A gesture to help keep endangered water voles released in Northumberland ale and hearty has passed a funding milestone.
The First and Last Brewery in Eldson in Northumberland decided to support the reintroduction of the captive-bred animals – Ratty in the classic book Wind in the Willows - in the Kielder Water and Forest area.
The brewery has produced a Ratty ale and offered to donate 20p to the project from each bottle sold.
Now donations to Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Restoring Ratty project have passed the £1,000 mark- despite it being a year like no other.
Brewery owners Sam and Red Kellie trialled 500 pints at Bellingham Show in August 2018, which sold out..
So far 1,762 water voles have been freed, with another 200 due to be released this summer. During lockdown, the award winning microbrewery has been busy brewing its cask- conditioned and bottled beer and is offering free home deliveries across Northumberland and Newcastle and by courier across the rest of the UK for a charge.
Kelly Hollings, Restoring Ratty project officer, said: “Sam and Red are true inspirations and totally selfless. They didn’t think twice when we approached them with the suggestion of producing a charity beer to help raise funds for the project and have supported us ever since.
“They are extremely community minded, and even check a camera trap for us near their home in Redesdale.
“Even during Covid we have been receiving donations to our project from them and we couldn’t be more grateful. At a time when local businesses are suffering it’s vital we all pull together - so everybody raise your spirits with a glass of ‘Ratty’ during lockdown.”
Kelly is keen to hear from anybody with a licence who would be willing to sell bottles of the ale on the project’s behalf. She can be contacted at restoringratty@northwt.org.uk or via the Restoring Ratty Facebook page where details of suppliers getting on board are constantly updated.
The first batch of water voles were freed into streams in June 2017. The voles have been bred in captivity from individuals captured from viable populations in the North Pennines, North Yorkshire and Scotland.
Restoring Ratty is a five-year partnership project between Kielder Water &Forest Park , Northumberland Wildlife Trust, Forestry England and Tyne Rivers Trust.
The project is aimed at re-establishing water voles in the Kielder area and has all been made possible by National Lottery players through a grant of £421,000 from the National Heritage Lottery Fund.
