Eco shop returns a red squirrel to Bridgnorth in fundraising window display
A red squirrel has been seen in a Shropshire town for the first time in nearly 50 years, albeit the furry rodent is part of a promotional campaign for a zero waste shop.
Volunteers Karen Chambers and Deb Parker were asked to dress Our Green Shop in Bridgnorth as part of an initiative to sell shares in the business to help fund its expansion.
The shop, which sells zero waste wholefoods, local goods, plant based and organic food, environmental cleaners and household products, is a community-owned, not-for-profit business.
To monitor the progress of its fundraising, the pair of volunteers decided to create a "Squirrel-o-meter" in the shop window.
In the display, a felted red squirrel climbs a life-size cardboard tree trunk as local people buy shares in the shop.
To date the campaign has raised £2,500 towards its target of £10,800.
As a hobbyist felter, Karen sells her felted animals at local craft fairs, while artist Deb uses her creative skills to support several local and national environmental causes.
Both live in Alverley and when they met, realised they shared a common interest in handicrafts and said the display was made using repurposed or recycled materials.
Our Green Shop chair Wendy Condyliffe said: "Karen and Deb have done a great job. We're sure the window will attract many more customers for the shop as well as investors."
Director Brian Millington, who remembers seeing red squirrels at High Rock in his youth, joked: "If our campaign is successful, this will be the first red squirrel to climb a tree in Bridgnorth for over 50 years!"
Red squirrels have been on the decline in the UK since the introduction of the grey squirrel during the 19th century. There are now only a few thousand red squirrels left in the country, mainly in small pockets in parts of Wales, Northern England, the Isle of Wight and Scotland.
