Will Garfit, the extraordinary artist, illustrator and author, who has also developed a 70 acre disused gravel pit in Cambridgeshire into an award winning shoot, fisheries and wildlife reserve, will be an entertaining and amusing speaker at a charity event dedicated to one of our most threatened bird species, the wild grey partridge, on Tuesday 11th June at the RAF Club in Piccadilly, London.
The evening, which will support the important wildlife research carried out by leading research charity, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) will appeal to all those with an interest in country sports, particularly as Will Garfit is one of this country’s best shots.
But as well as being a keen sportsman, Will is a popular and outstanding landscape artist, specialising in paintings of rivers, lakes, lochs and sea, and his commissions frequently take him far and wide from Southern chalk streams to grand rivers in Scotland as well as countries including Iceland, Russia and the USA. He is also a talented illustrator and is renowned for his delightful line drawings or sepia wash vignettes of wildlife, which have now illustrated some thirty books on country sport.
However, one of his endearing passions is the acquisition of a disused gravel pit at Hauxton in Cambridge, which has been a labour of love for Will over 20 years and the won the Laurent Perrier Award for conservation. The project also led to the publication of two very successful books on the story.
Will’s tales and anecdotes will be complemented by a presentation from Dr Francis Buner the GWCT’s leading grey partridge expert. Although critically threatened as a species, the wild grey partridge is a plucky bird that against all odds is managing to make a come-back in many areas of the countryside because of the intensive research carried out by the GWCT over 40 years. Francis Buner will explain some of the trials and tribulations of being a scientist, often working in challenging conditions, and he will entertain his audience with tales of how things do not always go according to plan!
The evening at the Royal Air Force Club in Piccadilly will include a drinks reception and a sporting auction in aid of the GWCT’s grey partridge research. Tickets are £30 each and can be obtained from Lucy Pearson, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust on : 0207 290 0110
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Picture Caption: The wild grey partridge by Will Garfit renowned artist and conservationist is dedicating time to save the grey at the RAF Club in Piccadilly on 11th June 2013.
Notes to editors
The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust – providing research-led conservation for a thriving countryside. The GWCT is an independent wildlife conservation charity which has carried out scientific research into Britain’s game and wildlife since the 1930s. We advise farmers and landowners on improving wildlife habitats. We employ 22 post-doctoral scientists and 50 other research staff with expertise in areas such as birds, insects, mammals, farming, fish and statistics. We undertake our own research as well as projects funded by contract and grant-aid from Government and private bodies. The Trust is also responsible for a number of Government Biodiversity Action Plan species and is lead partner for grey partridge and joint lead partner for brown hare and black grouse.
For information, contact:
Eleanor Williams
Telephone: 07592 025476
Email: press@gwct.org.uk