St Johns, ISLE OF MAN – The Manx Wildlife Trust recently held their inaugural Raise a Ransom for Wildlife event at the charity’s Close Sartfield nature reserve in the Ballaugh Curragh. The event involved volunteers being “held to ransom” while carrying out “hard labour” on the Trust’s Great Bog Project. Under the guidance of Reserves Officer, Tricia Sayle, the Manx Wildlife Trust’s regular team of dedicated, conservation volunteers – or Muckers as they’re more commonly known! - have been busy working on this project for a couple of years with the aim of creating an area of open bog habitat which will be partially flooded for 4/5 months of the year. The bog area will be edged with tall, tussocky grassland with mature curragh beyond that, giving habitat diversity to attract a variety of insects and birds, especially hen harriers whose numbers have recently declined. In January 2010, an episode of the BBC’s Countryfile programme showed the Muckers working on the project and presenter, Julia Bradbury, even lent a hand! During the Raise a Ransom for Wildlife event, the “hard labour” carried out by the volunteers ensured that they soon became experts in removing bog myrtle – a particularly invasive and deep-rooted species – from an area that became increasingly muddy as the morning went on! While Raise a Ransom for Wildlife was designed to be a light-hearted event, it was all in aid of a very important cause: helping the Manx Wildlife Trust to buy a much-needed, new truck – essential for transporting tools to its various nature reserves around the Island to ensure their effective maintenance and management. The Trust’s current vehicle needs to be replaced sooner rather than later and the charity is very grateful to the Gough Ritchie Charitable Trust for kick-starting its fundraising in this respect by awarding a grant of ?2,500. There is still some way to go before the Manx Wildlife Trust will be in a position to buy a new truck – the most suitable model is estimated to cost in the region of ?20,000 – and with this in mind, Fundraising Officer, Anne Marie Kilgallon, came up with the idea of the Raise a Ransom for Wildlife fundraising event. On what turned out to be the warmest day of the year so far, Seymour Corkill, Colas Director of Quarries and Waste; Gary Bews, The Strand Group’s Scanning Department Manager; Howard Caine from Manx Radio and Graham Sheward, Close Bank’s Managing Director – Offshore Banking were “held to ransom” in the bog at Close Sartfield while carrying out “hard labour” under the watchful eyes of Tricia and Anne Marie. Every now and then they were allowed to take a break from wallowing in the mud to make increasingly desperate telephone calls to family, friends and colleagues in an attempt to raise their “ransoms.” At one point, Graham Sheward, who had primed the teams at Close Bank here on the Island, and also in the Bank’s Guernsey office, to raise his ransom by holding a raffle, selling cakes, toasties and jacket potatoes, was heard giving out the co-ordinates for Close Sartfield so that a rescue team could come for him! Howard Caine was wondering why even his wife seemed reluctant to help pay his “ransom” while both Seymour Corkill and Gary Bews seemed incredibly at home working in the bog and were reluctant to stop even when their “ransoms” had been paid! Even Chrissy Cannell from The Children’s Centre, who initially attended the event to help make tea and coffee for the volunteers, was soon seen wielding a mattock like a professional! When finally released from their “hard labour”, the “volunteers” and everyone involved with the event agreed that the morning had been a great success, especially as “ransoms” totalling a wonderful ?1714 had been raised. Anne Marie said, “I’m absolutely delighted with how our inaugural Raise a Ransom for Wildlife event has gone. All the volunteers have been great sports and have raised a terrific amount of money towards our new truck.” Anne Marie went on to say that in addition to the funds raised on the day, she had also received donations from two of the Trust’s Corporate members, Tower Insurance Company Limited and Isle of Man Assurance, who weren’t able to attend the event, giving a total of ?2064 to go into the truck fund. On behalf of the Manx Wildlife Trust, Anne Marie would like to thank everyone involved with Raise a Ransom for Wildlife for their tremendous support and is already making plans for next year’s event! In the meantime, if anyone would like to assist the Manx Wildlife Trust in their efforts to buy their new truck, Anne Marie would be delighted to hear from you on Tel. 801985. Ends