Royal Dornoch Golf Club has maintained its support for one of Scotland’s most endangered species after raising a further £2,840 through the support of its members.
Back in 2019, the world-renowned club launched a new clothing range for members which is an emblem based on the iconic Scottish wildcat. After a first donation of £2,195 from sales was handed over to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, the wildlife conservation charity that leads the Saving Wildcats project, the club have now raised even more for wildcat conservation in Scotland.
Royal Dornoch’s coat of arms, authorised by the Court of the Lord Lyon, includes a wildcat, the crest of the earls of Sutherland. The club have several member-only lines from which they collected a donation from each sale, this time raising £2,840 for Saving Wildcats, a European partnership project aiming to restore Scotland’s wildcat population by breeding and releasing them into the wild.
While an official photo opportunity to celebrate the occasion with a cheque handover was unable to be held due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Royal Dornoch has transferred the funds over to the RZSS’s Highland Wildlife Park near Aviemore.
Neil Hampton, General Manager at Royal Dornoch, said: “We offer our thanks to the many members that have purchased items from the Wildcat range once more. We have gathered together another considerable sum to continue our support of Saving Wildcats and play our part in saving this wonderful animal. We hope they continue to thrive and are delighted to support these efforts.”
David Barclay, ex-situ conservation manager for Saving Wildcats, said: “We thank Royal Dornoch once more for this generous donation and their ongoing support for our project. It has been great to hear that the members’ clothing line is doing so well. It is really exciting to be bringing together all the necessary resources and expertise to save Scotland’s wildcats, and we are incredibly grateful to everyone making this vital work possible.”
