Local Community Men’s Sheds groups supporting major project on Rathlin Island with RSPB NI & RDCA
Six local community Men’s Sheds groups from across Northern Ireland have taken up the opportunity to use their engineering skills and carpentry knowledge to help a major conservation project on Rathlin Island, in partnership with RSPB NI.
This month, visitors from the Men’s Sheds groups were invited to Rathlin Island, to meet staff and volunteers as part of the Rathlin Acting For Tomorrow (LIFE Raft) project, in a trip organised by RSPB NI and the Rathlin Development and Community Association (RDCA). During the trip, the teams met to discuss the project, spending exploring Rathlin.
The island is known as a haven for wildlife, hosting Northern Ireland’s largest seabird colony. But the ecology of the Island is fragile. The survival of much of its wildlife population is under threat, with 25 bird species, including the puffin, at risk from predation by invasive, non-native species on the island. The LIFE Raft project is a partnership funded by EU LIFE, The National Lottery Heritage Fund (development phase) and Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), with contributions from RSPB NI, Rathlin Development and Community Association (RDCA) and Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust (CCGHT). The project will safeguard Rathlin’s seabirds and ground-nesting birds that are under threat, with a brown rat and ferret eradication programme. With 70% of visitors to Rathlin coming to see the birds and wildlife, by restoring Rathlin’s natural heritage, the project will bring many benefits to the island and the local community.
RSPB NI & RDCA have teamed up with the Men’s Sheds to use upcycled material from Wrightbus, Ballymena, to help build covers for the traps, as part of the project. Using a prototype design from Rathlin Island Resident John McFaul, the members of the Men’s Sheds are creating covers which will be able to suppress the adverse weather conditions and be used across the varied mosaic of landscape of Rathlin Island. This recent visit to the island allowed the teams to understand the layout of the island, before producing the final products. Dr Dave Tosh, LIFE Raft Eradication Delivery Manager explained “The LIFE Raft project is made up of many different strands that, as a team, we are trying to bring together for September when the project gets fully underway. The contribution of the Shedders via their collective skills, experience and enthusiasm to the project is fantastic to see and its brilliant to have them involved. We quite simply wouldn’t be able to do this element of the project without them.”
Jamie Vinnicombe, Project & Finance Manager from the Be Safe Be Well Men’s Sheds described how it feels to be a part of the project. “We are thrilled to be involved in such a worthy and rewarding venture. Getting together with all the project partners to tackle a severe problem with the wildlife in the Rathlin area will be most gratifying,” said Jamie. "The best part of this for us is being able to see the long-term positive ramifications for years to come and look on with immense pride. A big thank you to the LIFE Raft team who hosted all the partners on Rathlin for a briefing day to lock in a plan going forward. Our members enjoyed the day very much, with some never even being to Rathlin before. We look forward to the project and seeing everybody again for the completion of the project works.”
The LIFE Raft project are seeking for additional Men’s Sheds to assist in the creation of traps, contact charlotte.bosanquet@rspb.org.uk for any more information.
For more information about visiting on this project or further details on Rathlin Island and how to get there, visit https://rathlin360.com/