This year has been a busy and exciting one for Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff, so with Christmas almost upon us I thought I would take a look back through the seasons of 2015...
SpringSpring 2015 got off to a bursting start as we launched Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff at the RHS Flower Show in Bute Park. To mark the occasion, with help from Cardiff & District Woodwork Club, we built a bug-sized Cardiff for visitors and wildlife to enjoy; including the Millennium Stadium as a bogitat for frogs and Cardiff Castle filled with lavender for bees and ramparts full of hidey-holes for bugs.
Hundreds of children and their families bioblitzed the garden to find as much wildlife as possible, with the winning wildlife detective finding over 60 species! To see us in action at the RHS Flower Show watch our short film here.
To add to our launch celebrations we encouraged as many people as possible to re-wild their wellies for wildlife at events across the city from Ely & Caerau Community Hub to St David’s shopping centre. Hundreds of families took part as we re-wilded over 500 hundred wellies, posted Welly Wisdoms on social media and encouraged people to tweet their welfies, with RSPB’s Chief Executive, Mike Clarke leading the way here!
The finale to our launch took place on the Millennium Stadium boardwalk. With help from Cardiff Muslim Primary School we planted a record-breaking line of over 250 wellies for hundreds of people and pollinators to enjoy. To watch us planting the Welly Wall click here.
SummerNow really spreading its roots, Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff was ready for some serious growth over the summer in order to engage thousands more children & their families with nature in a truly unforgettable way.
Up for the challenge, in partnership with arts organisation Migrations, we started to weave a giant spider’s web between the trees in Bute Park for children and families to climb inside. The art installation called TAPE, took two weeks to build & opened on a barmy summers evening with Cirque d’Natur performed in the trees.
A free and completely unique experience, over 10,000 people including thousands of children and their families, climbed inside the giant web and took part in our tree trails, bug hunts, colour safaris and wild storytelling sessions delivered by Cardiff’s Library Service.
TAPE is now being recycled into wildflower planters to give to schools in Cardiff, but to see TAPE being built and experience what it was like inside, watch our short film here.
Whilst we were busy in Bute Park we were also busy sleeping-out under the stars on Flat Holm for our first ever Big Wild Sleepout on the island.
Surrounded by the amazing Severn Estuary, we took 100 campers to the island to enjoy pirate-sized views of distant lands and the sound of breaking waves as we slept. We searched the island’s shoreline for nature's treasure, hunted for bugs, counted stars, toasted marshmallows and enjoyed a family camping trip like no other. To experience the Big Wild Sleepout on Flat Holm for yourself watch the short film here.
AutumnA real season of change, especially for children heading back to school, with leaves falling and birds beginning to migrate, but for Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff there’s little change in our mission to help thousands of children spend more time with nature.
Autumn marked a fantastic milestone as we reached over 5,000 children through our school outreach sessions. Free and available to all primary schools in Cardiff, our sessions involve helping pupils bioblitz their school grounds to find as much wildlife as possible, to helping pupils score their school for wildlife and spot ways to make their school even more nature-friendly. For more information about our school outreach sessions click here.
Autumn also saw more schools joining us to explore their local greenspace. Whether it’s a park or a community garden within walking distance we’re keen to help schools explore and enjoy the greenspaces on their doorstep, and for some schools this even includes exploring a fantastic Victorian cemetery with us, packed full of amazing wildlife.
WinterWith sparkly starlings and hungry winter thrushes now here for the season, winter sees us getting excited for the Big Garden Birdwatch and making plans for family events across the city. This year we’ve engaged over 3,500 children and their families with nature through our free events and activities and a team who are always there to help us run the show are the brilliant Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff volunteers.
A motivated team of over 50 volunteers from 14 to 60 years olds; this year they’ve given over 1000 hours of their time to help us run our events and school outreach sessions and if ever there was a time of year to say thank you for this invaluable support - it’s now.
Alongside the current volunteering opportunities in Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff, next spring we’ll also be offering voluntary internships, to help us grow even more and continue our work putting frogs, muddy knees and butterflies back into childhood for over 15,000 children across Cardiff.Guest blog by Carolyn Robertson, Project Manager for Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff