After receiving planning permission from East Riding of Yorkshire Council in May, the nature reserve at Flamborough Head near Bridlington will now use the HLF funds to develop The Seabird Centre. The four-year project will greatly improve facilities for visitors to the site, considered to be the birthplace of seabird protection and home to 200,000 nesting birds including the largest mainland gannet colony in the UK, largest kittiwake colony, and three quarters of England’s razorbills and guillemots.

Keith Clarkson, site manager, said: “Over a quarter of a million seabirds make their home on the cliffs here each year, and the reserve welcomes around 76,000 visitors annually. This development will enable us to ensure our visitor experience is suitable for the volume of visits we receive and will effectively tell the story of the area’s unique seabird heritage.

“Over the years the site has become worn – just through normal wear and tear - with the visitor centre, footpaths, toilets and the car park now in need of an upgrade. With the grant, we’ll be able to provide much better facilities and information for the thousands of school children, community groups and families who visit each year.”

Fiona Spiers, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund Yorkshire and the Humber said: “Bempton Cliffs is an internationally important site for nesting sea birds and one of the best places in Europe to see them. The RSPB has been in operation here since the 1960s conserving our natural heritage; however this grant will make the site much more accessible and create better facilities for the thousands that visit each year. The attraction is a key benefit for the local economy and we are delighted to support the project.”

The HLF grant, along with over £300,000 of funding from the RSPB, will enable the nature reserve to develop its visitor offer through a number of improvements:

• refurbish and extend the reception building, creating a sheltered space for education, community group and family activities and adding a single storey extension
• provide more accessible footpaths, with interpretive rest points, new signs and trail boards
• redesign the car park to create additional parking spaces and safe bicycle storage
• deliver an activity and events programme to include live and interactive interpretation
• undertake seabird monitoring and research  to better understand how to protect seabirds and marine life
• offer new volunteering and training opportunities

The funding will also enable the reserve to employ additional staff to help deliver the project.

Keith Clarkson added: “This funding will ensure that our thousands of visitors will continue to engage with, and be inspired by, Yorkshire’s great seabird spectacle, and together we can continue to help give nature a home.”

Notes to editors

The RSPB is the UK’s largest nature conservation charity, inspiring everyone to give nature a home. Together with our partners, we protect threatened birds and wildlife so our towns, coast and countryside will teem with life once again. Find out what you can do at the RSPB website. They play a leading role in BirdLife International, a worldwide partnership of nature conservation organisations.

Additional funding support for the project has also been received by Coast, Wolds, Wetlands and Waterways LEADER, through the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), jointly funded by Defra and the EU.

Further information

To arrange an interview or for further information, please contact:

RSPB: Keith Clarkson, Senior Site Manager on 07736 793 450, email: keith.clarkson@rspb.org.ukor Liz Hirst, Regional Communications Manager on 01484 868 419 / 07711 390 074, email: liz.hirst@rspb.org.uk.

HLF press office: Vicky Wilford, Communications Manager on 0207 591 6046 / 07973 401 937, email: vickyw@hlf.org.uk.