Help nature flourish – Yorkshire Rewilding Network

Aim

We want to increase nature recovery through rewilding, and we need your help to extend our reach!

We have match funding available for 12 weeks from 1st August 2026 so every penny you donate will be matched by the Aviva Foundation (up to £250 per person but we know not everyone can afford that!). 

The Yorkshire Rewilding Network is a registered charity. Our vision is to bring together anyone in the region who has an interest in rewilding – to inspire one-another, share knowledge and experience, and work towards a brighter, more sustainable future for all inhabitants… be they creatures great or small.

Rewilding works at every scale.  Whether you have a patio, an allotment, a grand estate or oodles of passion, you CAN make a difference. The real power lies in joining the dots — connecting the places and people working towards a common goal: a Yorkshire teeming with life at every level.

We act as a catalyst for change by shifting mindsets and encouraging and supporting individuals, communities and landowners to take action for nature.

Over the past six years, we have developed a strong and varied programme of activities to deliver on this mission. These include:

• a popular programme of site visits to see rewilding projects (nothing beats experiencing the sights and sounds of a rewilded space and nature rebounding for yourself!)
• informative winter webinars on a range of topics creating a valuable resource
• a Small-Scale Rewilders Group, for those with around 2 to 20 acres of land to connect with others in a similar situation and share experience and support
• practical workshops and workdays
• an active online discussion forum to spread news and opportunities with 700 members
• a wonderful interactive map of rewilding projects across Yorkshire – representing thousands of acres of land under restoration
• the establishment of new local rewilding networks – bringing people together at a neighbourhood level
• a fantastic website full of information and inspiration from stories and guest blogs to information on how to get started
• regular updates on all things rewilding through our quarterly newsletters going out to over 1600 subscribers
• A growing social media presence with 1,400 followers across Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn
• Several of Yorkshire’s major estates are exploring or implementing rewilding approaches and we have developed strong and growing relationships with many of them.

All these things have enabled us to build a thriving and growing regional network and means that there is rewilding happening across Yorkshire… however, we could do so much more!

To date, most of this progress has been driven by a committed volunteer base. We are aware that relying on volunteers, many of whom balance this work alongside full-time jobs and other responsibilities, limits the scale and pace of what we can achieve. We recognise that dedicated, properly funded staff capacity is what is needed to build on the strong foundations we have established. Crucially, this will enable more rewilding to happen and more wildlife to return to Yorkshire.

In March this year, grant funding from Rewilding Britain and from the energy firm ENGIE allowed us to recruit a part-time Rewilding Network Manager for two years to support our volunteer efforts. And, wow, what a difference this has made! It has enabled significant new activity that we otherwise would not have been able to do, such as supporting the establishment of local rewilding networks in communities around the region.

The support from ENGIE has also enabled us to reach and engage a new generation of rewilders though the Schools Rewilding Project. This is delivering practical, on-the-ground work at 13 schools across Leeds and Harrogate, many of which are in urban, socioeconomically deprived and/or ethnically diverse communities. The feedback from the school staff and pupils has been fantastic.

This is where you come in, and why your support and your donation is so important to us. Because, whilst the grants have shown us what a difference we can make with these extra activities, the grant funding only lasts for a limited time. It is only by having security around the costs of our core operations that we can confidently continue to expand across Yorkshire.

With the help of the Aviva Foundation Communities Fund we want to raise money to cover our core costs. This will cover things like software costs for the newsletter, map, website and webinars, and contractor time for arranging site visits, creating newsletters, developing website content and responding to requests for support.

We’d like to spread the joy and hope of rewilding to as many of the inhabitants of Yorkshire as possible! Please support our work to boost nature recovery and help us to connect, inspire & enable more rewilding in Yorkshire. 

Fact file

Yorkshire Rewilding Network is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (No 1190992) founded on Yorkshire Day, 1st August 2020. 

Find out more on our website: www.yorkshirerewildingnetwork.org.uk

Aviva Foundation Communities Fund will match fund individual donations of up to £250 each, to an overall limit of £25,000.

Image credits: Monty Rakusen & Yorkshire Rewilding Network

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 22nd October 2026 at 10:21am