Nature is having a hard time. For those of us lucky enough to have a garden, one of the best things we can do is put our green space to work to recover some of what we've lost.
The Alwoodley 2030 climate hub had planned to work all year to find 100 households willing to pledge to take action in their own gardens to help nature. But within two weeks the club was full & the messaging group set up to share actions, ask questions, and support and inspire each other was buzzing!
The club hands out a free kit each quarter to help people make their gardens more attractive to wildlife. The first seasonal bundle included hedgehog food, a bird box & wildflower seeds.
Charlotte Langton, project lead, said: "The inspiration came from the fact I'm a massive fan of wildlife and wildlife gardening and had been thinking about how to engage the community in climate-friendly activity without people worrying that it would cost too much or take up precious time.
"I was also conscious that people can feel overwhelmed by the doom and gloom of climate change and not think they can make a difference. I really felt we could do something whereby lots of little things can make a big difference and if we can connect more as a community in the process, how amazing would that be?"
As well as the seasonal garden bundles and activity, the hub plans to run some specialist events such as pond-making workshops and nature workshops with local youth groups and schools. The first workshop was hosted by Fruitworks on Sunday 17th March, where attendees learnt about fruit tree grafting & went home with two apple trees for their gardens.
For more information on Nature-Friendly Gardens club, visit https://www.alwoodley2030.org/100-nature-friendly-gardens