£3,100 has been raised for the North West Air Ambulance and Help for Heroes by deer stalking enthusiasts at a charity evening held at Malmo Guns near Lancaster.
More than 200 people attended the event organised by Alastair Boston of The Deer Initiative, the British Deer Society and the British Association for Shooting & Conservation (BASC), supported by Malmo Guns.
All proceeds from the evening will go to North West Air Ambulance and Help for Heroes.
BASC’s Duncan Thomas said: “It was a fantastic evening in a great setting and BASC was delighted to be involved in supporting these great causes. It was also a great opportunity for people to meet up and I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the event.”
There were demonstrations from professional deer manager Jonathan Standing on tracking deer with his specialist Hanoverian scent hound and from Honeywell Meats of Eaves on deer carcass butchery. In addition there were talks on the work of Lancashire Police’s Wildlife team and by vet Iain Richards on TB in wild deer. All attending were fed for free on generous venison burgers served by Honeywells.
The charity auction and raffle included local deer stalking outings for sika, red, fallow and roe kindly donated by Leven’s Hall estate, Leighton Hall estate, BASC North, Graythwaite estate and Thirlmere Wildlife Management.
Other prizes included cartridges from Eley, a signed print from sporting artist John N Clarke, venison from Claughton Estate and a tailored garment from Charles Campbell Bespoke Tailoring of Clitheroe.
ENDS
Photograph by Tom Sykes