VOLUNTEER COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & EDUCATION INTERN
Do you have a passion for nature and love to communicate with young people?
Are you looking to begin a career in conservation or environmental education?
We need your help with our Natural Connections project to engage young people in Cumbernauld!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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).
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.
This month saw a bit of a change with the Sunday Nature Ninja Volunteers, instead of having a good old rummage in the woodlands for litter or fixing paths the Ninjas were learning about wildlife recording. At first everyone was very keen and then a bit later, someone commented that they were finding it boring! Paul and Louise got them geared up for some environmental art and you can see their brilliant creations on our Facebook page.
Photo courtesy Beth Chalmers
To help celebrate National Meadows Day This Saturday (2nd July) from 11am until 3pm we will be teaming up with Froglife's Dragonfinder project and Buglife to bring you some exciting (FREE!) activities at St. Maurice’s Pond.
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