Bats are misunderstood, misrepresented and undervalued, many of us know what that feels like so I'm doing a 21Km walk (running is not my thing) with the aim of raising some money to help. I'll be visiting 15 magnificent and ancient trees of 14 species in Central London, from the Tree of heaven to the Gingko. It should take about 6 hours to do and I'm happy for anyone to join me (for all or just part of it; get in touch). I will also be posting updates on Facebook and Instagram.

Why a tree crawl? Because I love trees but also because trees are important for bats and other wildlife including people.

My purpose? To raise funds to help educate and inform more people about why bats matter. And they really do! It has never been more important than now to do this, misinformation and fake news undermines wildlife conservation. Bats in particular often get the blunt end of the stick.

There are over 1400 described bat species in the world. The 18 resident British bat species all eat insects (and the occasional spider), as do approximately 70% of all bat species. But beyond the important role they play in habitats across the world, they are an important part of our natural heritage and watching them whizz about at night is one of the joys of life.

Please give what you can and share widely. Every donation, whether large or small, can help Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) get that message out. Your money could go towards running bat walks for families, give a bat talk at a school, train an LGBTQ person how to use a bat detector or provide leaflets for a place of worship. Everyone needs the opportunity to learn to enjoy and appreciate bats.