TWO bird reserves have been given a helping hand -- thanks to the efforts of a Horwich woman.

Christine Johnson, a long-serving member of Bolton group of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, has organised the sale of RSPB-themed goods for many years.

Each group meeting, with the help of friends, she sets up stalls selling everything from wrapping paper and greetings cards to bird baths and "gourmet" bird feeders.

The result is that over the years, Chris of Lever Park Avenue, Horwich, has raised many thousands of pounds for RSPB conservation projects.

The latest donations are £400 for marshland improvements and planting at Blacktoft Sands at the confluence of the Ouse and Humber in Yorkshire and £341 towards the cost of a new engine for a boat used at the Coll reserve in the Western Isles of Scotland.

The Bolton group has topped that up with £308 from its funds to pay for the whole cost of the engine.