Postcode Lottery players help the Big Garden Birdwatch soar

The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch is the world’s largest garden wildlife survey. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people take one hour, over one weekend in January, to count the birds on their patch. However, lots of people think that they can’t take part in the Birdwatch, particularly if they haven’t got access to a private garden.  

At the RSPB, we believe nature and the Big Garden Birdwatch are for everyone, and in 2026, we’re proud to say over 650,000 people took part. This included many people living in Manchester and Glasgow, where there are significantly fewer private gardens than other areas.  

It’s thanks to players of the Postcode Lottery that this was possible. 

Thanks to funds raised by players of the Postcode Lottery, in the lead up to the Big Garden Birdwatch 2025 and 2026, we sent free mailings to 1,350,000 households across Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow.

Designed to make the Birdwatch more accessible for all, the mailings contained guides, ID charts and results forms and explained that you don’t need a private garden to take part. Instead, people living in urban areas can head to a local park, count from their favourite café’s window, or even look out from their own balcony.

In 2026, players of the Postcode Lottery helped 52% more people in Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham to take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch than in previous years. This amounts to 29,390 people, 4,642 of whom were new to taking action for nature with the RSPB.

Many of these new supporters have signed up to hear more about how they can help nature with the RSPB, become members, or make generous donations of their own. Thank you, Postcode Lottery players, you help the Big Garden Birdwatch fly. 

We want the Big Garden Birdwatch to be as inclusive as possible and are thrilled by the number of people who took part this year. While over nine million birds were counted, right across the UK, many of our favourite garden bird species are actually in decline. This is especially true in urban areas. 

That’s why it’s so important that we inspire as many people as possible to connect with nature and get involved in the Big Garden Birdwatch. Not having access to a private green space isn’t a barrier to taking part, and the more Big Garden Birdwatchers we have, the better we can see how our birds are faring.