Hotel staff at the New Forest Collection who had helped collect a staggering £92,000 in donations from their guests joined the volunteering programme they had helped to support.

The five hotels – Bartley Lodge, Burley Manor, Forest Lodge in Lyndhurst, bed and breakfast Moorhill House in Burley and Beaulieu Inn plus pub restaurant The Drift – have raised the funds over 11 years, with a £1 donation added to bills and are the biggest contributor to the Love the Forest scheme.

Love the Forest is part of the New Forest Trust charity, whose charitable aims are to secures the future of the New Forest by supporting conservation and education projects as well as supporting the ancient tradition of commoning where animals roam free across the landscape.

Last year, with the help of the New Forest Collection funds, it gave a grant of £9,000 to support the New Forest National Park Authority’s (NPA) volunteering programme which restores habitats across the Forest.

Five team members from Bartley Lodge and Central Offices took part in an NPA conservation volunteering day to restore heathland at an RSPB site at Copythorne. They cleared birch and pine trees with hand tools so that key heathland species like heather and gorse can return and support native species such as curlew, sand lizard and grass snake.

Managing Director Garry Baldwin said: ‘We at the New Forest Collection give our guests the opportunity to support Love the Forest through a £1 donation on their bill. That gives us a great opportunity to sit at the heart of the community by supporting conservation and education projects, keeping the Forest as a great place to come and stay.’

New Forest Trust Chairman William Ziegler said: ‘We are extremely grateful for the ongoing support of New Forest Collection guests and staff. The funds raised through New Forest Collection guests’ donations are vital to support a wide range of projects across the Forest, ensuring this internationally-important landscape survives for future generations.

‘We would also like to thank the New Forest Collection staff for their practical help by putting their wellies on and joining the volunteers!’

The New Forest Collection’s five hotels are also all New Forest Marque members and are considerable supporters of Marque events and initiatives.

If your business could support the Love the Forest scheme, please get in touch at admin@lovetheforest.org.uk.