New Year Charity Day
- 1st Jan 2026
- 10am - 3pm (last entry at 1:30pm)
Start the year with a winter wander around The Lost Gardens of Heligan, as we open our gates in aid of Red Squirrel South-West on New Year's Day 2026.
Normal garden admission charges will apply on this special day with all money raised being donated to Red Squirrel South-West. For our visitors with Heligan Memberships or Heligan Local Passes, we encourage you to make a suggested minimum £2 per person donation to help raise vital funds for this well deserving charity.
About Red Squirrel South-West
Red Squirrel South-West (RSSW) is a registered charity formed to restore the Red Squirrel to favourable conservation status throughout the South-West of England. This can only be achieved through landscape scale intervention and a joined-up approach, to effectively address invasive Grey Squirrel populations and restore balance to our woodland ecosystems.
RSSW was established in 2008 by a group of private landowners and passionate individuals who all shared the same vision for local biodiversity. The charity is based at Escot Park, East Devon, which in 2011 built a ¾ acre walk-through Red Squirrel enclosure – only the second in the UK.
The only remaining wild Red Squirrel colonies in the South-West can be found off the mainland, on Brownsea Island, the Scilly Isles, and the Isle of Wight. This is entirely due to consistent Grey Squirrel management conducted by community volunteers, supported by professionals and other organisations.
However, the region currently lacks an overarching strategy which would link existing efforts, and empower those who would like to volunteer their time, energy and land to control Grey Squirrels, protect and maintain woodland health, and create future release sites for Red Squirrels – which is where the RSSW project comes in.
Here at Heligan, we are excited to support the mission to return Red Squirrels to the Cornish landscape after being missing for 50 years. We hope to have Red Squirrels living at The Lost Gardens of Heligan in 2026.
Your New Year visit to Heligan
Take a pleasant gentle stroll through the working Victorian Productive Gardens and enticing Pleasure Grounds or stretch your legs down the enchanting Woodland Walk leading on to Heligan’s sub-tropical Jungle. With the winter sun glistening on frosted leaves Heligan is truly an experience for all the senses and becomes a fabulous winter wonderland just waiting to be explored.
With bare branches all around, winter also provides a wonderful opportunity to observe The Lost Garden’s wide diversity of bird life. Woodpeckers, nuthatches and the elusive kingfisher can be enjoyed in the woodlands, whilst winter migrants such as fieldfares and redwings can be viewed over the farmland. With the purpose-built Hide providing an ideal viewing point for grey wagtails, black caps, bramblings, greenfinches and much more feeding directly around the Hide.
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