Santander Private Banking in Jersey sponsors the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust Madagascar25 Soiree.

On Saturday 22 October Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust celebrated 25 years of working in Madagascar with their Madagascar25 Soiree.

As key supporters of environmental conservation, Santander Private Banking in Jersey were delighted to be able to support their charity partner Durrell by sponsoring this prestigious event.

The event began with a cocktail reception to which guests wore individually designed Lemur masks.  This was then followed by a Madagascan inspired three course dinner.  Brian Blessed was the guest of honour for the evening and as headline speaker he captivated guests with stories of climbing Mount Everest, training to be a cosmonaut, playing Spiro in My Family and Other Animals and performing in Hamlet.  He spoke passionately about his role as Honorary Life Vice President of the Campaign for National Parks and supporter of Durrell.

Over the last 25 years Durrell have saved some of Madagascar’s most iconic species from extinction, including the ploughshare tortoise, and have worked with local communities to find ways of protecting the natural resources on which they rely. Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world and most of the population rely on the natural world for survival, which means the iconic species of the island have become restricted to tiny remaining patches of habitat.

During the evening Durrell held a raffle and an auction, which included a top prize of a 10 day trip to Madagascar with the opportunity to visit several Durrell projects. The money raised from the auction will help Durrell to continue with their conservation programme in Madagascar.