A WILDLIFE charity has benefitted from the support of the Freemasons of County Durham following the hand-over of a cheque for £1,000.

The Freemasons responded to an appeal by the Durham Wildlife Trust for funding, and the cheque was given by Steve Ramshaw from the society's benevolent committee.

Mr Ramshaw said: "The committee regularly makes donations to local non- masonic charities, supporting a variety of causes.

"We are extremely pleased to be supporting Durham Wildlife Trust, enabling them to continue their valuable conservation work in County Durham and beyond."

The trust's chief executive, Richard Wood, said: "We are extremely grateful to the freemasons for their very generous support and the money will be put towards the delivery of our environmental education programme.

"It will enable us to purchase new equipment, such as pond-dipping nets and bug-pots, for the schools and other groups that we will be working with throughout the year."

The trust works with schools across County Durham, Sunderland, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Darlington.