“IMPACT” — RESPONDING TO YOUNG PEOPLE’S PASSIONS FOR A BETTER ENVIRONMENT

Impact, a project to be led by the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester North Merseyside in Greater Manchester and North Merseyside region, has been awarded funding by v, the youth volunteering charity, to get young people positively involved in their communities.

The project will get 864 young people aged 16-25 involved in environmental projects that will be a benefit to local communities by creating spaces for local people to enjoy, working with schools to improve school grounds and campaign work on climate change issues.

Daveen Wallis, Community Projects Manager for the Wildlife Trust says: “We are very excited to be part of the vinvolved programme. The funding will enable us to have a huge impact on the environment where people live, providing opportunities for young people to make a positive contribution in the place where they live.”

vinvolved has been designed by and for young people to make volunteering a compelling choice for all 16-25 year olds in England by tapping into their passions and concerns. The charity aims to change the image of volunteering and make it a ‘must-have’ part of young people’s lives.

Terry Ryall, v’s Chief Executive, says: “v is delighted to be able to fund this innovative and youth-led project, which will enable young people to get positively involved throughout Greater Manchester and North Merseyside. 

“Young people are at the heart of this new programme which aims to put them at the centre of our communities. Instead of seeing them as a problem to be fixed, we are giving them the chance to become a positive force for change.”

There will be short term / taster sessions that encourage young people to take an active part in environmental work close to where they live. Regular volunteer days will be organised on nature reserves, parks and open spaces with high impact taster sessions organised where young people can come and have a go at environmental volunteering.

The project will also offer part time opportunities where young people will have a longer term involvement in environmental improvements but on a part time basis. Young people will work alongside their community to identify potential projects that they can help with. This may be an environmental improvement, school grounds development, climate change campaign work, or enabling hard to reach groups to get more active in their local green space. Young people will see a discreet project through from start to completion. The project will involve consultation, design, fundraising, practical action, celebration and evaluation.

There is also the opportunity for long term placements lasting 20 weeks, who will be work on specific projects provided with one to one support, training plans, and accreditation. Placements will work alongside the Community Projects Officers, Nature Reserves Officers, Conservation Officers, Education Officers, and Food Growing Officers within the Greater Manchester area, based at the Environment Resource Centre in Bolton. There will also be the opportunity to work as a team to fundraise for overseas conservation volunteering, or activity holidays in the UK. The placements will last 20 weeks working 30 hours per week

Training will be an important element to the project with training provided towards NVQs, John Muir Awards Scheme and Youth Achievement Awards. There will also be the opportunity for individuals to gain certificates in Health and Safety, First Aid and Food Hygiene. All volunteers will be given a vpassport to record volunteer time and achievements will be recorded through the John Muir Award.

six key outcomes

1) young people will take more healthier lifestyle choices through physical activity, and personal and social development through volunteering

2) reducing anti social behaviour by working with young people to create a safe outdoor environment that will benefit the community as more people will be able to use their local green space.

3) An increase in volunteering opportunities that are accessible to everyone, addressing barriers to participation and encouraging young people to work within teams with participants from a variety of ages and ailities.

4) An increase in volunteering opprotunities that can respond to young people’s passions and respond to both global and local concerns and issues.

5) Increasing access to more training opportunities that will lead to employment, education or further training qualifications.

6) An increase in young people involved in innovative projects within their community that results in a positive impact that is recognised and benefiting local people, reducing any stigma that young people may have in that community

RUN FOR YOUR WILDLIFE! You've seen it on the television, now YOU can take part in a sponsored run (or stroll if you prefer!)

Be part of the Doitforcharity run series and take part in the Manchester event whilst raising funds for the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and N Merseyside. The 2008 Doitforcharity.com Manchester 5km will take place at Heaton Park - register your interest today and make sure you are part of it! www.doitforcharity.com/lancswildlifetrust.aspx

Information about the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and N Merseyside and sponsor forms available from Clare. tel. 01772 324129 ckenny@lancswt.org.uk

General entries for the BUPA Great Manchester Run are now closed but we have 25 guaranteed places secured, one of these could be yours!

Come and join in this exciting, mass participation, televised event which forms part of the Manchester World of Sport 08 campaign, the single biggest year of sport in Manchester since the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Entries, information about the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside and sponsor forms available from Clare. Tel. 01772 324129 ckenny@lancswt.org.uk

WILDLIFE TRUST WOODLANDS PUT IN FOR SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION

In order to receive the Annual Management Grant through the English Woodland Grant Scheme, the Wildlife Trust has to have its woodlands certified. We have chosen to apply for the UK Woodland Assurance Scheme (UKWAS) under the Small & Low Intensity Managed Forest (SLIMF) category, which is a FSC/UKWAS standard but with modified audit procedures to take appropriate account of scale and impact, e.g. conservation/community/urban type woods. The certification will last for 5 years.

The UKWAS (www.ukwas.org.uk) is split into 8 categories:

1.                  Compliance with the law and conformance with the requirements of the certification standard,

2.                  Management planning,

3.                  Woodland design, creation, felling and replanting,

4.                  Operations,

5.                  Protection and maintenance,

6.                  Conservation and enhancement of biodiversity,

7.                  The community, and

8.                  Forestry workforce.

The woodlands applied for are as follows:

Aughton Woods, Lancaster;
Boilton/Red Scar/Tunbrook Woods, Preston;
Booths Plantation & Howick Hall Woods, Penwortham;
Cross Hill & Salthill Quarries, Clitheroe;
Dean Wood, Rivington;
Foxhill Bank, Oswaldtwistle;
Freshfield Dune Heath, Merseyside;
Haskayne Cutting, West Lancashire;
Mere Sands Wood, Rufford;
Moor Piece, Bashall Eaves;
Pleasington Old Hall Wood, Blackburn;
Summerseat, Ramsbottom, Bury;
Warton Crag, Lancaster;
and Willow Farm Wood, Gregson Lane.

For further information contact:

John Lamb
Conservation Officer for East Lancashire
The Barn, Berkeley Drive, Bamber Bridge, Preston. Lancs. PR5 6BY

mailto: jlamb@lancswt.org.uk

direct dial & voicemail: 01772 317240

We have recently stepped up our drive to attract new members.

Following on from the rapid rise in membership in 2007, it was decided to move the “Door to Door” recruitment in house. In February, we recruited and inducted the first of our new colleagues, who immediately went on to attract fifteen new members in their first two weeks! At an average subscription of over £5.00 per month, that’s a real flying start for all of us.

Would you like to join our team?

Could you distribute leaflets describing our work in your area, then collect them and give people the opportunity to join the Trust?

We will pay you fairly in return for your efforts and give you lots of support and training. You will need to be friendly, keen and willing to dedicate 15 – 20 hours per week to the task, mainly at evenings and weekends.

Kate Jackson, the Trust’s Membership Officer, said “There's no “hard selling” involved at all – the work would suit anyone with the ability to engage in friendly conversation and with a real enthusiasm for wildlife. For people who need flexibility in their work commitments, this could be the ideal solution.”

If you would like to become a member, or would like to join our team of recruiters, please contact Kate at 01772 317230 or email kjackson@lancswt.org.uk

Hare Today...Gone Tomorrow?

Lancashire Wildlife Trust and the Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) are hosting a one day course designed to teach members of the public how to spot and record Brown Hares. The course is open to anyone who would like to help with a survey of Brown Hares that will take place throughout the whole of Lancashire, in springtime.

The course will be held at Bleasdale in the Forest of Bowland, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, between 10.00 am and 3.00pm on Saturday 29th March.

Volunteers will learn how to survey for Brown Hares and will learn how to identify the types of habitat where they might be found. During the afternoon, guests will visit a local farm to see Brown Hares in their natural habitat.

Jane Ashley of Lancashire Wildlife Trust said, “ This training day will give volunteers the expertise to go out and survey Brown Hares. This will help us to get a better picture of how they are doing in our county.”

Training will be provided so no experience is necessary. Lunch will also be provided on the day.

Booking is essential as places are restricted. To reserve a place and for directions and further information, please contact Jane Ashley on 01772 317242 or jashley@lancswt.org.uk. 

We encourage our members to record their sightings of Brown Hare at the dedicated website www.brownhare.org.uk.

We need as many records as possible in order to better understand their distribution and abundance which will help us target conservation action.

Sightings of hares can be added if they were seen anywhere in Lancashire, Greater Manchester and North Merseyside. If you want to find out more or send us your records, please visit the website. Every single record is a valuable contribution to Brown Hare conservation in our area

Young photographer gets the bird!

Fourteen year old Graham Moreton has been birdwatching at Mere Sands Wood, near Rufford, for over a year. He recently took up digital wildlife photography and his dedication was rewarded by this shot of a rare Night Heron. This has caused quite a stir among the birdwatching fraternity, among whom such a sighting is very infrequent. There has been a rush of wildlife fans to Mere Sands Wood in the last few days and the Night Heron has made regular appearances. Kim Neal, Reserve Manager, said "Graham is very keen. He's a fine example of the kind of young person who will continue to look after our wildlife in future years. We have all been amazed at the number of rare birds that have dropped in on us recently. The Wildlife Trust is working hard to improve the habitats at Mere Sands Wood and it's great to see it all paying off." If you would like more details of how to visit Mere Sands Wood, call the Wildlife Trust on 01704 821809.

Buzzing for Wildlife!

Wildlife enthusiasts got involved with conservation at the weekend with staff from Lancashire Wildlife Trust and The Friends of Seven Acres. Around 80 people attended an event on Saturday and made up a colourful planter to go in their garden.

Ann Kolodziejski from The Friends of Seven Acres, said, 'It was great to see so many people give up a couple of hours of their weekend to make a planter which will help provide some spring colour to people's gardens as well as helping insects such as bumblebees.' The planters were free to all people and is part of a wider project that The Friends of Seven Acres have been delivering funded by Creating Cleaner Greener Communities.

In addition to making up colourful planters some individuals got hold of a bumblebee nest box to go in their gardens. The nest boxes, which are being trialled by Lancashire Wildlife Trust to assess the effectiveness for helping support bumblebees, are part of a wider project funded by The Gannet Foundation which is the charitable branch of the company which owns The Bolton News.

Elsie Derbyshire of Skipton Street, Bolton, said 'I saw the event advertised in the paper and came along to get a bumblebee box for my garden. I always get bumblebees on my flowers and so I really hope that they will come and nest in my box. I didn't really know that bumblebees are declining so much in Britain and so I hope that the project will be success and give them a helping hand'

Anyone interested in learning more about wildlife gardening can attend an event at The Environmental Resource Centre on Saturday 29th March. For further information call James Hall on 01204 663754 or email jhall@lancswt.org.uk

Sylvia’s Garden

When Ian Monk’s mother, Sylvia, died recently, Ian wanted to create a fitting memorial. He raised a total of £1400, to create a memorial garden at Ladywood Special School where Ian’s son, Thomas, is a pupil.

Yvonne Heywood, a teacher at Ladywood, approached the Lancashire Wildlife Trust to help with the project.

The Lancashire Wildlife Trust, using its project Reaching out for Wildlife in Bolton, worked with pupils to design a sensory garden for the children to enjoy and learn about wildlife.

The Bolton Conservation Volunteers Mid Week Group and parents helped to construct two oval raised beds at the end of January.

On Friday 7th March, everybody in Ladywood School took part in a Gardening Day making bird boxes, bird feeders and tables, making signs out of clay, mobiles, decorating the fence with different coloured ropes and planting to brighten up the garden.

The ceremony for the opening of Sylvia’s Garden will take place on 12th March in the presence of the Mayor of Bolton.

Planning for Brockholes

Our planning application for the Brockholes Wetland and Woodland Nature Reserve has been submitted. This is the first stage in developing visitor facilities at Brockholes. Adam Khan Architects won an international design competition with a ‘floating world’ design of a series of small buildings, partially projecting into the water. Now we begin the work of deciding exactly what we are going to create on site and where it will be placed. In addition, we have requested outline planning for some small wind turbines. These are tree height (5m) vertical wind turbines rather than the large propellor types and they will be sited along the motorway boundary.

As you would expect, our number one priority for Brockholes is the wildlife. We will not allow any development on the site that conflicts with our remit to protect wildlife for the future.

Brockholes Megatask Day

Wildlife Trust staff and volunteers recently gathered at the new Brockholes Nature Reserve to work together on repairing and layering the hedges.

The level of activity is increasing daily and we felt it was the right time to engage our people in a mass hands-on activity on the site. Over forty staff and volunteers worked all day and succeeded in improving over 100 yards of hedging.

We are now hosting regular work parties for local volunteers, both on the wetlands and in the adjoining woodlands. We are looking forward very much to the day when we can open the site to the general public.