The day was expertly organised by NRS’s Jackie Foott to thank volunteers for all their hard work in protecting red squirrels and to update them on progress. RSST provided the funding, and insurance costs were paid for by SOS. The event was held at Hutton-in-the-Forest, after Lord and Lady Inglewood generously offered the venue free of charge.

Squirrel Fest included a series of talks from experts about the work to preserve the red squirrel population, and was compered by Stuart Maconie (left), who features on various BBC radio and TV programmes. He said: “I’m really aware of how fortunate I am to see red squirrels, so I said I would love to come down and take part.”

Eric Robson (right), who also spoke, added: “A substantial part of Cumbrian tourism is our natural environment, including two iconic creatures, the osprey and the red squirrel. Were Cumbria to lose red squirrels, people would quite understandably say that it was extraordinarily careless of us. But that is not going to happen, because of the work of so many volunteers and people working to bring them back into their natural habitat.”

Along with the speeches, the event featured food, drink, a free raffle, delightful live music and even a crowd-pleasing juggler.

For insurance reasons, this year’s event was by invitation only, yet there was still a fabulous turnout of 230 people! We're very hopeful that 2010 will play host to Squirrel Fest 2…