February 2026 Newsletter — A short month, a long list of achievements: Women's Upland Network, Spring Auction and Beating Bracken project
- Heather Trust
- Feb 27
- 3 min read
Welcome to our February newsletter and as Spring peeks around the corner, we’re looking forward to another active year of events, engagement and impact.
This month our Director, Katrina Candy has been meeting with a number of rural organisations, engaging with academics, speaking with the BBC, developing research projects, organising events and participating in a round table event discussing climate-adapted land stewardship.
February may be a short month, but it has been packed with activity and positivity, not least the news that we have been successful in gaining Scottish Government funding to kick-start our Women’s Upland Network initiative. Read more below.
Women’s Upland Network launches soon
FUNDED AND SUPPORTED BY
We are more than delighted to be launching our Women’s Upland Network in the next few weeks. This initiative has been in the ether for quite a while now, but we are most grateful to Scottish Government for recognising the potential of this initiative and providing funding to get it off the ground.
As we reported in our 2025 Annual Review, we have a group of founding members driving this network forward, based in both England and Scotland from diverse backgrounds but all with a real interest in our uplands and in celebrating and supporting those women who live and work there.
We are putting the final touches to the new web pages and will soon be reaching out to our contact list with the first WUN newsletter and details of events planned for later in the year. If you, or someone you know, would like to be part of this supportive and informative community of women who love our uplands, you can sign up here:
Heather Trust 2026 Spring Auction
We are currently gathering in lots for this year’s Spring Auction – one of our most successful and vital fundraisers – and we’re calling on your help to make the 2026 event the biggest and best yet.
Taking place online from Friday 24th April to Sunday 17th May 2026, our auction offers the opportunity to bid for some real ‘money can’t buy’ items and exclusive opportunities, as well as must-have purchases for every budget. However, we need your help to make this happen and ensure the Trust can continue with its impactful work across the UK.
Whether you can contribute a prize, make a financial donation, or simply help spread the word, every act of support strengthens our work. Your ongoing commitment makes a vital difference, so if you can contribute, please contact us using the button below — we’d be delighted to hear from you. Together, we can make this year’s auction the best yet and continue making a real difference for our uplands.
Research Programmes
As many of you will have read in our Annual Review, we have a number of research projects we are keen to begin in 2026 – Beating Bracken, Heather Beetle and Honey Production, and Future Moors. These projects are specifically targeted at finding real answers to current and future issues directly affecting our upland landscapes, help inform policy and direct practical application.
We have been fortunate to have been given some funding for the Beating Bracken project from two generous private donors, for which we are incredibly grateful, but in order to develop this into a long-term robust piece of work we need to increase that funding substantially. If you know of a funding source that would be aligned with this or any of our projects, please get in touch with our Director, Katrina using the contact details below, and she would be delighted to provide more details.
A gift that supports our moorlands
A reminder that you can still purchase Heather Trust honey (produced by the clever bees and our friends at Northumberland Honey Co) and our children’s book ‘Heather Munro’s Race Against the Flames’ from our online shop. Every purchase directly benefits the Trust.
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