IN BRIEF
WIRRAL WADER FESTIVAL BEGINNERS SIGN UP FOR
NEW MEDAL MUDDLE 5K
RUN EVENT IN HOYLAKE
Wirral Wader Festival is celebrating its fifth
anniversary and this year for the first time will be held
away from the peninsula’s coast at RSPB Burton Mere
Wetlands on Saturday 31st August and Sunday 1st
September. A Wirral running club is hosting a new event as part of
the Hoylake & West Kirby Lifeboat Open Day.
This temporary move was for the Festival to support the 40th
anniversary of the RSPB Dee Estuary reserve and celebrate the
important population of waders that breeds at Burton Mere Wetlands,
as well as the internationally important flocks of waders on the coast
in winter. The Wirral peninsula is one of the best places in the UK
to see huge numbers of wading birds such as dunlin and knot in the
winter months, feasting on the rich mudflats of the Dee Estuary and
North Wirral shores. In the summer it is attractive for other waders
such as avocets and spotted redshank, and whimbrel on passage
migration, whilst more than 200 pairs of waders now nest on the
restored habitats at Burton Mere Wetlands.
Wirral Wader Festival came about due to a suggestion by Rick and
Elis Simpson founders of the international environmental charity
Wader Quest. They visited Wirral to view the remarkable efforts
of the Dee Estuary Voluntary Wardens (DEVW) who protect the
thousands of birds roosting on West Kirby and Hoylake beaches at
high tide. Being so impressed by the conservation efforts and by
the wonderful views of birds, they thought it should be celebrated in
some way. This led to the birth of the Wirral Wader Festival in 2015,
a partnership between DEVW with Wirral Council’s Coastal Rangers,
Cheshire Wildlife Trust, the RSPB and Wader Quest. It was the first
of its type in the UK and has encouraged other areas to hold their
own Wader Festivals.
Karen Leeming, Chair of the Wirral Wader Festival said “The Wirral
Wader Festival is a real community effort to showcase Wirral’s wading
birds and a full weekend of events will take place at RSPB Burton
Mere Wetlands. Everyone is welcome to Wirral Wader Festival from
keen bird watchers to people who have never looked through a
telescope but who would like to learn a bit more about local wildlife.”
There is free entry for everyone throughout the weekend. Visit www.
facebook.com/wirralwaderfest for more information.
12 wirrallife.com
The event is being organised by Hoylake-based BTR Road Runners to
encourage new runners, raise money for charity, and upcycle medals
and T-shirts from key local races. The inaugural Medal Muddle
5K takes place on Bank Holiday Monday (26 August) on Hoylake
Promenade, starting at 10am.
BTR Road Runners meet in Hoylake twice a week to train, new
members are welcome. Profits from the run will be donated to the
Hoylake branch of the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution).
The run coincides with the Hoylake & West Kirby Lifeboat Open Day
taking place on the same day. The idea behind the event is to create
a mobile 5K which will move round Wirral, while supporting new
runners and welcoming them to experience a race event environment,
maybe for the first time.
The August event marks the first in a series of Medal Muddle 5K
races being staged monthly until November, supporting a different
each charity each time. The second Medal Muddle 5K will take place
on Sunday 29 September from Ashton Park on the Wirral Way, with
profits being donated to Pawprints Wildlife Rescue in Hoylake.
Entry is £10 with all profits being donated to charity. There is no lower
age limit, but youngsters must be accompanied. All running abilities
are welcome. Organisers hope the new concept will attract beginner
runners or those embarking on a Couch To 5K plan, and for them to
use the Medal Muddle series as a target. BTR Road Runners are taking
the lead in race event upcycling by creating the series of 5K runs.
All participants will receive a medal and T-shirt carrying the Medal
Muddle branding. The medals and T-shirts have been donated by
Hoylake-based BTR Liverpool, the leading independent organisation
for creating, managing and delivering headline race events across
Liverpool City Region.
Entries for the Medal Muddle 5K can be made in person at the BTR
office at 82 Market Street in Hoylake, or online registration is available
by visiting https://www.btrliverpool.com/medalmuddle.