Ella Blundell is a newcomer to wildlife conservation but she hopes her new job, working with Cumbria’s beloved red squirrels, may lead on to an exciting career in nature protection.  

Ella recently joined Cumbria Wildlife Trust as Project Assistant on a scheme to protect red squirrels. It’s an early career role, designed to help young people gain experience and enter the conservation sector. She joins Aimée Ellis, who started a few months ago as Community Engagement Officer, on the Red Squirrel Recovery Network (RSRN) in Cumbria.

The RSRN, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund with thanks to National Lottery players, aims to protect and conserve populations of red squirrels in the north of England and southern Scotland.

Ella and Aimée will be working with communities across the county, in particular around Whitehaven, Workington and Cockermouth, spreading the word about these much-loved mammals, and getting more of us excited about how we can protect them. 

Ella said: “I’ve always loved the outdoors and want to work with people – this job combines the two brilliantly! I’m really looking forward to working with lots of different community groups, sharing ideas for how they can help Cumbria’s red squirrels and promoting the benefits of being outdoors.

“I’ve been getting volunteers signed up for the Spring Survey, and look forward to the results, to find out how well Cumbria’s red squirrels are faring. I’ve also started to make connections with local schools. With the younger children, we’ll do classroom talks and trips into local forests to talk to them about why forests are so important for red squirrels.”

“Lots of children have little opportunity to be out in nature. The only wildlife they see regularly may be gulls and pigeons – many have never been into the woods. So we’ll go out with spotter sheets to hunt for signs of how red squirrels might build a drey – it’s a round nest, made of a ball of twigs, moss, leaves, and grass.”

“With older children, we’d like to develop a work experience week, whereby students come out with us and do practical activities, such as nest-box building for red squirrels.”

Ella, who’s based in Carlisle, is originally from Yorkshire, where she was actively involved with the Yorkshire Dales National Park as a youth representative. She’s one of the first three early career conservationists to be appointed by the RSRN project for a 10-month period, to help them kickstart their career.

Aimée Ellis said: “Ella and I want to reach out to local people of all ages, backgrounds and interests, to enthuse and inspire them about our red squirrels. We welcome any community groups getting in touch with us - we’re particularly keen to work with young people! We aim to arrange events in woodlands that are accessible, such as Whinlatter Forest, to maximise the number of people who can visit them with us.

“We hope our red squirrel outreach work will help people to connect with nature - and each other - and encourage some to volunteer or make a difference in their area.”

Aimée explains why we need a Red Squirrel Recovery Network: “Red squirrels are our only native squirrel. They’re shy and elusive, and we’re lucky enough to have some strongholds here in Cumbria. Sadly though, red and grey squirrels can’t co-exist. The competition between reds and greys is an unnatural problem that we have a responsibility to manage. That’s why we’re working closely with partner organisations across the north of England and southern Scotland to protect this much-loved but threatened species.” 

Aimée says one way for people to help red squirrels is to report any sightings or join their local red squirrel group. 

The Red Squirrel Recovery Network (RSRN) is made possible by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, with thanks to National Lottery players. The project aims to protect and conserve populations of red squirrels in the north of England and southern Scotland.

The five-year RSRN project will see Cumbria Wildlife Trust working in partnership with Northumberland Wildlife Trust; The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester, and North Merseyside; Knowsley Safari; and Scottish partners Restoring Upland Nature; Bright Green Nature; and Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere.