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Press Release

BGL Group sponsors Ramsey Heights Countryside Classroom

City business backs community environmental resource

Immediate release: 30 April 2009

Major local employer BGL Group – one of the UK's largest personal lines insurance intermediaries – has pledged to fund the running costs of the Ramsey Heights Countryside Classroom for the next three years.

The sponsorship package is worth in excess of £66,000 and is a vital part of the Great Fen Project education and community programme. The Great Fen is Britain's most exciting conservation project, which will restore more than 9,000 acres of fenland habitat in Cambridgeshire.

Ramsey Heights Countryside Classroom, next to Woodwalton Fen National Nature Reserve, opened in 2008, and provides a comprehensive education and community programme for all ages and abilities. The mid-19th century building, once a Victorian brick and tile works, has undergone a complete facelift – benefiting from all modern amenities and including state-of-the-art ecological features such as sun tubes to light the rooms. The classroom is now used as the base for a Great Fen Wildlife Watch Group, for local children to find out about wildlife in their area and get involved in the Great Fen Project. It is also used by local residents, community groups and Great Fen Project partners to host special events for campaign supporters.

BGL Group Chief Executive Peter Winslow said: "We are delighted to be able to help fund the countryside classroom and Great Fen Project in this way. It gives us the opportunity to support our local environment and the education of children - two elements that are very important to the BGL Group. We are very proud to be involved and look forward to seeing how we can help to develop the Great Fen for the future, for all to enjoy."

Nick Hammond, director of the local Wildlife Trust said: "We are really excited by BGL Group's generous support. It will make a huge difference to the service we are able to offer. With their support we will be able to inspire people about the natural world and projects like the Great Fen."

As part of BGL Group's continuing commitment to this local community resource, the major local employer is also a lead sponsor of the world premiére Great Fen Concerts being held on May 6 and 7 at Peterborough Cathedral and King's College, Cambridge, respectively. The internationally-acclaimed Britten Sinfonia orchestra will be performing a number of pieces including a new composition called 'Whitel's Eye' by John Woolrich, which is inspired by the landscape and wildlife of the Great Fen. Tickets are still available by calling 01480 388248 or 01223 357851.

The community classroom at the Great Fen - Tom Bingham, Associate Director of Group Communications at BGL Group is pictured (third from left) with children from Ramsey Spinning Infants on Great Fen with sound-scape composer Mike Challis, who worked with the children to make music inspired by the natural world around them.