Hi my name is Eloise, I’m one half of The Wildlife Helpers - Cheshire.

We are raising funds to cover the costs of placing a memorial in honour of ‘Wendy’ the whooper swan who for the past 6 years has called winsford marina & flash her home.

Sadly on 4/9/26 she was horribly killed after being hit by a car just metres from the water at the marina, she loved people and was a huge part of the community for many who visited the marina regularly or even just once or twice.

Her loss will leave a huge void and we want to place a bench or tree in her memory so a part of her lives on many years to come. She was such a special part of the marina and loved by all who met her, she’d had a very hard life starting with being released by the rspca at spike island, she struggled to fit in and after some time it became her home until suddenly the canal was waterless and she suffered severe heatstroke, this led to her being released at winsford marina where she stayed since and suffered a dog attack and multiple foot injuries over the years, until alas her passing here just a few days ago.

She was such a special swan as it’s extremely rare for whoopers to mix in a flock of mute swans and there’s only one other known single whooper & mutes flock known to us in the uk, her species are incredibly smart and emotive and she interacted in ways most swans wouldn’t!

The plan now is to raise funds ahead of being able to hopefully (council confirmation pending) place a bench or tree, potentially both! At the marina or rilshaw meadows where her memory can live on in the community.

We need to raise a minimum of £1.100 to pay to CWAC for a bench and costs associated! Anything raised that is left over after the costs have been paid will go to two local Wildlide Rescues who will be able to use the funds to help her friends at the marina and other local waterfowl! these rescues are my own mentioned at the start and Rowans wildlife rescue, both self funded and devoted to our local birds/animals.

We would like to make it known that if after all options are exhausted then we will look into a tree planted in another waterfowl area or memory forest/meadow and if for any reason this cannot go ahead or we do not raise enough funds to cover the full costs the money again will be split equally between the rescues.