Category: Education and community

Natural Connections – Celebrating Local Wildlife Sites

, by Cumbernauld LL
The beautiful oak and bluebell wood of Cumbernauld Glen Wildlife Reserve In the conservation world we have specific designations for sites which are important for wildlife.  From Sites of Interest for Nature Conservation to Special Protection Areas they all have one thing in common.  They create corridors and pockets of habitats for wildlife to live freely.  Here in Cumbernauld we have many sites with designations, but one that most of you will know are the fantastic local wildlife sites or local nature reserves.

Natural Connections – Wild ways to Wellbeing

, by Cumbernauld LL
Once upon a time having a mental health problem was a taboo subject, something not mentioned in polite conversation, an issue that many sufferers tried to keep a secret even from their loved ones.  The times, however, are changing. The success of programmes such as the Scottish Government’s “See Me” campaign to end mental health stigma means that mental health issues should no longer be hidden away. Government statistics show that 1 in 4 people will suffer a mental health ‘event’ at some point in their lives.  For many people this will be a fleeting event but for others it will have a profound effect on their lives. 

Natural Connections – Discover Broadwood Loch

, by Cumbernauld LL
Plenty of routes to explore the beautiful Broadwood Loch We are hosting a guided walk around Broadwood Loch on Saturday 27 August from 12 - 2pm as a farewell to Cumbernauld Living Landscape’s summer events programme.  Broadwood Loch is on the site of the old Drum Mains farm and is now managed by North Lanarkshire Council. I can vividly remember chasing butterflies through fields of wheat when I first came to Cumbernauld in the late 1970’s.  I can also remember trying very hard to jump the wee streams but usually ending up in them and returning home filthy and wet head to toe. It turns out that peat stains your clothing very well!

Natural Connections – It's about education naturally!

, by Cumbernauld LL
Enjoying the outdoors For some the thought of returning to high school is great, the holidays have been a bit too long the weather not so good and it will be great to see their pals again, but others hate it.  They don’t know how to relate to their peers, they may not be responsive to current methods of teaching or don’t do well in exams.  The pressure builds until they decide to just stay out of school and not bother with an education. The Cumbernauld Living Landscape has identified a possible solution to this and over the past year piloted the highly successful Natural Connections to 2 high schools in the town.  We are about to deliver the next phase of workshops to the remaining high schools Cumbernauld Academy and Our Lady’s from September.  A very exciting time and I can’t wait to get started!

Wildlife Watch pop-up events 2016

, by Cumbernauld LL
Getting to grips with nature As we get closer to the start date for the new Wildlife Watch Group in Cumbernauld we thought it would be a great idea to host a few Pop-Up events showcasing the kinds of activities that will be taking place during the Wildlife Watch Group itself. The wonderful staff at Palacerigg Country Park, where the Wildlife Watch group will be held, allowed us to set up four activity sessions in the Eriskay Longhouse. The wonderful volunteers here at Cumbernauld Living Landscape led the sessions which took place on the 28th of July and the 3rd, 9th and 11th of August in the run up to the schools starting again. 

Natural Connections – Summers Last Hurrah!

, by Cumbernauld LL
Watch Kids drying off their nature art work Don’t worry folks it is not the end of summer yet but  it is nearing the end of our summer events programme for 2016 and what a cracking programme we have had!  From our new ‘Discover’ series, exploring new reserves, to kids “Pop Up – Pop In” Wildlife Watch days and of course our brilliant local gala days we have had a fantastic time sharing our passion for all things wildlife and nature related with you.

Natural Connections – Wildlife Watch fun

, by Cumbernauld LL
Wildlife Watch leader Sharon helping the kids with identification Not long now until the kids are back at school and while some of you may think yeah! Other may still be looking for activities for them to do in these last few weeks.  Look no more, the Cumbernauld Living Landscape intern has teamed up with two potential new Wildlife Watch leaders for the area and they are delivering pop up Watch days for the kids.

Natural Connections – From a student's point of view

, by Cumbernauld LL
Emma First on the left My name is Emma Louise McGurk and I am from St. Maurice’s High school in Cumbernauld. I have been involved with Natural Connections since September 2015, we were introduced to Tracy and Liz early on in September and they gave us an idea of what the project was about and what we were going to be doing with them. The following fortnight we took a site visit and we did a risk assessment on the area, this helped us get to know our site better and sum up what we needed to improve in the area of St. Maurice’s Pond. From then on every fortnight we would set out to try and improve our site we carried out activities like litter picking and weed whacking, from the litter picking we managed to get 5 whole bags full with litter and since then the area has very little litter there (we hope for it to stay that way).

Discovering Cumbernauld

, by Cumbernauld LL
I wonder what this smells like? Last Sunday Paul and I took a group of local residents out to Forest Wood Wildlife Reserve for one of our programmed Discover days.  Starting at the Lime Crescent underpass we walked up into the reserve discovering incredibly beautiful woodlands, smoky peaty water trickling in the burns and fascinating ponds just waiting for us to explore them. 

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