Lucy Watts, Manager at Vine House Farm, presented a cheque for a staggering £136.807 to Chief Executives of The Wildlife Trusts in recognition of the vital work they carry out for wildlife throughout the country.

Brian Eversham, Chief Executive for the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough said:

“We are very grateful to Vine House Farm for its ongoing support. It is an outstanding family business which demonstrates that profitable farming can go hand-in-hand with environmentally responsible practices. The Wildlife Trust aims to reverse the decline of wildlife and enhance the variety of species inBedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough and so this support will help us ensure local species remain in fine feather!”

Lucy Watts, on behalf of all at Vine House Farm, said:

“I am delighted that we are able to donate such a large cheque to such a worthy charity as TheWildlife Trusts. They continue to stand up for wildlife on a local level which is so important to us now and will be for generations to come”

Nicholas Watts MBE, owner of Vine House Farm, is a third generation farmer who grows arable crops, bird seed and organic vegetables on his 850 hectares at Vine House Farm in Lincolnshire. Over the last 10 years, he has seen barn owl numbers quadruple, whitethroat numbers double, lapwing numbers increase from two to nine pairs and breeding tree sparrow pairs increase ten-fold.

The Wildlife Trusts, which recognise farmers hold a key to the well-being of our countryside and, in turn, the health of our wildlife, launched a partnership with conservation award-winning Vine House Farm in August 2007.