Ventnor Library

It was great to support Tanith at Ventnor Library to join Team Wilder and create new planters outside the library. Ventnor Community Shed expertly built them, and then they were filled up and planted by local volunteers. We have another larger planter, which we plan to put in place and fill in the Spring with the aid of a local school – so watch this space.   

Splaces: Aspiration of hope in Ryde's Leftover Spaces 

It's been fantastic to support Nora Aridi, the visionary of the Splaces Project in Ryde and see it develop over the Summer.   

Nora originally trained as a Landscape Architect and recently gained a diploma in Eco-psychology and nature-based practice. Her primary passion is in our everyday spaces - or public realm - and the everyday appropriation of them. This passion stems back to 2004, when the Splaces project was born. Splaces is a project that identifies leftover or underused marginal public realm spaces in towns and cities to reintegrate them into their local ecosystem.  

We have had some great public consultations at Aspire Community Hub and a popup at the corner of Ryde High Street and Green Street to engage with locals, shopkeepers, and local councillors, who all shared ideas about how they would like the spaces identified by Splaces to look. 

There are 16 Splaces in Ryde which have been identified, with the corner between St Johns Road, The Highstreet and Green Street being the first project site - so watch this space. 

Community Action Isle of Wight Event Martins Wood  

In June, we delivered an event in partnership with Action Isle of Wight and our Reserves Team, which was a great success.    

We Explored Martins Wood with Emma from the reserves team and learnt about British plants, birds, insects and wildflowers. We spent the afternoon making wildflower seed balls, bee habitats and enjoyed a BBQ lunch around a campfire.    

This was all followed up by an Action for Nature Day, where we planted pots with tomato plants, calendula plants and basil plants, which are great for wildlife and tasty at the same time. 

Prince’s Trust Sensory Garden at Bodster Equine Assisted Learning Centre 

We connected up the IW Prince’s Trust Programme with Bodster Equine Assisted Learning Centre whom hoped to renovate an overgrown Sensory Garden, but needed practical help to do so. 
 
We supported this project with bringing in consideration for nature and building in extra provision for local wildlife as well as plant choice to benefit clients using the garden. The Team selected plants to help pollinators throughout the year, built raised beds and a beetle bank and installed a bug hotel. 

Living Well and Early Help Service Sessions 
 
We teamed-up with Living Well and Early Help South to deliver three sessions across Sandown and Shanklin with already established groups including a Social Prescribing Group. 

At each session we chatted about nature, what aspects of nature were important to participants and how they connected to nature. We recorded insights on a large sheet of paper. We also provided lots of information and resources on ways people could take action for nature at home or in a shared greenspace. At each session, we also facilitated an action for nature to take home which included planting up pots for pollinators and giving away native wildflower seeds. 

We also collaborated with the Sandown Green Towns Volunteers supplying and planting out some new herbs and other pollinator friendly perennials in the public planters in front of Sandown Library. 

Tails & Trails 

It was fun to take part in Tails & Trails – a Gift to Nature event in Pan Community Orchard. As well as providing wildlife gardening information and ideas on nature activities for families we made apple bird feeders which participants could either take home or hang in the orchard’s trees for the bird to enjoy. 

Creating space for nature with The Prince’s Trust 

Our final project of 2023 was welcoming The Prince’s Trust came to carry out their community project at Wilder Little Duxmore. The young people carried out an array of tasks planning, building, and creating new homes for wildlife onsite.

By the time the young people arrived to start the project onsite, they had already carefully planned and researched the work to enhance the area near the office and barns for nature. They had been assigned individual roles and fundraised for the materials they needed to complete the project.

Bearing in mind the two weeks mainly consisted of outdoor work in late October, the weather conditions proved challenging to say the least. There was a great deal of rain, which very quickly churned up the clay underfoot making working extra difficult. As the project progressed, the weather deteriorated, but the Young People showed commitment and great resilience– digging wet clay in the pouring rain is not a fun job.

Over the course of the two weeks, under the guidance of Trust staff the young people worked on:  

• Digging and creating a new wildlife pond. 

• Building an enormous bug hotel aka ‘The Critz (largest on the Island we think!). 

• Building a stumpery providing habitats for insect larvae such as stag beetles. 

• Creating a hibernaculum – a winter refuge for hibernating reptiles and amphibians. 

• Assembling hazel dormouse boxes. 

• Building a bespoke trough planter planted with native herbs for pollinators.  

• Designing and illustrating some beautiful signage for each of the nature stations.  

We were really impressed by the attitude of the young people towards the project and towards the sensitivity of the nature reserve here at Wilder Little Duxmore. The standard of work was very high. In time, we hope to showcase this project to interested groups visiting Wilder Little Duxmore inspiring them to create their own versions in their respective community greenspaces.