Following the relaxation of lockdown restrictions Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust has extended the opening of its take away food and drink offer at its Idle Valley Nature Reserve of North Road, Retford to 7 days a week.

The charity reopened its café as a takeaway-only service just before Christmas, covering Friday-Sunday, but with the ‘stay at home’ rule now relaxed and groups of up to 6 now allowed to meet outdoors and non-essential retail allowed to reopen, the Trust, is keen to welcome its old customers back and to extend a welcome to those that have discovered the reserve for the first time during lockdown.

Speaking about the extended operations Catering Manager James Jacques said: “It’s been a very challenging year for the team but we were delighted to reopen before Christmas and expanding to 7 day-a-week cover is a step on the road to resuming normal business. The team that look after the nature reserve have worked very hard to keep the site open throughout all the lockdowns and many people have sought solace here during a difficult year. We’re delighted we can now throw open the doors throughout the week to welcome them.”

Despite the challenges of having to work from home and the loss of volunteer support due to social distancing rules and travel restrictions Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust chose to keep all its nature reserves across the county open so that people could exercise and connect with nature. As a result, new audiences have discovered many of its reserves and online engagement via its website, social media channels and campaigns such as 30 Days Wild have seen record highs.

James added: “It’s clear that many people have found a new found appreciation of nature and being outdoors during the pandemic and we hope that people will continue to enjoy our sites long after all the restrictions have eased - but we need the support of café customers to help support the costs of caring for this special nature reserve – so we look forward to safely welcoming many more customers in the weeks ahead.”

The Wildlife Trust recently announced exciting plans to reintroduce beavers to the county, at Idle Valley Nature Reserve, after an absence of more than 400 years – with the first beavers set to arrive later this year.

The take away café at Idle Valley Nature Reserve is open 10am -3pm daily.