Gamekeepers from across North Yorkshire have been joining forces to raise money for local charities.
In addition to their extensive conservation and moorland management activities, gamekeepers from the North Yorkshire Moors Moorland Organisation (NYMMO) have found time to raise more than £5,000 through a wide range of fundraising events.
The team at Snilesworth Estate, led by head gamekeeper Jimmy Shuttlewood, raised £2,800 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance through a variety of events including a ‘shooters’ sweepstake’ during the shooting season, a raffle at the beaters’ evening and even a swear box.
This followed the efforts of 14 gamekeepers who took part in a tandem skydive in March. The keepers, who hail from five different estates in the North Yorkshire Moors, succeeded in raising £2,736 for Yorkshire Cancer Research.
NYMMO’s Tina Brough said: “For all NYMMO fundraising events, the money raised gets divided between ourselves and a chosen charity within our area. The Yorkshire Air Ambulance has been our main beneficiary and we were delighted to be nominated for an award acknowledging our fundraising efforts at the YAA recognition evening.”
Kevin Hutchinson, Yorkshire Air Ambulance East Yorkshire Community Fundraiser: “As an independent charity we rely solely on the support from individuals and organisations such as the North York Moors Moorland Organisation to ensure the continuation of Yorkshire’s life-saving emergency service. We’d like to thank the NYMMO for their continued support – since 2016 they have raised a phenomenal amount of money and enough to keep both our Helicopters flying for one full day!”
Earlier this year, NYMMO also presented the Yorkshire Air Ambulance with a cheque for £9,157 for money raised in 2016.
NYMMO’s public activities are not limited to fundraising. July saw a range of countryside organisations including NYMMO team up with the North Yorkshire Police to organise a trip for 300 schoolchildren from local schools on to the North Yorkshire Moors to learn about the region’s unique habitat and wildlife
Since its inception in 2015, NYMMO has aimed to tell the story of the shooting and game-keeping community, through the people who are involved with it every day of their lives – gamekeepers, their families and local businesses such as garages, butchers, restaurants and hotels who work closely with estates across the North Yorkshire Moors.