Members of Wiltshire Wildlife, together with several groups of volunteers, have started to restore Bay Meadows, a unique floodplain meadow near Marlborough. The plan is to create a new nature reserve that will be a haven for wildlife and will provide a wild space for local communities to enjoy. So far a wellbeing/forest school area, a den building area and an ‘enchanted tunnel’ have been created. Many more school groups, home education, wellbeing groups, scouts, cubs, special interest groups, YEW (Youth Engagement Workers) have planned to visit in the autumn and there will also be plenty of individual volunteer opportunities.
Anthony Atkinson, Project Officer, said, “ Wiltshire Wildlife Trust has run several volunteering sessions on the site and the work carried out has been amazing. We began with a site walk, picking up a range of items from tyres to an Ikea kitchen. Volunteers and the Marlborough Wellbeing Group (funded by the Area Board) have worked hard over the last couple of months to create an ‘enchanted tunnel’. This has proved a welcome job as it’s all in the shade. Work has continued along our west boundary where a den building area has been constructed surrounded by a dead hedge and hazel archways.
The Marlborough Wellbeing Group have created a wellbeing/forest school area surrounded by a dead hedge with a view across the meadow, river and railway tracks, which makes it an ideal place to relax, especially for wellbeing sessions. Two of the participants who attended the first group are being trained up as support officers for the second group and three of them are now regular volunteers. This has shown how important groups like Marlborough Wellbeing Group are for helping develop skills, build confidence and, for some, get back into work. Tom, who has attended most of the sessions, said, “I love coming here and I love the social side. It’s helped me so much and I love being part of creating something from the beginning.”
The Building Bridges programme is a partnership of organisations, which supports people across Swindon and Wiltshire who are facing significant challenges in developing their skills, accessing education or moving into the world of work. They have taken down the old sheep shed and are upcycling it into benches and tables for the reserve.
At the beginning of the project, a group of local children helped form a Focus Group to assist with the questionnaire for the online survey and to give feedback. On their first visit to Bay Meadows, they checked out the progress on the ‘enchanted tunnel’ and play area ideas and their feedback was positive. They then crossed the river to distribute snake’s head fritillary seeds kindly donated by Paul Stuart.”
There are plenty of volunteer opportunities coming up in September and October. If you would like to volunteer, you can find out more by clicking here.