Snows Farm (c) Nathan Millar
Giving in memory
Celebrate your loved one's life by protecting the wildlife they loved
Donating or fundraising in memory of someone you love is a wonderful way to remember them, honouring their life, and supporting a cause close to their heart. A donation in memory to Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, for this special reason, leaves a lasting personal legacy by helping to protect the future of Gloucestershire's wildlife and wild places.
We are always incredibly touched and grateful to receive donations in memory, large or small. We think it is important that these donations directly support the places your loved one cared about the most, and for you to have somewhere to return to, and remember them.
Donate in memory of your loved one
There are a number of ways you can remember your loved one, from arranging a funeral collection to making a donation to our work.
Your loved one’s memory will live on in the future that your kind donation helps bring us closer towards—where the woodlands are filled with birdsong in spring; fields are carpeted with wildflowers in summer; and kingfishers flash their colours over healthy rivers and streams for generations to come. Thank you.
Have a look through our options below to find which is right for you.
Arrange a funeral collection
Many people ask for donations to Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust in lieu of flowers at funerals or memorials. You can hold a collection on the day or set up a collection beforehand for family and friends to donate online.
If you would like to talk to someone about holding a funeral collection please get in touch. Email fundraising@gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk or call our friendly team on 01452 383333
Fundraise in memory of your loved one
You can either take on a personal challenge to honour your loved one's memory or fundraise with family and friends to celebrate their life together. Set yourself a challenge to run, bake, read or whatever you like for wildlife and know that the funds you raise will support a cause close to their heart.
Orchids in a meadow © Jim Higham
Sow a memory in our meadows
A lasting gift that will bloom year after year.
Leave a lasting tribute to your loved one with a donation to one of our wildflower meadows. You will help us maintain and protect these special wildflower displays – be that through conservation grazing, scrub control or by gathering wildflower seeds from across the reserves and sowing them in areas where wildflowers are less abundant. See our selection of meadows below.
Clarke's Pool Meadows
The traditional hay meadows at this SSSI are among the finest in Gloucestershire and in spring support a population of more than 45,000 green-winged orchids. Other wildflowers found here include adder’s-tongue fern, cowslip, bluebell and yellow rattle.
Gwen and Vera’s Fields & Vell Mill Daffodil Meadow
These abundant and rare wild daffodil meadows are part of the ‘Golden Triangle’, sitting alongside cuckooflower, meadow vetchling, greater stitchwort and autumn meadow saffron. Vell Mill is home to 60 heritage fruit trees, attracting noble chafer beetles,
Daneway Banks
In spring and summer this sloping nature reserve comes alive with a wealth of wildflowers, including rock-rose, cowslip and orchids. The wildflowers attract a diverse range of insects, such as the large blue butterfly.
Greystones Farm
Home to Salmonsbury Meadows, a SSSI, ancient meadows that contain a diverse range of wildflowers, such as southern marsh orchids, barberry shrubs and a wide range of birds and insects, water voles, otters, badgers, eight species of bat and barn owls.
Lower Woods
Lower Woods is famous for its carpets of bluebells in spring, early purple orchids, greater butterfly orchids and herb Paris. In the summer look for old meadow species including ragged-robin, common-spotted orchids, betony and devil’s-bit scabious.
Swift's Hill
The limestone grassland supports more than 130 species of wildflowers, with no fewer than 13 different orchids found here, including rare frog, bee, early purple and autumn lady’s-tresses. Knapweed, wild thyme and bird’s-foot trefoil.We will do or best to ensure your donation is used towards your chosen reserve, although we may use it at whichever reserve it is needed the most.
Memorial benches
At a few of our reserves, you will see benches with dedications and memorial plaques, unfortunately we are no longer able to offer this. The demand for and maintenance required for these types of memorials is often higher than the capacity of our Land Management team and volunteers. Instead, we ask that you consider directing donations to Gloucestershire’s wildlife and wild places, specifically to our seasonal wildflower meadows as detailed above – creating and maintaining a living memorial that you can return to again and again.
Planting a tree in memory
Similarly to benches, we do receive a lot of requests for memorial trees, and unfortunately we are also no longer able to accommodate this on our reserves. We do not regularly plant individual trees as part of our work – when we do plant, we do so at scale either for natural flood management solutions, or to connect existing woodland. Saplings like these are not of the right size, or do not have permanent tree guards to take dedications.
We do however have six wonderful heritage fruit trees in our orchard at Vell Mill available for dedication (see Gwen and Vera’s Fields & Vell Mill Daffodil Meadow for more information, above). Dedicating a tree in memory of a loved one costs £350.00. Please contact our fundraising team for information on the details provided below.
Scattering of ashes
Unfortunately, we cannot endorse the scattering of ashes due to the environmental impact it can cause, particularly in relation to the soil chemistry and biodiversity. As many of our sites are designated SSSI, our foremost priority is to protect the delicate balance that exists in these habitats.
Thank you
If you would like to discuss donating or fundraising in memory of your loved one, or if you have any questions, please call 01452 383333 or email fundraising@gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk
Mail: Legacies, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, Conservation Centre, Robinswood Hill Country Park, Reservoir Road, Gloucester, GL4 6SX