The £2,067.75 is a slight increase from last year which is a great achievement considering the relatively mild winter not to mention a temperature of 21°C in February 2019, compared to the ‘Beast from the East’ in 2018.

Based in Lincolnshire, the award winning Vine House Farm is the home of pioneering wildlife-friendly farmer Nicholas Watts MBE and his family who annually grow 400 acres of birdseed, including 100 acres of sunflowers and produce wildlife products.

Since 2007, Northumberland Wildlife Trust has received 4.5% of any order purchased from the Vine House Farm website www.vinehousefarm.co.uk by residents of Northumberland, Newcastle and North Tyneside. The ongoing total of money received now stands at £20,167.

Sheila Sharp, Northumberland Wildlife Trust Head of Marketing & Fundraising said: “Vine House Farm’s incredible long- term support of Northumberland Wildlife Trust over the last year 12 years has enabled us to feed not only birds, but everyone’s interest in local nature.

“We look forward to working with Nicholas Watts and his family at Vine House Farm for many more years to come, and to celebrating how our relationship is helping to connect people with the natural world and benefit our precious wildlife and wild places.”

The UK wild bird care market is huge with approximately £300m being spent in 2017. Don’t forget to care for garden birds by feeding them throughout the year, not just in the colder months when feeding is thought by people to be more important.