Entries now open for the RSPCA's Walk on the Wild Side challenge

EVERY penny counts as charity prepares for intake of hedgehogs and seals. Wildlife lovers are being invited to sign up for the RSPCA's autumn active fundraising event:- 'Walk on the Wild Side.'

The event invites participants across England and Wales to complete a walking challenge throughout October.

The fundraising challenge comes at a critical time for the charity as it reveals that last October (2024) was its busiest month for hedgehogs in the last 5 years, and also marks the beginning of:- 'seal pup season' when the RSPCA's wildlife Hospitals also typically see a spike in grey seals admitted as orphans, or struggling to feed and are weak and underweight.

The 'Walk on the Wild Side' challenge offers 2 distance tiers to be completed over the month:- 60 miles (96.6km) or an:- 'Ultra Wild Challenge' of 120 miles (193.1km). Participants have the flexibility to choose their own location for the challenge, and a fundraising target of £100 is suggested per participant.

Olivia Williams, Mass Participation Manager at the RSPCA said:- "Every hour, a wild animal needs our care, and we know that so many animal lovers want to help. That's why we're thrilled to be launching Walk on the Wild Side as a way for people to really make a difference and support our vital work."

Already this autumn, the RSPCA's specialist teams have been called to care for hedgehogs. 2 tiny hoglets (one pictured top) were taken in by the team at RSPCA West Hatch Wildlife Centre in Somerset last week, after being found orphaned. They are now receiving round the clock care including:- being hand fed.

Those who sign up to take part will receive a welcome pack upon registration, which includes:- an RSPCA t-shirt, a miles tracker, and a wildlife spotting sheet. Early registrants will also receive a limited edition dog bandana. Additionally, participants who successfully raise £100 by:- 31 October 2025, will be awarded an exclusive:- 'Walk on the Wild Side' medal.

Signing up to take part in the event couldn't be easier:-

• Registration: Complete the online form to receive the challenge welcome pack.
  

• Community Engagement: Join a dedicated Facebook group for fundraising advice and peer support.
  

• Preparation: Participants are encouraged:- to undertake preparatory walks prior to October.
  

• Challenge Completion: Walk the chosen distance during October while utilizing the provided spotter cards.
  

• Progress Updates: Share challenge progress within the Facebook group.
  

• Medal Qualification: Achieve the £100 fundraising target by the challenge end date to receive the commemorative medal.

Olivia added:- "We're excited to see people sign up for the challenge through this month, ready to begin on:- 1 October 2025, and we can't thank people enough for joining us in this fantastic event. Every penny raised will directly contribute to the RSPCA's mission of caring for wildlife across England and Wales, and make a huge difference to animals."

More information on fundraising for the RSPCA is available on the charity's website.

Dozens of Reform UK target seats at risk of being fracked

A total of 34 target constituencies for Reform UK will be among those 1st in line to be fracked should the party deliver on its promise to lift the moratorium on fracking, a new analysis from Greenpeace's investigative journalism unit, Unearthed, has found.

The analysis comes after the right wing party's Deputy Leader Richard Tice announced last week that Reform would immediately lift the ban on fracking, which was put in place in 2019, after exploration at a site in Preston, Lancashire, triggered a series of minor earthquakes. But Unearthed's analysis of the areas most likely to see licence applications identified 127 constituencies across England and Wales where drilling licences were issued over shale gas reserves in the years before the current fracking ban was imposed.

More than a quarter of those identified are Parliamentary seats where Reform came 1st or 2nd in the last election. The majority of these are Labour held seats in the North West, Yorkshire or the east Midlands.

They include the constituencies of 2 of Reform's 4 sitting MPs: Lee Anderson, MP for the Nottinghamshire constituency of Ashfield, and Sarah Pochin, who narrowly won the seat of Runcorn and Helsby from Labour in a by-election earlier this year.

Greenpeace UK's head of politics, Ami McCarthy, said:- "Farage is threatening more than a political earthquake. The real life tremors that Reform's plans for fracking risk creating could send seismic waves through the ground and homes of the very people he needs to woo in order to get into power. Fracking failed in the UK because this destructive industry is deeply unpopular and was vehemently rejected by the British public. That so many fracking licences are in the seats Farage needs to win, where many potential Reform voters; and even Reform led Councils; would oppose the plans, shows that this idea is just a divisive distraction. Voters lured by Reform's promise of change will realise that all they really offer is higher bills for us and bigger profits for their fossil fuel funders."

Fracking is deeply unpopular with the UK public. Over the past 6 years, YouGov polling has consistently shown around 50% opposition to a British shale gas industry, against around 25% support.

Reform's base tends to be pro-fracking, in sharp contrast to the population at large. However, new YouGov polling for Persuasion UK, shows that the policy is divisive within the coalition of voters the party will be seeking to build.

The polling shows that Reform curious Labour voters are more likely to support than to oppose a UK wide fracking ban, and are opposed to having new fracking sites in their area by a clear margin.

The polling also shows that people who 1st voted Reform after the 2024 election are more likely to oppose than to support fracking in their local area.

This division is also reflected in local Government. Earlier this summer, the Reform led Scarborough Town Council came out in opposition to an application for a:- "fracking-style" appraisal well on nearby land.

The Council stated that it stood in:- "full support" of local residents in:- "opposing a fracking style hydrocarbon development that threatens the area's landscape, geology, biodiversity, tranquillity, and road safety."

Lancashire's Reform led county Council announced last week that its Fylde Coast is:- "not conducive to fracking, and there are no plans for it to take place here." Simon Evans, deputy leader of the Council, suggested that more activity was expected in the east, rather than the north west of England.

Tice has since insisted that fracking remains possible in Lancashire, and downplayed the seriousness of tremors caused by shale gas exploration.

What are your thoughts on this news topic? Email our Newsroom at:- News24@SouthportReporter.Com or send us a message on:- Mastodon, Facebook, or Twitter. Please do let us know as we love to hear your views....