworth school was a huge success with between 70 and 100 people attending. As well as an excellent presentation by Steve Downing on our raptor work which produced a great deal of interest and support the evening also included entertainment provided by the school, quizes, a raffle and an auction as well as a bar and buffet. All in all the evening will have raied a significant amount of money to help continue and extend the raptor protection work currently ongoing in our area. Thanks are due to the PTAs of both schools, the staff and pupils of the schools themselves and of course those of our members who have put a massive amount of effort into making this a success. The evening was the culmination of several weeks events and would not have happened had it not been for the enthusiasm and efforts of in particular Steve Downing and Tim Walker, my personal thanks go to them for not just this but all the other hard work they do "behind the scenes" a lot of which never comes to public knowledge, we are very fortunate to have two such dedicated and enthusiastic local birders. Thanks also to Andy Huyton for so capably running the auction, I reckon he could sell an RSPB tea towel to a twitcher! Hopefully there will be some photos of the evening available soon and I will post a couple on here.

The final total raised is yet to be determined but will be announced in the near future when an official presentation will take place at the school. Thanks again to all involved and to those members that attended on the night.

Nick

PS Don't forget tomorrows nest box event at the Crags!