Sustainable Derbyshire company helping safeguard wildlife with RSPB garden birdwatch nature offer

A sustainable Derbyshire outdoor furniture company is doing its bit to help safeguard wildlife during the cold winter by offering a special discount on its nature range to tie in with the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch this month.

So far more than 230,000 people across the country have signed up to take part in the charity’s survey on garden birds, which has been going since 1979.

To tie in with the event Wirksworth-based TDP Ltd, an award-winning company which makes outdoor furniture from recycled plastic, is launching a special discount on its nature range, which includes hedgehog houses, nest boxes, bird feeding platforms and stations, and garden planters.

The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch runs from January 26-28 and to encourage people to take part, TDP is offering a 10% discount on its whole nature range for the week leading up to and including the event, with the offer starting on Monday January 22.

TDP is launching its new-look bird feeding station, which has been specially redesigned for 2024 following feedback from customers, and now offers greater shelter for small garden birds such as sparrows.

Company owner Rob Barlow said: “Sustainability and care for the environment is at the heart of everything we do at TDP. We want to do all we can to safeguard the natural world and our nature range has been created to help customers look after the wildlife in their outdoor spaces.

“It’s shocking to see how much garden birds have declined over the past few decades and I hope that as many people as possible will sign up to take part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch this year. We’re launching our nature range offer as a bit of an encouragement. In our garden in Derbyshire we welcome a good number of blue tits, great tits, robins, blackbirds, chaffinches and wagtails, with the occasional woodpecker, jay, magpie and greenfinch. It’s also lovely to spot buzzards, kestrels and the odd Red Kite.

“Following customer feedback we have also redesigned our bird feeding station so it offers more shelter for small garden birds. It’s great to know that our customers care about the wildlife in their gardens as much as we do. We were happy to adapt our design to provide more cover for the smallest birds while they feed.”

The company, which has won a coveted King’s Award for Enterprise for Sustainability, has so far used plastic waste equivalent to nearly 4.5million bottles to make its outdoor furniture.

Rob and his wife Anne are passionate about the environment and have participated in several citizen science trips in the Arctic, Antarctica and the UNESCO Baa Atoll Biosphere Reserve in the Indian Ocean.

Rob said: “My wife and I have been lucky enough to participate in some incredible citizen science trips overseas, taking part in some important surveys monitoring vulnerable wildlife, including counting penguins in Antarctica. But you don’t have to go abroad to take part in citizen science. The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch is a great example of a brilliantly organised survey that is right here on our doorstep in Great Britain. While a lot of the news on garden birds in this country has been very concerning, it’s only by conducting proper scientific surveys such as this one that we can get a true picture of what problems we face.”

Advice from environmental organisations on how to encourage birds into the garden includes setting up bird feeders and nest boxes, to provide safe feeding spots and habitats.

The RSPB has reported that 38 million birds have been lost from UK skies in the last 60 years, with song thrush numbers down 80% since the survey began.

TDP is also a corporate member of Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, which has ambitious aims for the county including that by 2030, 33% of it should be managed for wildlife.

TDP is offering 10% off its nature range from January 22-29. See www.tdp.co.uk and use coupon code Birdwatch2024.