THE Game Conservancy Trust has appointed a new northern fundraiser.

The trust has decided to appoint Henrietta Appleton, pictured, left, as fundraiser for an area between the Scottish Border to North Wales because it is heavily involved in research in the North of England to help ensure the biodiversity of the uplands is maintained and that work is expensive.

She joins the trust from Brewin Dolphin Securities where she initially worked as a stockbroker and subsequently in the research department. Before that she worked for merchant bank Kleinwort Benson, gained a master's degree in rural land management from the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, and worked as an assistant land agent for Strutt and Parker.

The trust undertakes a large number of projects in the North including the action plan to restore black grouse numbers to the 1996 levels by 2006. Another major project, the upland predation experiment, began at Otterburn in 2000 and is investigating whether the removal of common predators can increase breeding success and ultimately increase the population size of a range of ground-nesting bird species on moorland and the surrounding marginal farmland.

The trust is also looking at how ticks can affect wading birds such as curlew, lapwing and the rare golden plover, and research into strongylosis - a gut parasite, which can have a devastating impact on grouse numbers - has just been published as a new conservation guide.

In 2003, it spent £3m nationally, of which £2m went on research carried out by its 60 scientists at Fordingbridge and at study centres throughout the country.

In each county in the Northern region, the trust has a fundraising committee. Many fundraising ideas are already planned in the Northern region, including demonstrations, talks to gamekeepers and farmers, and advisory evenings with many experts in their fields, including the trust's specialised advisory team.

Further information on the trust's work is available at www.gct.org.uk or on 01425 652381.