From idea to action

The church is surrounded by a large area of grass which they wanted to turn into a wildflower meadow. The group had no idea where to start and felt they lacked the knowledge and confidence to turn the idea into action. But with a helping hand, the group discovered they could create something that supported nature and bring their community together.

Firstly, they connected with Lancashire Wildlife Trust Nextdoor Nature Officer, Fiona, who listened to what the community wanted to do and helped put plans in motion for a planting day.

Fiona brought the Scouse Flowerhouse on board, a cooperative that has created many other meadows across Merseyside, and who coordinated the preparation of the site and involved the church group so they could learn about the process. They also helped the group produce flyers to advertise the seed sowing day to local people.

On the day

The group were thrilled to see over 60 people come along to take part in the day. Scouse Flowerhouse brought the wildflower seeds, the Lancashire Wildlife Trusts brought nature-based craft activities and the church group brought refreshments.

“When I heard about the wildflower meadow I was delighted because I love wildflowers,” said Maggie, a church member at St Mark’s. “Not only did the St Mark’s family turn up, but loads from the community came. The children really enjoyed themselves, running around and throwing the seeds about. It was a lovely day all around.”

By the end of the day, the community had planted a 1,000-square-metre area of native flowers and plants. David, a member of the art group at St Mark’s, said: “It was just grassland beforehand and now it’s got so much potential. Hopefully it’ll be attractive to wildlife and look nice from the road as well.”

Fellow art group member, Richard added: “It’s such a good use of this piece of land and a good start to lots of art projects that could happen in the future. Being involved with the environment is a really rich source of life for everyone.”

Watch the video of volunteers and local residents coming together for the planting day

The impact

Many people in the area surrounding St Mark’s Church do not have access to open countryside. But, as a historically rural area, this hasn’t always been the case in Netherton.

Lynette, the safeguarding officer at St Mark’s, has been coming to the church since it was first built when she was three years old, commented that the surrounding area at that time was primarily rural, with farms and fields dominating the landscape. She recalls seeing lots of wildflowers during that time, but since then, the area has become more built up with housing replacing green spaces.

Church treasurer, Wendy, remembers people going pea-picking and seeing horses in the fields. “We used to walk up the lanes on weekends and it was full of wildflowers,” she recalled. “In Spring, the blossom came out and the lanes were just full of May blossom. It’s lovely to bring some of that back to our community.”

Next steps

Turning their idea into a reality has given the St Mark’s church group new confidence. They are now planning another local community event to celebrate the meadow. It will include the creation of a bespoke felt banner, an exhibition of artwork inspired by the meadow, and a discussion of ideas for what the community can do next for nature.

Joe, a senior steward at the church, said: “We’re really pleased with the wildlife garden here at St Mark’s. 1,000 square metres have been done. We love the way it’s growing now it’s greened up, but we can’t wait for the summer to see all of the colourful flowers and have the bees and the butterflies coming.”