Jake worked throughout June, as part of The Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Days Wild campaign to have his wildest month yet. He litter picked, made bird feeders, bug homes and hedgehog houses, planted wild flowers, catalogued moths and watched bats.

Through sponsorship for completing each of his wild activities, he raised £956.78.

To say a huge thank you and to celebrate he visited Derbyshire Wildlife Trust to see their work and chat about how his fundraising efforts are making such a big difference to wildlife.

Jake and his family have only just moved to Ilkeston, in Derbyshire, from Nottingham. His mum, Ashleigh said, “Jake loves the outdoors and it’s been his only escape during lockdown the last year. He's suffered a lot recently will ill health, asthma and hearing issues. Being outdoors means so much to him and he loves wildlife.”

“Meeting up with Jo and Kate Lemon, who leads the Trust’s work where we live, was such a great experience to finish off his wild month. They showed us around their wild garden and Jake got stuck in with pond dipping, finding lots of tadpoles at different stages of development.”

Dr Jo Smith, CEO of Derbyshire Wildlife Trust said, “It was such a joy to meet Jake, a real wildlife super hero! We need many more people just like him. Jake has also helped his family swap a lot of their single use plastic such as straws, soaps, washing detergent to plastic free natural alternatives, and encourages them to walk rather than take the car.”

“Actions like these can make a big difference for nature and wildlife. We’re in the middle of a nature and climate crisis - if everyone took Jake’s lead, we’d see real change and nature could start to recover. We can’t wait to see what he gets up to next.”

Jake’s now planning his next fundraiser and has his sights set on becoming a wildlife ranger.

Jake’s Facebook fundraiser is closed but his Crowdfund page is still open. To make a donation please visit: https://gofund.me/2e1ffb28

The Trust is leading Derbyshire’s ‘Big Wild Walk’ in October - a great opportunity to get out and immerse yourself in all things wild, whilst raising money via sponsorship to help raise vital funds for wildlife in our county. More details will follow soon but for a taste of The Big Wild Walk visit: www.wildlifetrusts.org/news/walk-wildlife-autumn