What does the CRT do? Expand The Countryside Restoration Trust (CRT) was established in 1993 by Trustee, Robin Page, and the late artist and conservationist, Gordon Beningfield, in response to growing fears about intensive and industrialised farming. Now over 25 years old, the CRT is dedicated to restoring and protecting the wider countryside and its wildlife, through its 15 sites across 2,000 acres of land, spanning the length of the UK. The CRT’s aim is for conservation improvements to be carried out alongside practical farming and land management, and to spread these aims by example and education. To find out more, visit Our vision
Where do I find out more information on CRT? Expand For general information head to the 'About Us' menu. In here there is information about Our vision, Our impact, How we work, and Who we are! Find out is lots of interesting information about Our properties here.
How do I become a CRT friend? Expand It's easy! Visit our Become a Friend and pick your subscription and pay online today!
Do I have to be a friend to make a donation to CRT? Expand No, you can make a donation to the CRT even if you do not have a Friendship subscription with us. For general donations click here. We also have appeals running throughout the year, to see what we're raising money for and how you can raising money for us, visit our Appeals page. You have the option to leave a comment and a picture with your donation that will be posted on the website. This is done on the payment page. This is not compulsory but shows the world that you are supporting us!
How do I make a donation ? Expand Just one click away! Click here for general donations. We also have appeals running throughout the year, to see what we're raising money for and how you can raising money for us, visit our Appeals page. You have the option to leave a comment and a picture with your donation that will be posted on the website. This is done on the payment page. This is not compulsory but shows the world that you are supporting us!
How much is it to be a CRT friend? Expand Annual subscriptions depend on the type of CRT Friend: Individual Friendship Adults 18+ Joint Friendship Two adults, same address / £35 per annum Family FriendshipTwo adults, two children / £40 per annum Life FriendshipIndividual Life Friendship / £500 for life Life Friendship 70+Concessionary Individual Life Friendship / £250 for life
How do I pay for my Friendship? Expand You can make your payments online via the Friends area or click on the appropriate subscription on the Become a Friend page. If you would rather talk to someone, we will take payments over the phone - call the office on 01223 262999
How do I cancel my Friendship? Expand We'll be sad to see you go... If you wish to cancel your CRT Friendship, please contact our office by phone or email [email protected] Alternatively, if you have set up a direct debit, you can cancel your direct debit with the bank and this will cancel your payment. However, our systems my still contact you to make sure you wanted to terminate your subscription.
How do I volunteer for the CRT? Expand There are lots of volunteering opportunities with us. Click on the links to find out how you can become a: Wildlife Monitoring Volunteer Conservation Volunteer Event Volunteer
How do I get in touch with the CRT education centres? Expand You can contact our Education Officers directly by email: General education enquiries Email Turnastone in Herefordshire Email Pierrepont in Surrey Email Mayfields in Norfolk
Where we source information from? Expand We have facts and figures across our site. The majority of these come from our staff, especially our wildlife monitors. Sometimes we will use external sources to show you relevant data. Sources include (but are not limited to): BTO website RSPB website Butterfly Conservation website Please make a donation today so the CRT can continue to restore a living, working countryside... Please select a donation amount (required) £100 Helps with the cost of providing habitats for a range of farmland wildlife. £50 Allows our conservation team to spend an afternoon monitoring the success of the CRT community’s activities. £20 Provides our volunteers with resources to complete essential conservation tasks. Other Donate
Susan Lake Trustee Expand Trustee Susan Lake has been a CRT Friend for 10 years. She was also a founding member of the volunteer team at Twyford Farm in West Sussex, having grown up nearby and visited regularly as a child. She now lives in Norfolk. Susan has worked for more than 30 years in the London insurance and reinsurance market, helping companies manage issues related to regulatory requirements, corporate governance, business management and compliance. Susan is an advocate for diversity, inclusion and equity. She also feels strongly about the need for nature-friendly farming, increasing understanding of the countryside and stopping the decline of native species. Please make a donation today so the CRT can continue to protect, promote and regenerate our land and all life on it. Please select a donation amount (required) £100 Helps with the cost of providing habitats for a range of farmland wildlife. £50 Allows our conservation team to spend an afternoon monitoring the success of the CRT community’s activities. £20 Provides our volunteers with resources to complete essential conservation tasks. Other Donate
Paul Hermann Trustee Expand Trustee Paul Hermann has recently moved to a smallholding near Bakewell in the Peak District with his wife and son. He is actively engaged in land management and wildlife regeneration projects here, such as repairing dew ponds and sowing wildflowers. Paul is an IT professional with experience of strategic consulting in large companies. He leads a team of experts who deliver technology solutions that enable businesses to achieve their objectives. He is an inclusive and people-oriented person, often mentoring early-in-career talent. He also gets involved with events to introduce school children to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers. Please make a donation today so the CRT can continue to protect, promote and regenerate our land and all life on it. Please select a donation amount (required) £100 Helps with the cost of providing habitats for a range of farmland wildlife. £50 Allows our conservation team to spend an afternoon monitoring the success of the CRT community’s activities. £20 Provides our volunteers with resources to complete essential conservation tasks. Other Donate
John Armstrong Trustee Expand Trustee John Armstrong, from Hove in East Sussex, is a qualified finance professional with extensive leadership experience. He has worked for more than 15 years in roles spanning audit, budgeting and forecasting, business strategy and investor relations, and is now leading the Commercial and Marketing team at a large financial services firm. Originally from Essex, John has a passion for nature, wildlife and sustainability and is fully supportive of the CRT’s mission. He will use his finance and business experience to help the CRT to continue building a sustainable charity for the long term. Please make a donation today so the CRT can continue to protect, promote and regenerate our land and all life on it. Please select a donation amount (required) £100 Helps with the cost of providing habitats for a range of farmland wildlife. £50 Allows our conservation team to spend an afternoon monitoring the success of the CRT community’s activities. £20 Provides our volunteers with resources to complete essential conservation tasks. Other Donate
Duncan Fisher Expand Trustee Duncan Fisher volunteers on the CRT’s Lark Rise Farm in Cambridgeshire, getting hands-on with conservation projects such as hedge laying. His working life was focused on marketing, IT implementation and business management. He has an MBA and wide experience in organisational best practice. He has recently retired and would like to make a difference for future generations as a CRT Trustee, helping to create a more symbiotic relationship between nature and agricultural production. Please make a donation today so the CRT can continue to protect, promote and regenerate our land and all life on it. Please select a donation amount (required) £100 Helps with the cost of providing habitats for a range of farmland wildlife. £50 Allows our conservation team to spend an afternoon monitoring the success of the CRT community’s activities. £20 Provides our volunteers with resources to complete essential conservation tasks. Other Donate
Tim Scott Trustee Expand Trustee A farmer’s son from the village of Comberton, Cambridgeshire, Tim has spent his entire life – from childhood to the present day – working on the farm. He always had a love for nature, but also a love for tractors and how machinery worked. This love and heritage led him to study at Whittle Agricultural College with placements on an arable and pig farm and an arable and veal calf farm. Tim was invited by Robin Page to be on the original committee of what became the Countryside Restoration Trust in the late 1980s. He became CRT's first tenant after we acquired the Telegraph Field in 1993 and remains still as tenant farmer. Alongside his work as a farmer, Tim has been a prominent figure in his local, rural community as Barton Parish Council Vice Chairman (until 2014), South Cambridgeshire District Councillor, Environmental Champion (until 2018), and currently Comberton Parish Council Vice Chairman. His experience in the farming industry has led to other roles where he was able to share his expertise: he was previously Chairman of the Cambridge Branch of the NFU; Spray Application Expert courtesy of Syngenta Crop Protection, and Herbicide Specialist courtesy of Syngenta Crop Protection. His habitat creation and conservation management has led to awards such as the Redlist Revival Life on Land Awards for the highest national density of grey partridges. Please make a donation today so the CRT can continue to restore a living, working countryside...
Graham Girling Trustee Expand Trustee Graham Girling has been involved as a CRT Friend and volunteer for many years. Now retired, Graham formerly worked as an engineer and his training and logical and practical skills come into their own when he is volunteering and making items for events. After many years of voluntary work for the CRT, Graham became a member of the CRT Board of Trustees in 2018. Please make a donation today so the CRT can continue to restore a living, working countryside... Please select a donation amount (required) £100 Helps with the cost of providing habitats for a range of farmland wildlife. £50 Allows our conservation team to spend an afternoon monitoring the success of the CRT community’s activities. £20 Provides our volunteers with resources to complete essential conservation tasks. Other Donate
William Cross Trustee Expand Trustee William Cross owns a beautiful 180-acre sheep farm in the heart of rural Rutland. He has undertaken extensive work to improve the rural environment and ensure there are habitats for a wide variety of wildlife. There is a diverse range of habitats across the farm including pasture woodland and ponds. He has opened up his farm so people can experience the beautiful natural environment that Rutland has to offer. Local to the farm he has created the opportunity for people to engage in outdoor countryside activities including bird watching, horse riding, cycling, sailing, walking and fishing. Please make a donation today so the CRT can continue to restore a living, working countryside... Please select a donation amount (required) £100 Helps with the cost of providing habitats for a range of farmland wildlife. £50 Allows our conservation team to spend an afternoon monitoring the success of the CRT community’s activities. £20 Provides our volunteers with resources to complete essential conservation tasks. Other Donate
David Mills MBE Trustee Expand Trustee David Mills has owned land in the hamlet of Newchapel in Surrey for almost 50 years. Formerly a dairy farmer with an award-winning Venn herd of pedigree Jersey cows, David decided to convert his farm into a centre of “Conservation through Education” in 1994 and three years later, the British Wildlife Centre was born. The centre’s main focus is teaching children to appreciate Britain’s native wild species and encourage them to grow a life-long interest in its conservation. The British Wildlife Centre is the largest breeder of red squirrels in the UK and along with the CRT, David has been instrumental in implementing release programmes to grey squirrel-free islands, which now have thriving colonies of red squirrels. David was made an MBE in the 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours list for his services to wildlife conservation. Please make a donation today so the CRT can continue to restore a living, working countryside... Please select a donation amount (required) £100 Helps with the cost of providing habitats for a range of farmland wildlife. £50 Allows our conservation team to spend an afternoon monitoring the success of the CRT community’s activities. £20 Provides our volunteers with resources to complete essential conservation tasks. Other Donate
Nicholas Watts MBE Trustee Expand Trustee Nicholas has farmed at Vine House Farm since 1964. In that time, Nicholas has trialled many conservation ideas on his farm. Not only has he shared his results and advice with CRT, but with other farmers and conservation organisations too. His knowledge and passion for farming and wildlife resulted in the ‘Vine House Farm Bird Seed’ business that supplies many of our farms with bird seed and is available for the public to buy. Nicholas was made an MBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours list in 2006. He was given the honour for his services to farming and conservation in Lincolnshire. Please make a donation today so the CRT can continue to protect, promote and regenerate our land and all life on it. Please select a donation amount (required) £100 Helps with the cost of providing habitats for a range of farmland wildlife. £50 Allows our conservation team to spend an afternoon monitoring the success of the CRT community’s activities. £20 Provides our volunteers with resources to complete essential conservation tasks. Other Donate
Sue Everett Chair of the Board Trustees Expand Chair of the Board Trustees Sue has been a Friend of the CRT since its formation nearly 30 years ago. An expert in wildlife habitat restoration, her passion particularly lies in restoring or creating wildflower grasslands. She was part of a team that set up one of the UK’s first nature consultancies in 1988, called NatureBureau. Since 2000, as a consultant she has provided advice and land management plans to government agencies, farmers and conservation organisations including the RSPB and The Wildlife Trusts. Plus, for over 30 years, Sue has been the regular news columnist for British Wildlife magazine. She is now semi-retired and donates her expertise to local good causes. The CRT is delighted to benefit from Sue’s great depth of experience. Sue said: “I’ve been a supporter of nature-friendly farming for decades. Living in West Berkshire and now Somerset, I didn’t have a CRT farm near me until the Trust bought Bere Marsh Farm in June 2020. I am happy to get involved on Bere Marsh as there is so much potential to bring back flora and fauna that would once have been common in the Stour Valley. “As a Trustee, I will be supporting the CRT to deliver nature recovery and nature-friendly farming, setting standards across all holdings for all aspects of farm management. “The work we are doing on Bere Marsh Farm, including carrying out a baseline audit of the habitats and wildlife on the farm and identifying priority species, will provide a framework for forming more comprehensive land management plans on all of the CRT’s properties.” Please make a donation today so the CRT can continue to restore a living, working countryside... Please select a donation amount (required) £100 Helps with the cost of providing habitats for a range of farmland wildlife. £50 Allows our conservation team to spend an afternoon monitoring the success of the CRT community’s activities. £20 Provides our volunteers with resources to complete essential conservation tasks. Other Donate
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Patron, Food and Farming Expand Patron, Food and Farming In August 2019, award-winning writer and broadcaster, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, was announced as Food and Farming Patron of CRT. Known for his work supporting responsible food production and the environment, and most recently, launching a consumer campaign against plastic pollution, the host of C4 series River Cottage stepped into the role of Food and Farming Patron to support CRT’s efforts to conserve the UK countryside. “The work of CRT is close to my heart. Sustainable food production needs to go hand in glove with looking after our native wildlife, so being a patron is a perfect platform for me to champion this idea, and to raise awareness of the role of wildlife-friendly farming.” Hugh, who also presented BBC series Saving Africa's Elephants about international wildlife crime, and Hugh's Wild West, about the wildlife native to England's West Country, says CRT is a cause he has worked closely with for a number of years. Please make a donation today so the CRT can continue to restore a living, working countryside... Please select a donation amount (required) £100 Helps with the cost of providing habitats for a range of farmland wildlife. £50 Allows our conservation team to spend an afternoon monitoring the success of the CRT community’s activities. £20 Provides our volunteers with resources to complete essential conservation tasks. Other Donate
Must we have a biodegradable coffin? Expand Yes. In keeping with the idea of returning the body to nature, we wish to accept only biodegradable and environmentally friendly coffins. A growing selection of suitable coffins is available through funeral directors or we can give you details. We also request that the body is not embalmed.