Nextdoor Nature

Nextdoor Nature was a project from The Wildlife Trusts. We worked with communities to bring people together and give everyone the power to help nature flourish – everywhere. Thanks to £5million funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Nextdoor Nature provided communities with start-up advice and support to help nature on their doorstep, leaving a lasting natural legacy to mark The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

In September 2023, local church group St Marks, Netherton, thought having a meadow around the church was only a dream. However, with support from the NDN project they now have the meadow they wished for. The church was surrounded by mown amenity grass, with limited visual appeal and of little benefit to wildlife. We talked about what they wanted, and how they could go about it. We brought in local experts, the Scouse Flower House to provide advice and help prepare the site for planting. The group wanted the meadow to be part of the local community, so they delivered flyers inviting residents to come along and join the seed sowing event in early October. With the ground prepared and ready, over 50 members of the local community came along to spread the seed, enjoy some cake, make their own flowers to take home and help improve their local environment both for themselves and wildlife. 

On the day comments like ‘I’ve really enjoyed today and can’t wait to see the meadow flowering in the summer and say I helped create that’. These made the church group feel really pleased they had started the project and it was really worthwhile. Since the planting event in October the group have been ‘meadow crazy’ and are planning a celebration event in June. The meadow has been their inspiration; they have organised watercolour painting classes so they can paint the meadow in spring and summer, and are creating a wildflower banner to display year round.

Less than twelve months from planting the wildflower meadow is starting to bloom and will be a spectacular display for the whole community to enjoy this summer and in summers to come. Through NDN we have been able to provide the group with the right contacts, knowledge and support to let them get on and create the meadow, to make their dream a reality.

Halle’s Hub is a centre that is at the heart of the community in Litherland, Merseyside. It is an amazing place, where funds raised from their charity shop fund activities for local children and provide opportunities for everyone. Chatting to centre managers Heather and June they are passionate about helping those who are less well-off and providing a safe space for everyone. The centre is surrounded by tarmac, something they would love to see changed into something more appealing and useable. It is a busy centre with people coming and going all the time, so we visited with different activities to chat to as many people as possible and find out what they thought of the outdoor space.

We ran workshops for children and families, gathering their ideas and inspirations by creating plasticine models and drawing ideas on table clothes. They came up with some great ideas that included creating a place to grow things and somewhere to sit and relax – ideas that pretty much mirrored what the centre managers had said. To engage with more of the local community we ran some gardening activities – people could add their thoughts and ideas to the mix whilst planting some wildlife friendly planters to take home. Children had the opportunity to create their own mini gardens and we talked about wildlife that might visit flowers in their gardens.

With people wanting space to grow at the centre we have installed three new planters, so they have additional space to start growing. Centre users helped fill them with daffodils for a spring display, and they are thinking what to grow over the summer! We have been supporting the centre to apply for funding to turn their whole outdoor space into the garden they want – planters for fruit, veg and flowers adjacent to seating where people can come to chill out or meet with friends for a chat and coffee.

The L30 community centre is a hive of activity within Netherton, Merseyside. They have sessions running every day, that people drop into regularly; groups include; Knit & Natter, Walk & Talk and the Community Pantry as well as numerous family activities after school and during the holidays. We went along to some of these sessions and had a good chat with everyone who came along to find out about the area – what they liked and how they thought they could help nature. Conversation ranged from those who have a love of flowers to those who aren’t into nature at all! Several said they weren’t interested in nature, however after chatting about why they like coming to the centre start and what they like about the area, they started telling me about how they watch the birds in their back yard – this just shows, that although some don’t necessarily think they have a connection with nature, maybe deep down they do but they don’t realise it.

From the many conversations we discovered they would like to grow fruit, veg and flowers, some would love to learn how to grow things and learn about local wildlife. Others suggested they could have a community orchard at the centre. They joined workshops during the Nextdoor Nature’s Connect-Share-Celebrate festival, learning about pollinators and creating their own giant butterflies which they brought on a walk to celebrate nature at a local wildlife site Rimrose Valley. This was followed by a picnic with plenty of cake to share round.

Over winter we installed some planters, which they filled with daffodils and will refill with pollinating plants and vegetables come the summer. Local families came along on valentines day to plant their orchard – what’s not to love about an apple. They now have a mix of apple trees for eating and cooking and are looking forward to juicy apples straight from the tree or apple crumble made with their own fruit, for years to come.

The Lancashire Wildlife Trust is piloting the Nextdoor Nature approach in Merseyside. This will mean we can help communities in Seaforth, Bootle and Waterloo access nature, reap the mental health benefits of the natural world, and stand up for the green spaces they feel they stand to lose.

We are talking to the local people and community groups to find out what they actually like about their local areas and how they think they it could be improved. Action is community led but with our support, which could be advice on what to plant to help wildlife, who owns the land they want to work on, helping to find funding, training, or help setting up constituted groups, we can provide the necessary support to empower action for nature. 

Find out how your group can help nature by visiting our
Nextdoor Nature Hub https://nextdoornaturehub.org.uk/

Below are just a few of our most popular community resource guides:

Taking Over Green Space In Your Area https://nextdoornaturehub.org.uk/guides/taking-over-green-space-in-your-area

Setting up a Basic Community Group https://nextdoornaturehub.org.uk/guides/setting-up-a-basic-community-group

Speaking to Councils, Councillors and People in Authority https://nextdoornaturehub.org.uk/guides/speaking-to-councils-councillors-and-people-in-authority

The Importance of Local Wildlife https://nextdoornaturehub.org.uk/guides/the-importance-of-local-species

Get involved with some of the local groups in our area
Bolton & Bury Swifts https://www.facebook.com/BoltonAndBurySwifts/
Bolton Green Umbrella https://boltongreenumbrella.org.uk/ 
Let's Grow Preston https://www.letsgrowpreston.org/ 
North Lancashire Wildlife Group https://nlwg.org.uk/
 

If you are in Bootle, Litherland, Seaforth, Waterloo or Netherton in Merseyside and would like to get involved please contact Fiona, by email  fsunners@lancswt.org.uk or 07546 687390