Making Meadows appeal

For the butterflies and the bees, the birds and the memories; with your support, we’re making more space for nature. Please donate to help us bring back the wildflower meadows we’ve lost from our countryside

A little girl explores a wildflower meadow at Rufford Old Hall, Lancashire — Exploring a wildflower meadow at Rufford Old Hall, Lancashire

Wildflower meadows provide vital habitats for much of our wildlife, but what if they disappeared forever? As a nation we’ve lost 97 per cent of wildflower meadows since the 1930s. Thanks to your generous donations, we’re now starting to create and restore 1,000 hectares of meadow land across the UK. But there's still more work to be done.

Only 3 per cent of our national wildflower meadows remain. This staggering loss has stripped our bees, butterflies, birds and mammals of their natural homes and contributed to a devastating decline in our wildlife population.

Donate to protect and create more meadows

With your continued support, we want to create and restore flower-rich grass and meadowland habitats, so life and colour can flourish once again. By donating to the meadows appeal, you'll be helping bring back our magnificent meadows for everyone, for ever.

Donate to Making Meadows appeal

Please select an amount

£15 could restore 37 square metres of meadow

£30 could buy 6 small bales of green hay from local flower-rich fields, used to spread seeds across a new area of meadow

freshly cut hay on Woodside Green Jun 2020

£50 could purchase up to 40 yellow rattle flowers, ready for planting

Or enter your own amount

A bee on a red clover in Whitefield Wildflower meadow at Dyrham Park

Teas for bees

We've teamed up with our tea supplier, Clipper, so your morning cuppa can help bring more than just you back to life. Every time you buy one of their 500,000 special promotional Teas for bees packs, Clipper will donate 10p to our Making Meadows appeal, helping to restore and recreate these important habitats. With a minimum donation of £50,000, together we'll bring back our magnificent meadows keeping the grasses swaying, flowers blooming and the bees buzzing for future generations to enjoy.

The figures are frightening, but you can help fight back

Since the 1930s, almost 6.4 million hectares of wildflower meadows have been lost
In the UK 30% of butterflies are under threat of extinction
The UK's turtle doves have suffered a 98% decline in population since 1970

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Video

Sights and sounds of creating a meadow

From the White Peak hay meadows, amid the sounds of skylarks and long grass swishing, Rachel Bennett, the National Trust’s Peak District lead ranger tells us what's being done to save these beautiful and vital wildlife havens.

Help us protect species like the large blue butterfly, the turtle dove and the shrill carder bee before it's too late.

" Our newly restored meadows at Dunstable Downs are an island refuge for wildlife. Now alive with the buzz of bees and flutter of butterflies, the subtle shades of wildflowers build into a mosaic of colour. Deer and brown hares also use these vital fields as corridors. The longer you spend in the meadows, the more you discover."

Why meadows are so important

Bumblebee on Devil's bit scabious on the coastal sand dunes at Murlough National Nature Reserve, County Down

The orchard meadow at Sissinghurst in early morning sunshine

Young boy and mum in the wildflower meadow at Chartwell

Homes for pollinators

When wildflower meadows disappear so do our pollinators. More than 50 of our wild bees have declined, and two species of bumblebees have vanished from the UK.

Greening flower power

Meadows are useful for preventing flooding and help to combat climate change. They store and clean rain water, and capture carbon.

Protecting hundreds of rare species

Wildflower meadows provide food and shelter for many insects and plants that, in turn, support small mammals and birds, like the skylark and the turtle dove.

Places for enjoying nature

There's nothing like the feeling of brushing your hands against long grasses in summer meadows. It's part of our childhood and natural heritage.

Why give to the National Trust?

As a charity, we rely on the generosity of supporters to look after the outdoor spaces in our care. Not only do our supporters help to conserve beautiful landscapes and protect precious plants and wildlife. But they also ensure that future generations have places they can find freedom from everyday life, reconnect with the natural world and make memories to treasure. Your donation will go towards this project and other vital conservation work in the outdoors at this special place. With your support, we can continue to protect the irreplaceable. For everyone, for ever.

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