A fond farewell

Boosting Nature started in January 2020

The Boosting Nature project supported adults with learning disabilities to increase their physical and mental wellbeing, as well as their knowledge and understanding of the natural world, by taking part in environmental conservation tasks and biodiversity-themed educational activities. Almost 3 months into the project, on the 17th March 2020, we made the difficult decision to put all of our activities on hold due to the Covid-19 outbreak. This was a challenging time for the project – we had to think innovatively about how to continue delivering meaningful and educational activities from a distance, that beneficiaries could take part in from the safety of their homes.   The first initiative that we trialled was a nature photography competition whereby participants were encouraged to get outdoors and take photographs of their local flora and fauna. We paired this with a series of educational “Did You Know?” sheets which drew out biodiversity facts about the native plants and animals that had featured in the photographs. These were sent out to all who took part.   Our next initiative was to encourage participants to take part in a sunflower and bean growing competition in their gardens. The aim of this being to teach participants about growing plants but also to make their gardens more pollinator friendly. Boosting Nature provided instructions, materials and educational fact sheets for participants to understand the benefits of their planting. This was an extremely successful activity which ended up attracting 39 new beneficiaries to the project.   We tapped into this appetite for garden-based activities and put together a series of informative leaflets showing how to build bug houses, compost bins, bird feeders out of recyclable plastic bottles and small garden ponds. Many have taken part in these activities and we have enjoyed seeing photos of our beneficiaries’ creations.   The next step for the project was to engage more directly with our beneficiaries and start delivering live sessions using Zoom. Since June 2020 we have put on weekly zoom sessions to learn more about biodiversity and native wildlife in a fun and engaging way. A wonderful and unforeseen development is the fact that this new way of working has led to Boosting Nature being able to reach out and engage with those who had not been able to participate before.  For example, some individuals with more profound disabilities who would have struggled to join in our more active outdoor sessions have enjoyed taking part in Boosting Nature activities from their homes.   Although lockdown has been a challenging time for the project, it has allowed us to think creatively and engage with our beneficiaries in new ways.  We have managed to reach new individuals and teach them skills that they have been able to practice in their own gardens. Our digital activities have allowed us to continue with the all-important biodiversity education programme in a fun, new way.

  

Before we could resume our activities safely, we trained each individual on general and site specific Covid-safe working practices. The training given was accessible and interactive with lots of questions and discussions to ensure each participant understood what the changes were and why they were needed.  

One particular change that was made was that we ran shorter sessions to accommodate multiple, small participant groups and focused on two key sites to give participants stability whilst learning new rules. Gradually our Monday and Friday groups came back to some sort of new normal.  

What was clear is that all had missed each other and the physical conservation work.  

As it had been 15 months since they had last undertaken worked in teams, they had to overcome anxiety, follow new rules and behave professionally. We reintroduced them gradually to the work tasks and to the tools. Some had forgotten how to safely use the loppers, shears and saws in particular. A few also found the physical demands on their bodies surprising and that they were not able to get as much done as prior to lockdown. With support and encouragement from each other physical fitness has already improved, for some quite considerably.  

Most are now comfortable using the tools and have already undertaken a lot of cutting back overgrowth, building wildlife habitats and shown real tenacity in removing the Himalayan balsam in particular.  

Being able to work alongside the Cardiff Community Park Rangers again has been a joy for so many. A number of the Rangers themselves had not been able to work during lockdown and so much overgrowth needed to be cut back and in particular invasive species such as Himalayan balsam, laurel, sycamore and ragwort needed to be removed. The groups have already commented that they can see the difference their work has done and this has brought a sense of pride and satisfaction.  

Many individuals with learning disabilities find a change to routine difficult. Prior to lockdown the Monday and Friday groups would travel together to sites. This isn’t possible at present, which has caused varying degrees of anxiety and apprehension. However, each individual was determined to overcome this so that they could continue the conservation work.  

Being able to start in person activities again was a relief and has brought great happiness to so many. 

Our in person participants even in the most difficult of times contributed a total of 795 hours. Hundred more hours were spent on our zoom sessions.

It has been a great delight working on this wonderful project. Our participants have provided a valuable contribution to their communities and through hard work and laughter they have helped each other through a difficult year. Thank you all.