WITH Mother's Day fast approaching a local charity is offering an environmentally-friendly alternative to the usual gift of flowers.

Around 90 per cent of flowers sold in the UK have travelled hundreds, if not thousands of miles to get here - meaning there is a hidden environmental cost to consider.

But the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust has an alternative to offer - fresh flowers for a lifetime by helping to restore the living wildflower hay meadows found in the Yorkshire Dales and Forest of Bowland.

Project Officer Tanya St Pierre said: “Who can resist beautiful flowers? But so many of the cut flowers you see for sale are foreign imports that have travelled many miles to reach our shops.

"By giving a 'Living Bouquet' you can help us to save the precious wildflower meadows on our doorstep. These vibrant habitats are teeming with up to 120 species of wildflowers and grasses per field, and are home to many rare species of wildlife; plants like the Globeflower and endangered animals like the brown hare. They also provide a vital habitat for bumblebees and other important pollinators."

For a donation of £25 you will receive a gift pack, including a personalised certificate, attractive card and pack of wildflower seeds sustainably sourced from northern England, and a guide to one of the best wildflower meadow walks to enjoy in the Yorkshire Dales.

To order by 11am on March 24 for delivery in time for Mother’s Day, visit ydmt.org/LivingBouquet or call 01524 251002.