STAFF and volunteers from Worcestershire’s largest conservation charity are celebrating after finding the funds, almost £400,000, to save a series of wildflower meadows, near Castlemorton.

Worcestershire Wildlife Trust has been fundraising since December 2012 to purchase the 16 hectare Hollybed Farm Meadows. Funds have come in from both members and non-members of the Trust, from gifts in wills, a sponsored walk and from grant-funding bodies.

Kate Thomas, Head of Resources for the Trust, said “We’re over the moon that we’re able to save these precious meadows and would like to say a big thank you to everyone who played a part in securing their future.

“Our members and the general public have been incredibly generous in donating over £105,000 to our ‘Fields of Gold’ appeal – more than any appeal we have ever run. We were also able to dedicate gifts left in wills by people who wanted to protect wildlife far into the future. By purchasing this wonderful site we can certainly meet those wishes."

She added: “The fundraising was completed by a grant of £65,900 from the Heritage Lottery Fund and from a generous donation of £50,000 from Severn Waste Services through the Landfill Communities Fund.”

The Trust needed to raise more than £382,000 to purchase and manage the land.

In agreement with the Trust, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation purchased the site in 2012 when it came up for auction, giving the Trust until August of this year to raise the funds to secure the future of the ten meadows, orchard and small wet woodland.

The new nature reserve includes Far Starling Bank, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Worcestershire’s Coronation Meadow. The Coronation Meadows project was established by the Prince of Wales to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Queen's coronation in 2013.

Worcestershire is nationally important for flower meadows, having 20% of all those that remain in the whole of the UK.

Far Starling Bank is rich with hay meadow wildflowers including knapweed, meadow vetchling, yellow rattle, goldilocks buttercup, burnet saxifrage and devil’s-bit scabious.

The Trust has already been managing the site as a nature reserve since drawing up the agreement with the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. As part of this work they have been spreading seed taken from Far Starling Bank across the rest of the site to help increase the spread of plants throughout the individual fields.

The delicate nature of wildflower meadows means that access to Hollybed Farm Meadows is restricted to the public rights of way that border the nature reserve and organised events.

The Trust is holding an introductory day for volunteers who wish to help with the management of the reserve on Sunday November 2. More information can be found at www.worcswildlifetrust.co.uk/volunteer-taster-days or by calling Kat Willcocks on 01905 754919.