Chester Zoo have been awarded £318,000 in additional funds to help accelerate nature recovery and improve wildlife conservation efforts across Cheshire.
In the scheme backed by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the popular North West tourist destination and one of the best zoos in the world, let alone the UK, has been handed over £300k to put towards ensuring a better future for local nature and its inhabitants throughout the region.
Chester Zoo‘s nature recovery and animal conservation work will see them develop detailed plans to restore vital habitats for wildlife and create new ones for severely declining UK species, through a new project called ‘Networks for Nature’.
Some truly crucial work, this.
Excited to share that this NEW Networks for Nature project is possible thanks to @HeritageFundUK and National Lottery players, who are helping to ensure a brighter future for wildlife in Cheshire! 🚀🐸🐝🌸🦊🐍 pic.twitter.com/zXj5mS1zyI
With around 50% of UK species reported to be in decline, including the likes of great crested newts, the black poplar — Britain’s most endangered native timber tree — and the water vole which has been lost from 94% of places where they were once prevalent since the 1960s, we must act now rather than later.
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With that in mind, Chester Zoo will now work closely with local organisations and partners over the next 14 months to begin the nature recovery work and, hopefully, ensure a robust second-round application can be submitted to The National Lottery Heritage Fund in 2025.
Better still, the zoo will be working alongside Cheshire West and Chester Local Authority, Cheshire Wildlife Trust; the Canal and River Trust; Sustrans, the Land Trust and Cheshire West Communities Together to improve land holdings across Cheshire’s natural landscape and engage with the community.
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This really is a team effort, with everyone chipping in to look after our precious biomes and all within them, not mention secure their future for generations to come. We don’t want any more news like the fate of the River Lim last month.
Chester Zoo’s Community Engagement Manager, Hannah Brooks, said: “We’re in the midst of a global biodiversity crisis. The UN estimates that one million species are at risk of extinction, including many here in the UK, meaning there’s never been a more pressing time to stand together for nature.”
“Nature is in need of urgent help and our new Networks for Nature project will create a thriving, better connected, wildlife-rich landscape across the North West and Cheshire, benefitting both nature and the surrounding communities.
“Maintained through a strong partnership of local organisations, this grant will enable a comprehensive and joined-up response to tackling habitat fragmentation and degradation, and urban isolation from nature… make nature more accessible and inclusive for everyone to improve wellbeing and empower more people to have an active role in conservation, with the skills and know-how needed to create and grow biodiverse habitats.
“By coming together, we can make a significant difference to improving nature in Cheshire, and contribute to the global effort to protect and restore biodiversity.” Brilliant stuff.
You can email [email protected] for more information or to find out how you can get involved, and you can learn more about what the zoo is doing to look after our beloved animal friends and their surroundings down below:
New endometriosis pill helping hundreds of women with ‘debilitating’ condition to be made available on NHS
Emily Sergeant
A groundbreaking new pill to help women with a ‘debilitating’ condition is set to be made available on the NHS.
The new daily pill for endometriosis – which has been approved for use on the NHS in England by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) – is called linzagolix, and will be available for those who have had previous treatment for endometriosis, working to manage any symptoms they may be experiencing.
Around 1.5 million women in the UK are thought to be currently living with endometriosis.
Endometriosis can cause chronic pain, heavy periods, and extreme tiredness when tissue similar to the womb lining grows elsewhere in the body.
A new daily pill for endometriosis has been approved for use on the NHS, and could help over a thousand women in England every year manage the symptoms of the debilitating condition.
As mentioned, linzagolix will be available specifically for patients whose previous medical or surgical treatments for endometriosis have been unsuccessful, and will be given alongside ‘add-back’ hormone therapy – which involves using low-dose hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to prevent menopause-like symptoms and bone loss.
This is the second take-at-home treatment to be approved to treat endometriosis on the NHS, and it’s thought that more than 1,000 women will benefit.
In clinical trials, linzagolix was shown to be successful in reducing painful periods and non-menstrual pelvic pain, compared with placebo, hence why it has been approved on the NHS by NICE.
“This is welcome news for women with endometriosis who haven’t found relief from previous therapies or surgery,” commented Dr Sue Mann, who is the National Clinical Director in Women’s Health for NHS England.
“It’s another treatment option which will help women take control of their health and better manage the symptoms of this often painful and debilitating condition.
“This is a testament to our ongoing commitment to improving treatment, care and quality of life for women.”
Featured Image – Heute
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Wigan woman jailed after hitting pedestrian in Fiat 500 while driving high on nitrous oxide ‘balloons’
Emily Sergeant
A young woman from Wigan has been handed jail time after hitting a pedestrian while driving high on nitrous oxide.
Louisa Tunstall was driving a white Fiat 500 towards the East Lancashire Road in Wigan at around 7pm on Friday 24 May 2024 – a time when traffic conditions were said to be ‘quiet’ – but Tunstall was under the influence of a now-banned drug, nitrous oxide, at the time of the incident, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) confirmed.
While driving under the influence, 19-year-old Tunstall veered to the left onto the pavement and collided with a 51-year-old woman pedestrian.
After striking the woman, the car then overturned and, in the process, caused serious life-changing injuries.
When questioned by police, Tunstall stated that she ‘took her eyes off the road’ to retrieve something in the footwell before knowing the car had flipped, but she also confirmed that she had just been out to purchase nitrous oxide to use that evening.
After obtaining witness accounts, investigating officers were able to track down nearby CCTV footable which showed Tunstall inhaling nitrous oxide through a balloon whilst driving, seconds before the collision occurred.
#JAILED | It's not a laughing matter when you get behind the wheel under the influence of drugs.
Now Louisa Tunstall has to spend over a year behind bars after inhaling nitrous oxide and causing serious injury in #Wigan last year.
— Greater Manchester Police (@gmpolice) May 14, 2025
Further investigation by GMP’s Forensic Vehicle Examination Unit examined the Fiat 500 and confirmed that no defects were found on the car to contribute towards the collision.
Still to this day, the victim says she is trying to recover from the injuries sustained to her leg that will prevent her from continuing life as she did before.
“The incident is still very raw when I think about it,” the victim explained in her impact statement released by GMP. “I become upset when I think at everything which has been taken away from me and the ongoing affect it has had and continues to have on my daily life.”
GMP says it’s seeing the use of nitrous oxide being a factor in incidents they attend increasing year on year.
Nitrous oxide, also known as ‘laughing gas’, is reported to produce euphoria, relaxation, dizziness, giggling or laughing fits, impaired judgement, and occasionally dissociation and hallucinations – which GMP says affects reaction time and and is ‘likely lead to impairment’ in driving performance, particularly when faced with an unexpected or hazardous situation.
Tunstall appeared at Bolton Crown Court this week, and has been sentenced to one year and eight months imprisonment for having possession of a Class C drug, driving under the influence of drugs, and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Alongside being jailed, she was also disqualified from driving for two years and eight months, and has been ordered to take an extended test when she is released.
Danny Jones -
21st June 2023 
