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Who is this website aimed at?
GBWildlife.co.uk is aimed at a wide demographic. Despite, as the saying goes 'you can't please everybody all of the time', we do aim to please as many people as possible. From those who are already into wildlife (and who probably know way more than us!) to those that have a passing interest and of course families. Whilst we want to ensure that our fellow wildlife lovers are catered for, we are also very very keen on getting people into wildlife who may currently be indifferent. It goes without saying that the more people who have an interest in wildlife, the greater the benefit to it. We have already (less than 2 weeks up and running) had a number of people interested who just want a nice day out – what better than a peaceful reserve, estate garden, family farm or a day getting involved in a local group’s survey?
We hope to include a wide range of article, from ones aimed at beginners to more in depth articles that assume some prior knowledge, although we do hope that everyone is able to take something from them. We are also considering some kind of grading system for our articles.
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Who do we list?
Simply put, we aim to list all sites, groups and events that are involved in wildlife. However, our listing will be as diverse as our readers.
Some sites are ‘very hardcore’ wildlife sites with possibly no access and simply a lay-by where you can setup a scope to observe distant and often rare wildlife. Some may be much more family friendly like a reserve with a play area, or plenty of kids activities. Others may be a real wilderness area and ideal for a quiet picnic surrounded by calling grouse, pipits or skylarks.
We aim to cover it all – we believe that any site or event that may encourage people of all ages to begin to appreciate their natural environment can only be a positive thing.
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What are our goals?
Our goals are essentially simple to state and rather more tricky to achieve!
Our goal is simply to provide the facility for people to see what is going on where they are – whether that is their local area or the place they are going on holiday. We want to enable people to find out what is happening and where it is happening before the event itself happens and you read about it the day after. In doing so (and combined with planned promotional activities) we ultimately aim to get more people out into the great outdoors appreciating the wonderful and varied natural environment or the British Isles!
By involving schools and youth groups through competitions (and as the site develops via other means) we hope to help children realise just how much fun wildlife can be and how important it is to protect it.
By making this site successful we plan to donate funds to British wildlife and conservation projects.
Obviously this is no small challenge or one which can quickly or easily be achieved. You can help though, if you like the site, please tell your friends and family about us, if you don’t like the site then please tell us (admin@gbwildlife.co.uk).
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Are we trying to make money?
As a privately funded site all investment has been provided by ourselves and we have full time staff. We also need to provide continued investment into advertising and general promotion, unfortunately this all takes funding.
We are, however, not trying to become the latest dotcom millionaires! On the contrary we are very optimistic that we will work our way into a position where we can reinvest in wildlife and conservation projects, after all most of these projects share our goal – to increase the awareness of the wildlife in the UK and allow more people to enjoy it. This is of course on top of our obligations to the next generations – in 20 years time we hope that Jack can enjoy an even greater variety of wildlife than we have been able to.
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OK, so if you are not trying to make tons of money how come your not a charity or not for profit organisation?
G. B. Wildlife Ltd was only established early 2008. We were advised to setup as a Ltd company as we were not willing to relinquish control of any aspect of the company particularly as it has been funded by ourselves. Being a limited company gives us the freedom to develop the site as we see fit without the need to worry about too many rules and regulations. We may well become a charity or not for profit organisation in the future but at the moment this is not feasible for us.
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Can we link to your site?
Of course, all links are very much appreciated, please copy the HTML code below onto your website, also please drop us an email letting us know you have done to admin@gbwildlife.co.uk
<a href="http://www.gbwildlife.co.uk" target="_blank" title="UK and British
Wildlife">GBWildlife: UK Wildlife with site, group and event listings.</a>
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Are you open to suggestions?
Absolutely! We always like to emphasise that we are easily contactable and very welcoming of suggestions. You can contact us either via the ‘Contact Us’ page or via the Forum – if you really want you can even do both!
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How come my local site/group isn’t listed?
This could be due to 2 reasons.
Firstly we may not have contacted them and they may not have heard of us.
Secondly they may have declined to be listed.
Either way, if you think that a site/group near you should be listed then please let us know any details which you have (via forum or contact us page) ideally a phone or email address – they may not ‘exist’ on the internet. Alternatively please pass our details on to them and they might just get in touch with us.
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Why Should I join the Forum?
The forum is a great place to ask questions or chat about your days out, sightings, your conservation efforts, your local group ...well just about anything really. We want this to be a friendly and informative forum. We want people to be able to ask any nature/ conservation related question without feeling foolish. Even if you know zip about nature or conservation issues at the moment if you want to learn ask away. Also don't be afraid to give your opinion, as long as this isn't offence then it is welcomed. We do not expect people to hold the same values or opinions and debate is welcomed.... we will be moderating to ensure it doesn't get too heated.
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Publicity
Although we will be continually publicising the website in magazines, the media and by attending events and exhibitions the best form of advertising is still by word of mouth.Please help us make this site successful by telling your friends, family and colleagues about us.
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How do I use the Search Facilities to find sites, groups and events near me?
We have endeavoured to make the search facilities as easy to use as possible (but we are of course always open to suggestions on how we can make them even better!). To use them simply:
Enter a postcode OR a place (town or region) and the distance that you are prepared to travel, to a maximum of 50KM.
Alternatively you can choose a county - this is the least accurate due to the continual changes and disputes over county names and boundaries.
There are then options of whether you wish to include events and groups in addition to sites. These can simply be ticked or unticked.
If you do wish to include events then please be sure to include 'Start' and 'End' dates eg. 05/08/2008 to 12/08/2008.
Once you have filled in this information click the 'Submit' button for results.
Once listings are returned you can either scroll through the list on the right hand side or use the map. To use the map click on a marker pin and a bubble will popup with the site/group/event name. This can then be clicked so that the right hand side list automatically scrolls to the corresponding details where you can also click for more details if required.
If you have any suggestions for improvements that could be made to our search facilities then please get in touch.
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I have a question that is not answered here…
Please get in touch with us via the Forum or the ‘Contact Us’ page and we will do our best to answer your query. We are polite and friendly I promise! Your question may even reach the ‘dizzy’ heights of this FAQ page!
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