Gimme?

It would be revealing to know the proportion of energies expended and time spent by Sheffield Wildlife Trust on raising funds, applying for grants and generally protecting their own jobs and expanding their influence as against any work actually done on the ground that could be classified as conservation. Readers of this blog are already familiar with the observation that SWT’s ‘feet on the ground’ on Blacka is very limited and any work done by them usually proves to be of poor quality (which is why I’m hesitant about calling too loudly for more presence from them!)

One vicinity where you have a much greater chance of seeing them is outside supermarkets where they are dab hands at erecting a quick stall and display board. There they persuade trusting people to part with their cash. Tesco’s, Sainsbury’s, Co-op and city centre precincts are all places where I’ve seen them.



I’ve heard this described as just one step up from the Big Issue sellers. That’s taking it a bit far but the principle is not that different. It’s hard to shake off the view that what comes first for SWT is its own survival.

Like many organisations these days they find it more important for them to promote themselves where people are actually present in large numbers. So they get little corporate benefit from being on Blacka Moor where only one or two people will see them (and the ones that do may not be very pleased about it), while potentially many of the public will see their displays in the city centre and feel good that ‘the wildlife’ is being looked after even though they’ve only got the word of SWT to go on because they rarely visit the countryside themselves yet like to think someone’s doing’ the right thing’. There’s a general fluffiness about public perceptions of wildlife not unaccompanied by a certain guilt about some of their own lifestyle maybe contributing to a decline in the quality of ‘nature’. Putting your hand in your pocket occasionally can help to assuage some of this anxiety.

I’ve not seen SWT’s stall outside Waitrose. But their presence is noticeable inside. Waitrose has this laudable scheme for helping local good causes whereby it gives a proportion of £1.000 of the store’s profits each month to three chosen groups.



Customers at the checkout are given green tokens with their receipt. They then choose which of the three they prefer. So it’s a different set of three each month. At the end of the month the tokens are weighed and according to the proportion the thousand pounds is divided and sent to the groups. SWT have appeared several times and as you would expect with wildlife things they score fairly well. They also have a well organised lobbying system going. To nominate your favourite good cause for this scheme you fill in a form in the in-store leaflet. I’m sure SWT make sure they get someone to do this. It interested me that I was in Waitrose twice over the last week and spotted that SWT were one of the August beneficiaries alongside local Multiple Sclerosis and Special Olympics groups. On Thursday the proportions showed that SWT was running somewhat behind the other two. By Monday the tokens for the wildlife trust had suddenly overwhelmed the others.



This is one thing they do well however much of a mess they make of everything else. Doubtless they circulated all their contacts with a plea similar to the one below, quoted from Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust. Wildlife trusts are very centrally organised, despite claiming to be local.

"We are delighted to have been chosen as a beneficiary. This is a fantastic opportunity for local people to show support for their local wildlife and environment, with no additional cost to them.'

So get on down to Cheltenham Waitrose and cast your vote. How much the Trust receives from this initiative depends on YOU!"

Perhaps one lesson is to avoid getting multiple sclerosis in August.