AS part of its 20th anniversary celebrations a Kemble-based doormat specialist has become a gold sponsor for a UK sea life preservation charity.

The Turtle Mat Company (TMC) has had a long affiliation with the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), which is the only UK charity dedicated to caring for the sea, shores and wildlife.

With the help of its customers, over the last few years, TMC has raised over £5,000 for MCS through its Adopt-a-Turtle scheme, which looks specifically at ways to save marine turtles from extinction.

This year, TMC will continue to invest in the scheme but will also work with the charity on other initiatives to help clean up Britain’s beaches and shore lines to give visiting leatherback turtles and other wildlife the best environment they need to survive.

Mark Whitney owner of TMC said: “The work the Marine Conservation Society does to protect our British coastline and wildlife is vital and we want to continue to help in any way we can. The Turtle Mat team have really got behind the charity and we even have an employee taking part in the charities’ Big Sea Swim event in July. ”

MCS has ten gold corporate members, whose support has enabled the charity to continue to research how clean UK beaches are, educate and provide fishermen on wildlife friendly fishing methods as well as surveying UK turtles.

“We are extremely grateful to Turtle Mat for providing us with their additional support,” says Sam Fanshawe, chief executive at MCS.

“Our wonderful seas, shores and wildlife are constantly under threat. We are trying to establish marine protected areas to allow wildlife to continue to flourish and also recover from over fishing and litter. Work we could not undertake without public support and generous donations from corporate supporters such as Turtle Mat.”

Supporting the MCS is one of many projects TMS is getting involved with in its anniversary year.

For further information on the work of the MCS visit www.mcsuk.org