This Earth Day, one month until the nation’s favourite broadcaster and environmentalist Sir David Attenborough celebrates his 96th birthday, Thankbox has launched an opportunity for all to wish the icon a very special happy birthday to be shared with the legend himself.
Launched in May 2020, Thankbox is an online group card that solves the issues related to card and cash collections for special occasions as well as supporting eco-friendly efforts in reducing the use of paper. With the option to include photos, GIFs, videos and a collection point, Thankbox is revolutionising the generic card for something more memorable.
The public Thankbox for Sir David Attenborough will coincide with a fundraiser for Fauna & Flora International – a conservation charity that he has been a member of for 60+ years and Vice President for 40+ years.
Founded in 1903, FFI is regarded as the world’s oldest international wildlife conservation organisation and focuses on protecting biodiversity.
The digital birthday card will allow people anywhere in the world to leave a message wishing Sir David a Happy Birthday and make a donation to FFI.
With over 40,000 species in danger, the initiative aims to raise £10,000 for the conservation charity.
Furthermore, Thankbox is committed to increasing positive environmental impact by planting a tree for every 10 Thankboxes sold. To date, it has planted 3,231 trees, offsetting emissions equal to 11,400 car trips between New York and LA.
Individuals can contribute to the birthday card on Thankbox.com until the 8th of May.
Jonny Wright, Senior Director, Communications & Fundraising at Fauna & Flora International said: “We are thrilled to be supported by Thankbox through this unique and innovative campaign celebrating our vice-president, Sir David Attenborough.
“We would like to thank everyone at Thankbox – and to all who sign the online card – for their generosity. Their donations will contribute to our work with local communities around the world to protect and restore nature.”
Environmental focus next up for the Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour
From Monday 27 September to Saturday 2 October, the Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour will visit primary school pupils across the country as it continues its series of virtual events.
The tour will focus on the environment, with talks from conservationist, vet, TV presenter and author Jess French, author and rewilding pioneer Isabella Tree with d illustrator Allira Tee, and adventurer and bestselling author Abi Elphinstone.
The Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour is supported by Scottish Friendly and organised by Scottish Book Trust, the national charity transforming lives through reading and writing.
During the pandemic, the tour has been delivered virtually, live streaming into classrooms and living rooms across Scotland and the rest of the UK, with educational watch on demand video content viewed over 100,000 times.
The Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour will host virtual events on the environment for schools across Scotland, with an audience of around 5,000 pupils.
Jess French will talk to young people about the world’s incredible forests and how they can get involved and learn how to protect them. She will share educational extracts from her book: ‘Let’s Save Our Planet: Forests: Uncover the Facts. Be Inspired. Make A Difference.’
Isabella Tree and Allira Tree will discuss insights from her book: ‘When We Went Wild’, a joyful, sustainably printed picture book about two farmers who decide to let their farm run wild, inspired in part by Isabella’s own experience at the world-renowned Knepp rewidling project in West Sussex.
Isabella will also show pupils around the farm via a virtual video tour before reading the book and sharing how she and her husband turned a loss-making farm into a sustainable, wildlife enterprise. This will be followed by an interactive drawalong with the book’s illustrator Allira Tee, who joins the tour live from Melbourne, Australia.
Author Abi Elphinstone will virtually visit P4–7 pupils about her real-life adventures, living with the Kazakh Eagle Hunters in Mongolia to kayaking through the Norwegian fjords.
Abi will also discuss her Unmapped Chronicles series: ‘The Crackledawn Dragon’ – a voyage across a secret kingdom full of silver whales, fire krakens, and underwater palaces. She will share how her own experiences and adventures in the natural world inspire her magical realms and beasts, as well as showing pupils how easy it is to leap into stories of their own.
Authors Live will also return on Thursday 30 September with Abi Elphinstone. schools across Scotland can sign up for P4–7 classes and watch the event live from their classrooms. There will also be a chance to ask the author questions during the event through a Twitter Q&A.
Magical Beasts at Edinburgh Zoo
For budding young writers and animal lovers, Abi Elphinstone will also host Inventing Magical Beasts workshops at Edinburgh Zoo (Budongo Theatre) on Saturday 2 October, starting at 10am and 11.30am.
The event is included in the price of zoo admission, and families are invited to come along and meet the author. Abi will demonstrate how young people can invent their own magical beasts, using animals from Edinburgh Zoo as inspiration. There will also be signed copies of the author’s book available to purchase.
Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust said:“We are delighted that the Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour is focusing on the environment, a topic that young people are incredibly engaged with.
“We’re pleased to have experts in both conservation and rewilding joining the tour. The pupils are sure to learn more about their planet and how to protect it for many years to come.
“We hope families can join our event at Edinburgh Zoo, where Abi Elphinstone will help inspire the next generation of budding writers.”
Beccy Angus, Head of Discovery and Learning at Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, the wildlife conservation charity which leads Edinburgh Zoo, said:“It is wonderful to welcome Abi Elphinstone to the zoo.
“As a wildlife conservation charity, education is at the heart of what we do. We hope this event will help our visitors learn more about the spectacular species in our zoos and around the world, and inspire the next generation of conservationists.”
· Britons are overwhelmingly in favour of drastic action, including freeing up UK islands to create predator-free safe havens for endangered species, in order to protect vulnerable wildlife
· The UK could follow in the footsteps of New Zealand, a conservation champion, that has taken drastic action to save its vulnerable national icon, the kiwi, by implementing a predator-free islands scheme
· To raise awareness of the conservation scheme native New Zealand cider, Old Mout, is joining forces with wildlife enthusiast, Michaela Strachan, and charity, Kiwis For kiwi, in a bid to save the vulnerable bird in a short documentary film called ‘The Forgotten World’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJiDC7TgcfI
· Old Mout Cider is hoping to make the people of Britain fall in love with the kiwi and inspire them to save this incredible animal by signing up to its mission. And for everyone who signs up to save the kiwi, 20p will be donated to Kiwis for kiwi https://www.oldmoutcider.co.uk/help-save-the-kiwi
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