Welcome to de Bretton Charities

I have chosen to support the endeavours of three very different charities. The people that are involved in these organisations all share the tremendous energy, positive thinking and commitment to their work that drives them on and on, even when they’re under-funded and overstretched.

How did I decide on our charities?

I’m concerned about the effects that human beings have on wildlife. Without climatic change even coming into the argument, natural habitats are being destroyed in very environmentally sensitive parts of the world at an alarming rate. My eyes were opened to a whole new world of conservation and what the world is going through when I visited Durrell on Jersey in the Channel Islands. Founded fifty years ago by the author Gerald Durrell (My Family and Other Animals) the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust has a unique approach to saving endangered species. They help them fall in love! Durrell has saved 26 animal species from vanishing from the face off the earth. Please visit our website with onward links for more information www.debrettondurrell.co.uk

A number of years ago I appointed a new property lawyer at a legal firm called Pinsent Masons. His name was Matthew Baker. His father, like mine, had died of Cancer. He told me about the amazing story of how his mother set about raising money with her friends from the local Woman’s Institute in the Yorkshire Dales to buy a comfy sofa for the hospital in Leeds where John Baker was being treated. They did a nude WI calendar that went on to sell more copies than the famous Michelin calendar. Their incredible story was told through the Blockbuster Movie “Calendar Girls” starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters. The Girls have raised over £1.3M for Leukaemia Research and might be heading to the West End with a new musical! Their work is tremendous and as the Girls say "It could be the next pound that does it". Well done Ladies. Matthew is still my lawyer and a good friend. Please visit our website with onward links for more information www.debrettoncalendargirls.co.uk

Good, traditional farming, once a mainstay for the economy and the country seems to have vanished from people's minds. Where does our food come from? How much does it cost to produce? Who is involved in the production process? A hundred years ago, the answers to these questions would be simple and straight-forward. It would be all local produce. Today we eat lamb from New Zealand and beef from Argentina. Chickens from God knows where. I am very interested in proper farming and animal welfare. Old fashioned farming. Farming that is done well in Britain. The Rare Breeds Survival Trust is a leading light in helping to ensure that rare breed animals native to our own country have a chance of making it through the extremely challenging domestic agricultural conditions of the 21st Century. Please visit our website with onward links for more information www.debrettonrbst.co.uk

My wife, Sue, and I are doing our little bit by trying to promote and raise some money for organisations that are driven by a passion for what they do. They are all strapped for cash so please help us in whatever way you can.

Best wishes

David Hattersley
York, England
SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER

Sign Up