Thank you for a great year!

Froglife’s Annual Review for April 2012-March 2013 is hot off the press, and we’re really excited about all that we achieved. We’d like to thank our amazing supporters, donors, grant makers, volunteers and everyone who has been involved in our work for making it possible.

Froglife is committed to making an on-the-ground difference for amphibians and reptiles through improving habitats, working with volunteers and introducing new audiences to these incredible animals.

Froglife's photo album style annual review for 2011-12

A full version of the Annual Review is available to download at the Froglife website here.
And here’s a summary of what Froglife got up to in a busy year....

• 61 new ponds were created
• 46 ponds restored to their former glory
• 32 terrestrial habitats were improved for amphibians, reptiles and other wildlife
• 44 wildlife surveys were undertaken
• 164 hours of surveying completed in Scotland alone, leading to 432 new amphibian records
• 304 volunteers have worked with us achieving great things for wildlife
• One super volunteer undertook over 300 hours of volunteering through the Wildlife Ambassadors project. Ash Jarvis helped create habitats and encouraged others to learn about amazing amphibians and reptiles
• Hard working Toad Patroller volunteers completed a fantastic 1,085 nights of Toad Patrolling
• 775 people directly benefitted from our educational work and activities
• We ran 171 talks and training sessions
• Young offenders in Peterborough completed 1,290 hours of reparation with us, giving back to the community and managing wildlife habitats
• We had 49,707 website hits
• 2,000+ people followed us on Twitter
• 1,000+ people liked us on Facebook
• We released 112 Croaks and 69 press releases

Scrapes created at Windlaw Marsh

The Annual Review also includes a summary of our accounts. Through Froglife Ltd, our trading arm, our charitable work benefitted from an income of £55,703. We spent £382.462 of our overall income (including donations and grants) directly on practical conservation for amphibians and reptiles, and £178, 276 on training, education and awareness raising through our project work. Despite tricky financial times, we were left with a small reserve fund at the end of the year – vital for helping keep Froglife going as many of our projects are funded in arrears.

All in all it was a great year. We are really excited about what we’ve already achieved in 2012, and about what’s to come!

• Read the full annual review online as a PDF here
• You can become part of our mission through making a donation or helping out as a volunteer.
• There is more information about all of our projects on our website here

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Sparking a Passion for Wildlife

The Froglife team has had a busy few days at Bird Fair, the big annual event for conservation and wildlife lovers from across the world based at Rutland Water. To tie in with Froglife’s My Wild Life project, we had a vintage theme with staff and volunteers in 1940s-style dress as we collected stories from people about their earliest encounters with nature.

Froglife's vintage pic-nic themed stand

Some of the team with Froglife Patron Mike Dilger

The stall was also decorated with our collection of books, toys and nature table items to prompt reminiscence and trips down memory lane. My Wild Life, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, is gathering memories from different generations about how much time children play outside, the animals we’re likely to meet out and about, and adventures such as climbing trees or collecting frogspawn. We’re comparing experiences across the generations, and gathering oral histories that show the changes in our behaviour and the abundance of wildlife in living memory.

With so many passionate wildlife watchers at Bird Fair, this was a great opportunity for us to gather some stories about what kick starts a deep love and fascination with nature.  There were also some high profile wildlife lovers for the team to talk to.

Froglife’s Patron Mike Dilger was interviewed by young volunteer Amy about what got him started on the road to the One Show naturalist. Wildlife Ambassadors and other volunteers also chatted to writer Mark Avery and photographer Mark Cawardine about formative moments in their lives. We talked to lots of people who had shared some precious wildlife memories, including a botanist who remembers going out identifying wildflowers with a plant-loving mum and an enthusiastic gardener who created a newt pond from a bath tub as a child.

Collecting tadpoles in jam jars - a memory shared on our bunting

A big thank you to the everyone involved in making our stand look so stunning, and to everyone who came and shared their stories. We will be screening the final DVD of My Wild Life interviews early in 2013 and it will be accompanied by a book of memories, so watch this space for more information.

• If you would like to share your wildlife memories as part of My Wild Life, email your name, age and story along with the area it took place in to project officer Jodie.coomber@froglife.org
• You can find out more about the My Wild Life project here
• You can see photos from Bird Fair on our Facebook page here

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Photos: Sam Taylor and Laura Brady