• The RSPB is celebrating 40 years of counting garden birds with its famous Big Garden Birdwatch.
• A new TV advert will showcase real Big Garden Birdwatchers and the many ways people get involved.
• To mark the event, the RSPB is asking participants ‘How will you #BigGardenBirdWatch?’ and to share their stories of how they take part.

A new RSPB TV advert will showcase personal stories from its supporters showing their love of wildlife as the charity celebrates 40 years of its world famous Big Garden Birdwatch.

How will you #BigGardenBirdWatch, is inspired by the submissions to the RSPB’s social media feeds in recent years, which show the amazing variety of ways that people take part and their enthusiasm for the event.

Filmed at RSPB headquarters in Bedfordshire and on locations around the UK, the advert will first air on Boxing Day and features RSPB supporters alongside famous faces like RSPB president Miranda Krestovnikoff, wildlife presenter Chris Packham and TV gardener David Domoney.

From young Rebecca who makes a birdfeeder out of toilet roll, to urban Ste who loves his birds so much he has them tattooed on his body, it’s an engaging celebration of Big Garden Birdwatchers.

Rebecca Munro, RSPB Director of Communications and Fundraising, said: “Big Garden Birdwatch is the most popular activity on the RSPB calendar. We wanted to celebrate and share our supporter’s Birdwatch stories, using them as the cast. What shone through from everyone taking part in our TV advert is that a love of nature is universal; it doesn’t matter where you live or what age you are, the joy of wildlife watching is something that everyone can enjoy.

“Reaching 40 years is a huge achievement and shows just how passionate people across the UK are about their wildlife.  The survey started in 1979 as a winter activity for our youth members. It’s now the largest garden wildlife survey in the world. It’s an event open to everyone and appeals to both children and adults because it’s an enjoyable, easy, inclusive activity and a hugely successful example of thousands of people working together to help make a difference for nature.”

The RSPB joined forces with advertising agency Cherry Tiger to bring the campaign to life. Moving away from a traditional DRTV approach, the advert uses quirky stories and voices of real Big Garden Birdwatchers to show this is an event for everyone and challenge them to take part with the tag line “How will you #BigGardenBirdWatch?”.

Dan James, Creative Director at Cherry Tiger, said: “The idea came from seeing how people shared their experiences of Big Garden Birdwatch on social media. Big Garden Birdwatch is the RSPB’s biggest participation event, and this year we had the added opportunity to celebrate 40 years of the world’s largest wildlife survey. On Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, we found real people who did much more than just watch the birds, they painted birds in watercolour, knitted birds in wool, tattooed the birds on their arm and made bird cake.

“Whether people simply send in images of the birds they’ve seen, or go further and show us the bird feeders they’ve made, the crafts they’ve created, the cakes they’ve baked or the costumes they’ve worn, the RSPB would love to see all the wild and wonderful ways people Big Garden Birdwatch in 2019.”

Big Garden Birdwatch takes place on 26, 27 and 28 January 2019. The public is asked to spend just one hour watching and recording the birds in their garden or local green space, then send their results to the RSPB. Close to half-a-million people take part in the Birdwatch every year.

Over the last 40 years, 130 million birds have been counted giving the RSPB an astonishing amount of insight into how our wildlife is faring.

For your FREE 40th anniversary Big Garden Birdwatch pack, which includes a bird identification chart, plus RSPB shop voucher and advice to help you attract wildlife to your garden, text BIRD to 70030 or visit www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch