MALVERN Hills Trust has launched a number of new donation schemes for those who want to support its work and commemorate loved ones.

Among the sponsorship opportunities on offer are:

*planting tree saplings in a wood on the hills;

*placing benches in one of the trust's lesser-known woodland properties; and

*providing visitor information signboards at two car parks on the hills.

The wood is Thirds Wood, which was planted around 1860 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. Straddling Jubilee Drive on the western side of the hills, this woodland has a special character all of its own, earning it the nickname Little Switzerland.

In recent years, the trust has removed diseased and weak trees to allow healthier trees to mature, and now needs to plant saplings to be the next generation of trees.

A donation of £20 will allow the trust to buy, plant and look after a sapling on a native species. Donors' names will also be recorded in the trust's public donations book, but because of the natural landscape of the woodland, there are no opportunities for plaques on site.

The trust is also looking for donations towards benches at the Community Woodland off Townsend Way.

It wants to put in five ordinary benches at £450 each and two picnic benches, at £1,500 each.

Plaques can be placed on the bench seat in memory or celebration of a loved one - although the donors will have to provide the plaques themselves.

And the trust is also looking for sponsorship to replace information boards at Black Hill and Gardiner’s Quarry car parks.

Each one will cost £4,000, and donors have the option to either cover the full cost, or to make a contribution of one or more quarter-shares of the cost.

A spokesman for the trust said: "With your support, the Malvern Hills Trust will be able to undertake these special projects which will benefit wildlife, local people and visitors. As a charity, donations and legacies to the trust form an important part of our income."