Successful Official Opening Event and Wild Education Day!

The Window on Wild Lindisfarne building was officially opened on Thursday 11th July in a ceremony where Lady Rose Crossman, the owner of the land on which the Window on Wild Lindisfarne is built, was invited to formally open the building. The ceremony was also presented by Richard Patterson, the chair of the Holy Island Development Trust, and Natural England's Director of Access and Engagement, Liz Newton. It was fantastic to see the building completed and open for everyone to visit, with a great turnout of locals and visitors to watch the ceremony.

Pupils and teachers from three local First Schools were also invited to the ceremony and to a special programme of fun activities, as the first formal event held in the Window on Wild Lindisfarne and in its sister building, the Lookout on Wild Lindisfarne. 

The building is open! From L-R: Dick Patterson, Lady Rose Crossman, and Liz Newton.

The purpose of the stunning Window on Wild Lindisfarne is to provide a hub for visitors to learn more about the amazing wildlife of Lindisfarne, not to mention a great viewing point from which to see birds and other wildlife in inclement weather! It is also a perfect place to hold events and educational activities for children and natural history groups from near and far.

What a turnout!

The Lindisfarne NNR team were joined by Natural England staff and volunteers from other Reserves, and our Events team who were fantastic in helping the day run smoothly.

After the opening ceremony, our Wild Education Day began! This was a great opportunity to teach local children about looking after the Reserve, to show them the fantastic animals and birds living here, and to make some craft seals and lobsters for them to take home! 

Staff from Castle Eden Dene NNR talking to the schoolchildren before investigating the rockpools

We hope the schoolchildren enjoyed the day and learned lots about why the Reserve is so important. It was great to work with such enthusiastic children who got stuck right in to all the fun activities - they especially enjoyed being shown the creatures in the rock pools, and were careful to put the animals back where they were found:

Fascinated by a brittle star

Thanks from the Lindisfarne NNR team to the children, teachers and helpers from Hugh Joicey, Scremerston, and Belford First Schools, to everyone who attended and to those who did a fantastic job of helping out. We think this is a great example of how local schools and groups can work with us on educational projects, and to help us look after the Reserve - here's to many more events in our Window on Wild Lindisfarne.