The Whittington & Fisherwick Environmental Group (WFEG) were formed with the aim to become one of the first low carbon communities in the UK. Through a range of great projects and community involvement, they aim to make local communities think more about how they can become ‘greener’ and reduce their carbon footprint;
Understand our own ‘carbon footprint’ and how to reduce it.
Run our homes, businesses and buildings economically & efficiently.
Recycle, reuse or compost everything we can.
Reduce our emissions from travel by walking or cycling when we can and driving efficiently when we can’t.
Buy local – especially food – and buy from businesses firmly committed to lower emissions.
The WFEG contacted me a while ago and asked if I would be interested in helping out in a ‘River of Flowers’ project they were initiating and also by giving a talk in the village hall. The River of Flowers project aims to firstly to create wildlife corridors so that wildlife can find food and shelter, in particular to increase the quantity of pollinator-friendly plants to help bees; secondly, to make the village centre and its approaches more attractive with spring-flowering bulbs. My part was linked in with the local primary school and involved me giving an assembly and then working with a selection of children to plant bulbs in the verges right outside school.
The day dawned pretty chilly, but at least the torrential rain and gale force winds had stopped! I gave an assembly to the 300+ pupils of the local primary school, explaining the project and why it was important to provide early pollen and nectar sources for bees and also about how easy it is to transform a bare verge into something much more attractive and also better for local wildlife! I have a very attentive audience and the Year 3 and 4 pupils were excited about coming out to help.
The guys from WFEG had done a grand job rotivating and preparing the site and we worked with groups of children, planting a range of bulb species. They were all very enthusiastic and keen to be involved! All these children will walk past this verge daily, so it will be great to return in the spring to see what it looks like!
Once the children had a planted all the bulbs, the site was raked again and a wildflower mix was also spread over the area, so it should look considerably different next year!
In the evening, I returned to the village to give a talk. What a lovely evening it was, with wine, drink and snacks laid on, I had a very interested and receptive audience and spent over an hour afterwards chatting to lots of great people who are all keen to do their bit for wildlife.
Thank you WFEG for inviting me and congratulations on initiating such a community driven project, determined to make a change!
