Set up by a team of local Northumberland Wildlife Trust members with the aim of organising natural history talks and walks for the Ponteland community, the group has held eight evening talks a year (between September to April) which amounts to an impressive 400 speakers over the past 50 years. For many of its 150 members, these evenings are popular social events. During the summer months, the group’s organising committee also runs occasional outdoor events. 

To celebrate the momentous milestone, the group presented the Trust with a £1,000 cheque raised largely through the raffle held on talk nights.

Mike Pratt, Northumberland Wildlife Trust, Chief Executive says:

“It’s brilliant that the Ponteland Group was formed just a couple of years after the Trust came into being and, that a group of individuals had the foresight to stand up for wildlife and nature conservation long before it became so high on everybody’s agenda. 

“It is really amazing what the small committee has achieved over the years. Here’s to the next 50 years, when hopefully the nature crisis will have been consigned to the history books.”