Open Spaces
Warwickshire Wildlife Trust has been
awarded funding from the North Solihull Regeneration Partnership to
carry out a new Living Roots project called Open Spaces.
The project will take place on several
green spaces in North Solihull and aims to engage at risk young
people from the local area by introducing them to a wide range of
skills relating to conservation, art, media production and youth
work. The work carried out on these spaces will focus on improving
their quality for wildlife and the community that use them.
The project will take place on several
open spaces in North Solihull: Smith's Wood woodland on Windward
Way, Queens Gardens running along the Hatchford Brook and Babb's
Mill local nature reserve. The project will run for 12 months
(finishing in November 2012) and will work with local schools and
youth organisations to deliver a program of exciting
activities.
These activities will be designed to
provide young people with new skills, improve their eligibility for
employment and integrate them into their local communities, as well
as contributing to a reduction in anti-social behaviour and
improvements in health and well-being. A key element to this
project will be communicating with local residents groups and
organisations to ensure that the young people are recognised and
welcomed throughout the project duration.
A wide range of different activities will
take place on these open spaces. Some of the ideas we have are:
- Practical
conservation work.
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- Media production -
making a short film, photography.
-
- Producing
interpretation boards for the open spaces.
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- Making
sculptures.
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- Wildlife surveying -
woodland, grassland and streams.
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- Map making.
If you would like
to get involved with the project or know
more about it then please contact Simon Phelps on 0121 704
0768 or simon.phelps@wkwt.org.uk
