What a hectic and amazing few weeks we’ve had! As you will have seen last week we won the acclaimed Youth and Education at the Nature of Scotland Awards ceremony. For me that was a huge slab of icing on the cake for the end of our Engaging Communities project – locally known as Natural Connections. So, what’s next for…
Left to right Provost Jim Leighton MBE, me, Gemma CLL Community Engagement Assistant CJS, Doreen Tesco Community Champion and William our first ever Nature Ninja volunteer
Last Thursday a group of participants in the Cumbernauld’s Bloomin’ Wild attended the Beautiful Scotland award in Dunfermline coordinated by Keep Scotland Beautiful. It was a fantastic day with people from all over Scotland celebrating what make their place special. These awards are a way of recognising hard work and determination, mostly carried out by volunteers, to improve parks, reserves, business districts and residential gardens. Read on to find out how Cumbernauld's Bloomin' Wild got on.
At the start of August we had two lovely volunteer judges from Keep Scotland Beautiful out assessing areas in our town for the Beautiful Scotland of Cumbernauld’s Bloomin’ Wild. It was a mixed day of sun and showers but that didn’t stop our local groups from shining on the day.
I would like to say a huge thank you to Adam Smith of the Cumbernauld Environmental Society for organising and delivering Cumbernauld’s previous entries over a number of years. This is a huge undertaking and one that surprised us in its depth and requirements.
This year the Friends of Cumbernauld House Park and Glen are hosting the final event of the summer on the 19th of August from 12pm – 3pm. The event will be at Cumbernauld House Park in the field in front of the big house with a variety of stalls and fun activities.
Last Saturday we had a fantastic day ‘Going Wild’ at St Maurice’s Pond to help celebrate National Meadow’s Day.
The weather held dry for us and lots of families came along and helped us to have fun exploring the flowers and pollinators on the site.
School’s out for summer! Even the best student looks forward to July and the start of the long summer break. It always seemed to flash past as a child, but I suspect for parents, who have to think up ways of keeping the kids amused, it took a little longer.
This summer Cumbernauld Living Landscape will be doing our best to help out families looking for fun events. Every Wednesday throughout July we’ll be out in the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Cumbernauld Glen reserve with a selection of nature based games, tasks and activities.
Previous pond dipping session held during a guided walk
Summer is here! It’s time to unpack the sunshine, get the deckchairs out and relax in Cumbernauld’s Mediterranean-climate. Or, as is more often the case, get out the waterproofs and scuba gear and have a soggy barbeque!
We have enjoyed a good spell of warm dry weather over the last few weeks and the town’s green spaces have burst into life as a result. It’s been a great boost for invertebrates and we’ve had some great sightings of bumblebees and butterflies.
Community and The Conservation Volunteers getting stuck in
Sometimes projects can take a few years to plan. Planning for our current project at Ravenswood Local Nature Reserve began way back in 2014 and was the original basis of The Conservation Volunteer Community Engagement trainee-ship post. However things happen, groups disband, ideas sometimes get put on hold and other priorities come to the fore, but these ideas are never quashed.
A few years ago now, when I first delivered the pine marten workshops to primary schools I was often asked if there was a club that children could attend to help them learn and reconnect with nature. Teachers and parents were constantly telling me that there was a demand for this type of activity
We tried a few attempts at getting Watch leaders and then venues and just as we thought we could launch the group something would happen that would knock us back down… but we don’t give up!
With so much achieved last year it is hard at times to imagine even more accomplishments for 2017 but we are a restless bunch in the Cumbernauld office and we are always looking to improve people’s connections with nature and wildlife. So what is in store for this year?
