About Us

WildCookham is a local wildlife society and registered charity dedicated to the preservation, protection and enhancement of the natural world in and around Cookham. We work with local landowners, councils, schools, community organisations and volunteers to help wildlife recover and to make nature part of everyday local life.

WildCookham is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered with the Charity Commission, charity number 1193867.

What drives us

We are deeply concerned about the state of the natural world around us and passionate about the need to do something practical about it. We want Cookham to be a place where residents, families, schools, businesses and landowners all feel able to care for and protect the local environment.

Our primary aims

Protect and enhance as much of the local landscape as possible using the principle of bigger, better, more joined up habitats.
Engage the local community so that nature recovery is visible, shared and strongly supported.
Work with partners to make sure wildlife protection becomes part of long-term local planning and land management.

What we do

We work with local landowners to transform land for wildlife, survey local habitats and species, organise walks and talks, support schools, encourage wildlife-friendly gardening, and contribute to conversations about the future of Cookham's landscape. Much of this work is delivered by volunteers who bring time, knowledge and enthusiasm to projects across the parish.

Achievements so far

2014: Cookham Wildlife Supporters is formed following local efforts to protect orchards and green space.
2016: Links deepen with Wild Maidenhead and other regional wildlife groups.
2017: The organisation adopts the name WildCookham.
2018: Wildlife Gardens Awards are launched in Cookham and later adopted more widely across the Borough.
2019: WildCookham establishes a presence at the Cookham Festival, launches its website, expands school activity and begins new conversations with major landowners and environmental partners.
2020: Water Vole Recovery survey work begins and WildCookham becomes involved in activity around Marsh Meadow pond.
2021: WildCookham becomes a CIO, contributes to the Borough Biodiversity Action Plan and oversees the initial release of water voles in Cookham.
2022: The group joins work on the Cookham Neighbourhood Plan and continues the water vole recovery programme.
2023: WildCookham stages the major exhibition Our Changing Earth with linked environmental talks.
2024: Work intensifies on water vole surveying and mink control, the first Big Wildlife Weekend is held, and new focus is placed on waterways and ecological surveys.
2025: WildCookham extends its work with the parish council at the Harris Woodbridge Reserve.

Partnerships

Our work depends on collaboration. WildCookham works with residents, schools, farmers and landowners, local councils, Wild Maidenhead, BBOWT, the Bisham Nest Box Group, the National Trust, the Woodland Trust, the John Lewis Partnership and other local and regional partners who share an interest in nature recovery.

Looking ahead

WildCookham wants to help shape a future where habitats are richer, more resilient and better connected, and where local people feel confident that their actions can make a measurable difference. The organisation will continue building practical local partnerships, strengthening ecological knowledge and widening the number of people who feel able to take part in nature recovery.