A CONSERVATION group is celebrating landing £10,000 in funding.

Bolton North East Wildlife Trail (NEWT) successfully applied to the National Lottery Lottery’s Big Lottery Fund for the cash.

The group works to promote and protect the wildlife corridor along Bradshaw Brook, the River Tonge and the River Croal. The eight-mile stretch is home to a roe deer, dragonflies, bats, buzzards, owls and a host of other creatures.

Bolton NEWT plans to use the money to buy conservation equipment including bat detectors, pond dipping kit, trail cameras for capturing wildlife, and GoPro ‘action cameras’ to film newts and amphibians under water.

And the group will also hold seasonal photography competitions and create free videos for community groups and events in Bolton.

Chris Banks, chairman of Bolton NEWT, said the award was ‘fantastic news’, both for the group and the community.

He said: “The main thing is that usually conservation groups who apply for funding just do a year of tasks or events and give as much as 92 per cent away to charity to host events for them. But for us we are taking 100 per cent and putting it into events and equipment and we’re not taking a single penny for staff wages or volunteer costs.”

He added that the group was keen to use the funding to inspire youngsters to become passionate about wildlife and the environment.

He said: “We’ve specifically chosen things like pond-dipping and bat walks because they appeal to the kids. It leaves a lasting impression to hand out bat-detectors and hear them feeding above you. And with pond dipping you see kids getting so excited when they are identifying what they have got and find a tadpole. You can’t buy those sort of experiences and we are doing it all for free.”

The group describes itself as ‘technology meets nature’ on its website, and they plan to full advantage of state-of-the-art gear. “We’re going to use thermal imaging to show kids the difference between cold-blooded and warm-blooded creatures,” said Mr Banks. “Even when they hold a frog or a toad, they are changing the temperature of the creature. That’s the thing kids love now – technology. And the more people take photographs and post them online the more people appreciate it.” For more information visit boltonnewt.com