Children from Carlisle were out in force recently to join the fight to protect Cumbria’s iconic red squirrels, and mark a £25,000 donation to Cumbria Wildlife Trust from The Cumberland Building Society.

The Squirrels - the youngest group of the 123rd Carlisle Scouts Group - joined representatives from The Cumberland at Hammonds Pond to get stuck in to the conservation effort.

The group helped our red squirrel ranger, Joshua Adams, collect food such as nuts and seeds, along with bedding in the form of leaves, mosses and twigs for squirrel boxes which Joshua will be taking back to their natural Lake District habitat. 

Joshua’s red squirrel ranger role has been made possible thanks to The Cumberland’s Mortgages for Squirrels initiative where The Cumberland donated £10 to Cumbria Wildlife Trust for every new house purchase mortgage completed with them between July 2022 and June 2023.

The money is funding squirrel conservation work including the appointment of Joshua, who is working to monitor and protect endangered reds in their Lakeland heartland between Grasmere and Grizedale.

Five-year-old Squirrel Amelia from Carlisle said: “It was nice to help the red squirrels out. Today I helped collect twigs and the nuts for the squirrel boxes. I like my toy squirrel. Thank you.”

Fellow Squirrel Thomas, also 5 from Carlisle added: “It was good to find out about the red squirrels today. It has been a fun day.”

Claire Deekes, Chief Customer Officer at The Cumberland said: “What’s so lovely about today is the Cumberland like to invest in our local communities and to actually see these young Squirrels having so much fun but to also learn and understand and hear from Josh about the difference he’s made with investment we’ve made is inspiring. It makes me feel really proud that the Cumberland are part of an initiative like this.”

Stephen Trotter, CEO, Cumbria Wildlife Trust added: “Thanks to the Cumberland’s investment, Josh has done a brilliant job these past six months and we have another six months of Josh’s time ahead of us at least. Josh has done a fantastic job in communicating and getting over some really amazing and interesting facts about red squirrels and engaging people in red squirrel conservation and looking after red squirrels in Cumbria. There’s a really important job to do in making sure we look after them and provide them with homes, to maintain a good population of red squirrels across Cumbria." 

Joshua Adams, Red Squirrel Ranger at Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said: “It’s been fantastic seeing the children getting involved in red squirrel conservation. The children knew a lot more than I thought they would. They’ve been great today and have helped me fill up the nest boxes with food and bedding which next week will be mounted in the trees with wifi cameras on them which will allow us to monitor their progress." 

Group Scout Leader Mark Hampton finished by saying: “It’s been great to get involved in something like this, especially for the younger ones who get to appreciate all the wildlife we have where we live, that to me is the best part of today. The younger children enjoy seeing the wildlife so it’s important to help them understand how we work together to keep that wildlife around."

The Squirrels group is a provision for four to six year olds to help young people gain skills for life at a time when it matters most and where it's most needed. Found out more about how young people and adults can get involved in the Scouts movement,