LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES GIVES GRANT FOR HAGBOURNE COPSE

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust is celebrating the receipt of a £5000 donation from Lucent Technologies for work on Hagbourne Copse in Swindon. The grant is the final plank in the raft of funding which will protect this rare pocket of bluebell-rich woodland for the people of Swindon to enjoy.

The Trust bought the wood earlier this year following a successful fundraising appeal, saving it from possible commercial development. The £5,000 given by Lucent will now enable the Trust to develop Hagbourne Copse as a nature reserve. Ivo Smith, the Trust's Head of Fundraising, welcomed the donation: "Lucent's generosity will enable us to carry out essential work making the Copse safely accessible to the public. Staff from local businesses and residents living nearby will then be able to take advantage of the wood, as a place in which to relax and recharge their batteries."

Hagbourne Copse, just across the road from the Windmill Hill Business Park, is classified as ancient woodland (it can be traced back to the earliest maps in existence) and as such is recognised as a County Wildlife Site. The wood is mainly made up of oak, hazel, field maple, ash and crab apple, and is a rich habitat for a variety of animal and plant life, including badgers and foxes as well as bluebells and primroses. 

Editor's notes: 
Lucent Technologies, headquartered in the USA, designs and delivers the systems, software, silicon and services for both current and future generations of communications networks. Simply put, Lucent makes the things that make communications work. The company employs 125,000 people in 90 countries and has been a leader in telecommunications for more than 100 years. In line with business expansion, Lucent has been increasing its presence in Wiltshire for several years and now employs some 2,000 people in Swindon, Chippenham and Malmesbury. With customers all over the world, local operations focus upon technology for mobile network operators, in particular the third generation systems that are providing Internet access to mobile phone users.

The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust is the largest voluntary organisation in the county concerned with all aspects of nature conservation. It was established in 1962 and now has over 11,000 members. The Trust owns or manages 41 nature reserves. It also advises landowners on how to manage their land with wildlife in mind, and comments on structure plans and planning applications which affect sites of wildlife interest. The Trust is also actively involved in environmental education. For further details, please contact Sharon Charity, Press Officer, on the above number.