Ottery shoppers support Devon beavers
One of East Devon’s most long-lived independent shops has been fundraising for Devon’s newest wild animals.
Staff at Roberts, Ottery St Mary’s venerable hardware and homeware shop, decided to support the River Otter beavers by setting up a fundraising book and DVD stall in the store. Donated items raise funds for the River Otter Beaver Trial, the Devon Wildlife Trust-led project that convinced the Government to allow the beavers to stay in the wild – and is now monitoring the beaver population and its effects for the next five years.
Anna Feeney, who works at Roberts, had become a keen supporter of the River Otter beavers. At the public meetings last year, she followed with interest Devon Wildlife Trust’s efforts to ensure the beavers could remain living in the wild.
Ros Browne, owner of Roberts, said: “It was obvious that if DWT got the licence to re-release the beavers after health-testing was complete, the cost of monitoring them would be thousands of pounds. So we at Roberts decided to “do our bit” to raise funds for them. Hence the `Books for Beavers’ fund was started, where we sold second hand books for £1.00 each. In due course we added DVDs as well.”
By mid-summer, local residents and holiday-makers had already contributed £200, so a cheque was presented to DWT Beaver Project Lead Mark Elliott at a community meeting about the beavers in Ottery St Mary. Mark commented: “It’s been wonderful to see the support for the beavers from local people – and from visitors, some of whom have come to east Devon to see this beautiful river where the beavers have made a home. We’re very grateful for Roberts’ fundraising this year.”
DWT’s Dan Smith has been involved in community fundraising for the beavers and said: “Roberts is well-known locally for the wide range of hardware and homeware items they stock – but there are no tools that can compete with a beaver for managing our countryside in ways that benefit wildlife!”
Ros Browne summed up her shop’s future plans: “Roberts will carry on with our books and DVDs as long as possible to keep helping the River Otter beavers in future.”
