Westminster Community Awards

We are thrilled to be shortlisted in the Westminster Community Awards under the category of ‘Better City, Better Lives’.

The ceremony is Thursday 5th June 2014. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Wildlife Area Session 12th April 2014

This weekend we found, what seemed like thousands, Sycamore seedlings round the wildflowers.

If not removed, these seedlings will grow into saplings with deep roots.

Unfortunately, the most efficient method of removing these seedlings is by hand.

Here, Simon is removing bindweed which has grown in a short space of time.

Here, Anne is pruning dead flower heads (daffodils), a process of removing  dying or dead flowered heads giving the plant a chance of flowering again.

If you are interested in helping out for a few hours in our Wildlife Area, please come along to our next session. Click for dates and times.

Gallery Photos

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Wildlife Area  28th September 2013

Photos from our latest visit to the Wildlife Area.

Members of the A-team surveying work to be done.

“Have we bitten off too much?”

We decided to focus on a more manageable area…..
Alex and Stacy preparing the ground before laying  wood chips….

Katie takes her work very seriously. There are no weeds left after Katie finished….
Finished for another day…. The A-Team prepare to leave

If you are interested in helping out for a few  hours in our Wildlife Area,  please come along to our next session. Click for dates and times.

Gallery Photos

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We needed to finish seeding the wildflower meadow such that it could be ready by the summer festival so we decided to work both Saturday and Sunday. Some of use slept well on Sunday night.

The section that was seeded last time seems to be sprouting.

Working on a new section.

Another section completed!

All done for the day.<

Some of the daisies in the meadow.

The wildflower meadow is the largest part of the Wildlife Area so this was the logical place to start this year’s activities. The growth surprised us a bit and there was a lot to do. Luckily we got a group of corporate volunteers from Eversheds out for a day (and they even made a donation to help us buy some of the tools we needed).

It threaten to rain all day but it stayed dry and the cool weather was welcomed. We were there for a full day and we completely filled the 2 black bins at the gardens plus a bunch of large bags.

A special thanks to Eversheds for all the help!

The next day, a groups of us were back in the Wildlife Area finishing up a section of the meadow so that we could seed it.

One of the last steps was to compact the soil by doing the “penguin” walk.

One of the bat boxes that were restored by some of our volunteers.

The willow dome that we worked on last year seems to be growing back nicely.

A few of us went into the Wildlife Area to do a bit of spring cleaning.

The willow dome was looking a bit sad so we decided to try and make some fixes while the weather was colder.
We tied some of the branches into place and cut some of the shoots which we planted in places that were bare.

Another thank you to everyone who came along to the clearing sessions as we had a great turn out. The sun was shining, local resident Ulla guided us through the sessions and we made a great start – everyone left feeling invigorated and relaxed after a good bit of hard work.

I think this picture best describes the amount of work that was done (and this isn’t all of it!!).

We do need a little rain to soften the ground and as soon as that happens, we will be scheduling some more sessions. If you are interested in helping out (come along no matter how much time you can give – every little really does help and it is a genuine case of many hands making light work) let us know and we will add you to our email list. We’re partnering with the Time Credits scheme so you’ll be thanked for your time with credits that can be used in the Queen’s Park area.

Here are some more pictures from the days.