People keen to conserve the New Forest have come forward as volunteers.

The New Forest Trust teamed up with the New Forest National Park Authority to launch an appeal to get volunteers back outside to help care for the New Forest after the pandemic and to increase their numbers.

The Trust entered the Big Give’s Green Match Fund, appealing to members of the public for donations and the chance to have their donation doubled.

Almost 180 donations were made and £8,743 was raised, smashing the target of £5,000 to support vital volunteering work.

William Ziegler, cairman of the New Forest Trust, thanked said: “We were enormously pleased by the response of the public to this appeal, which will help the work of the volunteers, who are helping many projects of both long and short importance to the New Forest, continue.”

The New Forest Trust was founded in 2003 to secure the future of the New Forest.

It secures financial support locally through donations and from the millions of people who visit the New Forest every year through the Love the Forest visitor giving scheme.

The money raised is used to fund projects that meet the Trust’s charitable aims, with some projects being delivered directly and others by local organisations through the Love the Forest scheme.