Thank you to all our amazing supporters. Your donations have made all these wonderful projects possible. We are so proud to share our achievements for 2024, only attainable thanks to you!
We feel very honoured to sponsor and partner with so many exceptional nature organisations who lead and share their expertise with a variety of youth groups. They are passionate and knowledgeable and we feel very fortunate that through our sponsorship, these events can take place.
Here's a recap of what we achieved in 2024: |
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Birds of Poole Harbour
Poole Harbour Young Birders Club
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| Boat trips are one of the activities planned |
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| We are excited to partner with Birds of Poole Harbour to sponsor their new youth engagement club for 13-18 year olds, interested in birds and wildlife. To-date they have over 61 young people signed up. These free monthly events enable them to meet like-minded young people, gain skills and learn about nature. |
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| So far the sessions have included bird ringing demos, guided walks, ID sessions and talks. For this year, the activities planned include a Poole Harbour boat trip, a guided bird ID walk, bird ringing demos and a guided tour of Dorset Wildlife Trust's rewilding site - Wild Woodbury. Some fabulous opportunities to get involved. |
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Cameron's Cottage
RSPB reserve Franchises Lodge in the New Forest
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It was fabulous to see Cameron’s Cottage thriving last year with so many young people from all walks of life. The new Cameron’s Cottage RSPB team have been fantastic in welcoming these groups and providing them with nature-rich activities that are educational, hands-on and fun.
In total, we funded 14 groups to spend time at Cameron’s Cottage in 2024. This included some day visits with RSPB run activities and some residential stays from either local youth organisations or from other groups from London and further afield. As one of the leaders said to me: “The RSPB really make the magic of nature come alive.” |
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| Wild New Forest camp, October 2024. Their wildlife knowledge impressed Dr.Olivia Chappele, High Sheriff of Wiltshire, who spent the morning with the group. |
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| Activities are tailored to each group and you can choose one of the RSPB led activities that best suit your group. For a group who is spending their first time in a truly safe and magical woodland, games and activities are pitched just right for them to learn about their surroundings and nature through play. |
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| Leaside Trust: Leaside Trust is a diverse inner-city community hub in Hackney, East London. Hackney is in the top 10% deprivation bracket for the UK and 29% of young people in the borough are not in employment, education or training. Leaside offers young people and the local community the chance to shine by delivering inspiring and engaging outdoor sporting and educational activities. This is the 2nd year we have funded a camp for them to bring a group to Cameron’s Cottage. They offered the trip to young people eligible for free schools meals as well as Leaside Youth members to spend 4 nights at Cameron’s Cottage. Eight children attended in total and they described the camp: |
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| “ a perfect blend of fun, education and outdoor adventure, with Cameron’s Cottage providing a truly off-grid experience.” |
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| Leaside Trust, leaf foraging |
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| Leaside Trust, watch that puddle! |
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| Leaside Trust, building a makeshift camp in the forest |
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| Leaside Trust, outdoor cooking at Cameron’s Cottage |
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| Young Carer Organisations: We continued to fund many groups from Young Carer Organisations from Winchester, New Forest, Southampton, and Romsey to come and spend time at Cameron’s Cottage. It's been wonderful to see the impact that being in nature has on their well-being. Much needed time outdoors, surrounded by sights and sounds of nature, have been an excellent way for them to have a break from their everyday responsibilities at home. |
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| Romsey young carers enjoying the space around Cameron’s |
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Romsey young carer developing his ID skills
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Young Writers Camp: We funded the first Young Writers Camp last August which was run and led by young naturalists who were keen to use Cameron’s Cottage as a peaceful and inspirational place to encourage participants to write about wildlife and nature. 15 young people were able to attend and take part in writing activities provided by leading wildlife authors and journalists. Writing skills are hugely important for communicating and connecting us to nature as well as the important role we have to protect it.
It was wonderful to spend time with this group and hear how much inspiration was gained by the advice and activities provided by the guest speakers. A huge thank you especially to Stephen Moss, Lucy Houliston, Jeni Bell, Dominic Couzens and Roger Morgan-Grenville. |
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| The outdoor classroom is the perfect place for talks |
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“ ‘I have really really enjoyed the weekend. You have created something so special here. I especially liked meeting other young people that read books, love nature and are generally lovely people! Thank you so much Emily and Andrew!’ ”
Writers Camp participant |
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| Presentation by Dominic Couzens, a leading wildlife writer |
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| Wild New Forest Camp: A lot of research suggests that it’s essential to educate the next generation in conservation and we are very proud to continue to work with Wild New Forest and sponsor their spring and autumn camps at Cameron’s Cottage. Wild New Forest are experts at leading young nature lovers and providing them with tools and knowledge to increase their skills in conservation, as well as advising them on various career paths. |
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| Wild New Forest educating the next generation |
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British Trust of Ornithology: Another great example of this is working with British Trust of Ornithology. We are so pleased to once again sponsor their Young Leaders course held for the second year at Cameron’s Cottage. This four- day course empowers young people who care about the environment to take positive action, equipping them with leadership skills.
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“ Overall, I think I gained a lot personally from being on the course and I am really proud of what I achieved - particularly joining in with discussions and leading my own activity, neither of which I have felt able to do in the past. Being surrounded by a group of like-minded nature nerds definitely boosted my confidence and both staff, speakers and other participants altogether made it a fantastic experience.” ”
Anna, a 2024 participant |
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Hampshire Ornithological Society
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| Bird Ringing with Hampshire Ornithological Society |
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We again sponsored the Hampshire Ornithological Society Young Membership programme in 2024. HOS organise specific Young Member events and talks throughout the year which educate and inspire their young members.
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| Inspiring young members |
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| Young Members Mammals Day |
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| Cameron in 2013 had just started training to be a licensed bird ringer |
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Cameron Bespolka Wildlife Memorial Talk
with Holly Budge, hosted by Winchester College
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| Holly Budge highlighting the plight of the elephant |
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Thank you to Winchester College for hosting the annual Cameron Bespolka Wildlife Memorial Talk again in 2024 which allowed 480 local primary school children to attend and listen to the inspiring and exciting Holly Budge. Holly’s phenomenal talk on elephants ‘Disappearing Giants’ highlighted how important keystone species are to our planet. Holly’s charity “How Many Elephants” gets involved in local communities to help protect these beautiful animals.
Holly kindly gave the whole talk again in the evening to a captive audience of friends, supporters and wildlife enthusiasts. |
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Holly's talk captivated the young audience
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| Thank you for all your very generous donations throughout the year. We could not do any of this without you help, friendship and support. A special thanks to Toni for Running for Cameron in her first half Marathon in Slovenia in October and raising a huge amount of £650. Congratulations and thank you Toni. |
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| Congratulations to Toni (right) who raised £650 |
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We also held some wonderful fundraising events, two at the friendly and welcoming Flower Pots pub in Cheriton in November. It was so wonderful to see so many friends who supported our Christmas coffee morning and continue to help us raise another huge amount. Thank you for coming and spending time with us. And a huge thank you to so many wonderful friends for making the morning run so effortlessly: Olivia, Isabel, Sarah W and Sarah N, Caroline, Tessa, Sienna, Emily and everyone at the Flower Pots.
We were then back again at the Flower Pots for the “Christmas Fete in the Barn” together with other small local businesses and had a wonderful time fundraising and meeting so many new people. |
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| Thank you to everyone who attended the Flower Pots event |
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| Our last event of the year was at the Expedia Winter Charity Market in London. Thank you to Expedia for inviting us and to the Hubble family, especially Matilda, for helping organise the event and help run the stall and raise funds. We enjoyed being there and meeting other lovely charities doing such wonderful work. |
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| Expedia Winter Charity Market |
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Thank you so much for reading and please do get in touch if you’d like to fundraise for us or if there is an organisation or group you would like to introduce us to who needs our financial help.
News from our Young Naturalist Fund will be coming up soon with a review of some of the wonderful initiatives that are organised and run by young people. We can’t wait to share this as well as some of our new projects for 2025 with you. |
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For Cameron always.
With huge gratitude and thanks.
Corinne x |
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| Cameron’s bench, St. Catherine’s Hill |
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"The future of humanity and indeed all life on earth depends on us."
David Attenborough
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Registered Charity No: 1156567
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