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Southwark residents / Londoners are invited to plant themselves on the Community Channel Bus and join leading environmental charity BTCV to discover the joys and benefits of conservation volunteering on Saturday, 2nd June, at Lavender Pond, from 10am to 4pm.
Highlights of the day include free training on a range of tasks including reed bed construction, building a bird hide and creating floating islands to green up the local docks. There will also be the chance to explore Lavender Pond, the local the nature reserve managed by the Trust for Urban Ecology (part of BTCV), and spot local wildlife.
Visitors to can go online to learn about the environment, or get practical and make bio-degradable paper pots filled with seedlings to take home. These paper pots are great for plants – and one’s pocket – as they minimize root disturbance and prevent the need to buy expensive pots. The Paper Potter used to make the pots is an ingenious device developed by The Nether Wallop Trading Company!
To take part in the open day event, please register in advance with Reuben Hawkwood, BTCV coordinator on 020 7237 9165, or email r.hawkwood@btcv.org.uk, or just turn up on the day.
The Community Channel Roadshow is part of BTCV’s Spring into Action campaign, which is supported by Prudential Plc and Community Channel, and encourages people across the UK to get involved in looking after their local environment.
Television gardener, Charlie Dimmock, is backing the campaign:
“I've seen at first hand the amazing way in which BTCV volunteers can transform a neglected area into a wonderful site for people and wildlife. Come along and get involved because you’ll get so much from it - no experience is needed. You can also make a donation that goes towards tools, training and advice for volunteers. But do join in – it all makes a difference!"
First-time BTCV volunteers include:
Lizzie Emeh, who is a budding singer / songwriter from London who has never let her learning difficulties hold her back. She is determined to do her bit for the environment.
Lizzie said: “I feel very passionate about the environment and excited that by doing something with my friends I can learn new skills and do something about climate change - before it’s too late.”
Karen Kwok is keen to reconnect with nature and use her skills to aid conservation.
Karen said: “I feel strongly about wildlife but feel disconnected from nature. I am ready to get stuck in, and I love working in a team and making things happen.”
For further information on how you can get involved in saving the environment call 08000 681 800, or for a Cantonese and Mandarin speaker call 0845 122 866, or a Sylheti/Bengali speaker 0800 093 1444, or for an Urdu speaker 0800 093 1118.
Karen Kwok and Lizzie Emeh appear in the film Spring into Action which can be seen online at: www.communitychannel.org/springintoaction and at regional roadshows taking place around the country – see website for details.
For Media enquiries, interviews and images please contact:
Kerry Nixon, BTCV T: 01302 388 833 E: k.nixon@btcv.org.uk
Simon Toseland, Media consultant, T: 07930 323 065 E: simon.toseland@googlemail.com
Rachel Lailey, Press Officer, Community Channel, T: 0207 784 7908 E: Rachell@communitychannel.org
Notes to editors:
The Peninsula Wide Wildlife Project
In 2003 Esmee Fairbairn funded a two-year post of Access Co-ordinator/Nature Parks Development Manager for the Rotherhithe peninsula. Within that time activities and resources within the area have increased dramatically and become peninsula wide in approach. It has seen the designation of Lavender Pond as a LNR, the building of a visitors centre at Stave Hill Ecology Park, installation of a new wind turbine, the regeneration of Russia Dock Woodlands, and almost a tenfold increase in volunteer involvement.
This project proposes to continue this momentum by the implementation of an ambitious plan to significantly increase biodiversity in the area and meet targets for local, regional and national biodiversity action plans.
The project is a strategy to de-fragment the peninsula by creating corridors between the various wildlife habitats and to create a rich oasis for urban wildlife that will rival the wetland centre in Barnes. Rotherhithe has an equivalent area of green space and open water and the potential to match the size and variety of habitats. Unlike Barnes, it is an inner London area and so there will be an emphasis on urban wildlife and a stronger local community involvement in the development, management and use of the wildlife network. Its proximity to the river will significantly enhance the Thames corridor, as a passageway for wildlife, linking sites like Barnes and Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park. The peninsula used to be marshland before dockland. This project will bring back a habitat largely lost to docklands and increasingly lost on a national scale to agriculture.
Wetland Programme: Rotherhithe Reed Beds and Marshland
The most significant plan is to increase reed bed habitat by 250% by 2010 with the creation a network of reed beds that will transform the area and link the waterways and wetlands throughout the whole peninsula. The remaining deepwater docks of Canada water Surrey Basin and Greenland will be softened with floating islands and vegetation. The Albion Canal will form a long linear reed bed linking the two docks. The other main linking corridor Russia Dock
Woodland will be diversified with new marginal, lily pad and aquatic planting. Rafts in Greenland dock will be built and maintained with the help of local young people and the dock’s residents association. A similar approach will be taken with the other waterways.
This plan will be supplemented with more specific works to increase habitat for species associated with wetland i.e. kingfishers and sand martins (artificial nesting banks and barrels), bats (artificial roosting), common tern (rafts), red eyed damselflies (lily bed) and herons. All these species breed on or use the peninsula but there is great potential to increase their range and population.
About BTCV
Inspiring People, Improving Places. BTCV is the UK’s leading practical conservation charity. BTCV connects people with place, builds healthy, sustainable communities, and increases people’s life skills. It aims to create a better environment where people from all cultures feel valued, included and involved. BTCV supports 140,000 volunteers a year taking hands-on action to improve their urban and rural environments, and a Community Network supports local groups. BTCV offers regular conservation tasks, UK and International Conservation Holidays, the BTCV Green Gym®, training opportunities and an on-line Shop making products and services accessible to all.
Tel: 01302 388 883 Email: information@btcv.org.uk www.btcv.org
For more information on the Trust for Urban Ecology see www.urbanecology.org.uk
About Community Channel
Community Channel is TV that gives a damn. It makes you think again about the world around you, and inspires you to take action on the causes and issues that matter to you. Broadcasting original shows, the best of terrestrial TV and showcasing the work of new directors and community programme makers; Community Channel is the place for real-life stories. The channel is broadcast 24 hours a day, every day on Sky 539, Virgin TV 233, from 6-9am on Freeview 87. The channel is freely available to around 45 million people in 18.2 million homes across the country and around 1.2 million people watch every month (BARB). Community Channel is a Media Trust initiative.
About Prudential
Prudential plc, a company incorporated and with its principal place of business in the United Kingdom, and its affiliated companies constitute one of the world's leading financial services groups. It provides insurance and financial services directly and through its subsidiaries and affiliates throughout the world. It has been in existence for over 150 years and has £250.7 billion in assets under management as at 31 December 2006. Prudential plc is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc, a company whose principal place of business is in the United States of America.
www.prudential.co.uk.
About PRUPIM
PRUPIM is one of the leading real estate investment managers in the United Kingdom, managing over £19 billion of assets in a broad spread of properties both in the UK and overseas (as at 31.12.06). It forms part of M&G, the investment arm of Prudential plc in the UK and Europe. PRUPIM’s community investment strategy is aligned to Prudential plc’s approach to corporate responsibility and its commitment to supporting the local communities where it operates. PRUPIM’s community programme also recognises the significance of its role as a landlord in many towns and cities throughout the UK and its community activities focus on: community safety, economic regeneration and social inclusion, environment and employee volunteering.
www.prupim.com.
Prudential plc is backing BTCV over the next two years, through its real estate investment management arm, PRUPIM.
Paul Cornes, Corporate Responsibility Director, PRUPIM, said: Spring into Action will build on our five year partnership with BTCV. The charity has an outstanding record in involving local people in looking after their environment, delivering real and sustainable environmental change."
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