Background

When Wildlife Trust BCN started promoting Team Wilder and their Nextdoor Nature project, they caught the attention of the yet-to-be-named “Friends of Irth”. This small eco group from Irthlingborough, a town with limited space for wildlife, had been doing activities like litter picking – but was struggling to get more people involved.

Listening

Friends of Irth members came to a listening exercise run by Wilder Communities Officer Ellen Pentland. Through sharing their aims and ambitions with Ellen, the group gained confidence in their ideas and felt they could take things forward.

They began to think about how they could involve more people with the local environment, through transforming neglected areas of land around town into wildlife and community growing spaces.

Early progress

With newfound confidence, the group officially became “Friends of Irth”, and began reaching out to the community for support and new members – through door knocking, leafleting and advertising at local events. They also contacted landowners about the spaces they wanted to transform and got the necessary permission.

As their plans and membership became more fully formed, Friends of Irth became a constituted group, complete with committee, bank account and regular meetings. Ellen attended some of their meetings and helped to get the word out while door knocking and speaking to local people. In just a couple of months, Friends of Irth had trebled!

Resources and Support

The Friends wanted to get started on creating two community gardens but needed funding and professional support. They approached the town council and successfully secured £1,500! The Wildlife Trust looked at lending tools to the group and helped them find suitable contractors to prepare the land.

The group also came up with fundraising ideas like selling daffodil bulbs for planting in verges around town. They’ve even had a familiar mascot cheering them on! This has helped them gain more support whilst encouraging people to see more nature on their doorsteps.

Challenges

The group is bursting with great ideas, and occasionally needs a gentle reminder not to get ahead of themselves – simple details like not buying trees before knowing where they’re going to be planted.

Since first meeting the original members of the group, Ellen has seen them grow in confidence. They have lots of ambitions, and with the support and guidance of Ellen and other Wildlife Trust colleagues, they are able to see them becoming a reality.

Having an active Friends of Irth group working in the community seems to have opened people’s minds, with many showing an interest in the wildlife in town and the neighbouring Wildlife Trust reserve. People are very pleased to see previously neglected pieces of land turned into a positive and productive space for the community.

Next steps

With contractors appointed to prepare the land, the Friends are now planning to engage with local schools and other groups to design the community garden and wildlife space.

The Wildlife Trust is supporting them in making design choices that consider what’s best for wildlife, as well as accessibility for different users.

Once designs have been agreed, the group will start looking for further funding pots.