Natural England - Ipswich nature project receives £350,000 funding boost
Ipswich nature project receives £350,000 funding boost
16 July 2010
More than 100 budding bug hunters and photographers gathered in Ipswich yesterday (July 15) to celebrate the launch of Ipswich Access to Nature, an exciting new project which aims to reconnect the people of Ipswich to the natural world on their doorstep.
The Mayor of Ipswich, Jane Chambers joined the celebration at Alderman Recreation Ground, which gave the local community the opportunity to find out how they will benefit from the three year project. Guided nature walks, bug hunts and film and photography workshops were just some of the activities on offer.
Access to Nature is managed by Natural England with cash from the Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces Programme and thanks to a grant of more than £350,000 Community Service Volunteers (CSV) Ipswich Media Clubhouse in partnership with the Greenways Countryside Project will deliver the scheme.
Access to Nature aims to connect people with their local natural environment and, although the project is open to all, it specifically aims to introduce the benefits of the natural world to people who have not had the opportunity or the interest to experience it before.
The project will work on Greenways managed sites, such as Alderman Canal, as well as some of the neglected green spaces in residential areas, with the aim of creating a legacy of communities who realise the value of the local natural environment and have the tools, training and motivation to care for it.
Giles Merritt, Natural England’s Adviser for Access to Nature, said: “You don’t have to live in the countryside to enjoy nature and we hope this project demonstrates that. Here in the middle of Ipswich there are so many opportunities to explore and discover the natural environment. We hope this project will help enthuse local people about the green spaces on their doorstep which many take for granted.’’
Becky Marley, Project Coordinator at CSV Ipswich Media Clubhouse, said: “This project is a brilliant opportunity for people in Ipswich to discover the natural world on their doorstep in loads of different ways. People can input to decisions about what is done with green spaces near to them, get involved in the hands-on conservation activities on those sites, and experience the wonders of nature with more unusual activities like bat watching walks and bug hunts. We will also get creative with nature, through photography, film, web design and radio. It’s really exciting!”
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Notes to editors:
For further information, please contact Becky Marley on 07980949196 or bmarley@csv.org.uk or Erin Casey on 0300 060 4423 or erin.casey@naturalengland.org.uk .
Access to Nature is run by Natural England and is part of the The Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces programme launched in November 2005 to help communities enjoy and improve their local environments.
Natural England manages this £25 million Lottery-funded programme on behalf of a consortium of twelve national environmental organisations comprising BTCV, British Waterways, Environment Agency, Forestry Commission, Greenspace, Groundwork UK, Land Restoration Trust, The National Trust, Natural England, RSPB, the Wildlife Trusts and the Woodland Trust.
Through this programme, it is Natural England’s ambition to create opportunities for people from all backgrounds to have greater access to our natural environment and bring a lasting change to their awareness and understanding as well as improved links to the natural world, which many of us can take for granted.
Visit the Access to Nature pages on the Natural England website for further information.
For further information about the Big Lottery Fund, its programmes and awards visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
CSV (Community Service Volunteers) creates opportunities for people to take an active part in the life of their communities through volunteering, training and community action. Each year 227,000 people give 5 million hours of their time as volunteers through CSV. CSV trains 12,705 people of all ages.
Ipswich Media Clubhouse is a digital multimedia centre combined with music and community art facilities, that offers training and volunteering opportunities in a diverse range of areas from ESOL to music production, and works with people from many “hard to reach” groups as well as the wider community.
For further information about CVS visit the CVS website.
The Greenways Countryside Project exists to protect and enhance the countryside, landscape and open space across an area of about 100 square kilometres in and around the town of Ipswich, and home to around one quarter of the population of Suffolk, for the benefit of wildlife and local people. The project relies on volunteers to complete much of its practical conservation work.
