The joy of giving - celebrating our 2017 change for good project

It’s a bittersweet end to what was a rewarding, challenging and inspirational month of May. Throughout the month we sent groups of 10 members of staff at a time to Feed Bristol, Avon Wildlife Trust’s community food growing project, to spend the day surrounded by nature while they worked on transforming part of the site into a new pond area. Overall we donated over 240 man hours, funds for the materials and each week brought new and exciting tasks for us to get stuck into. Here's a quick round-up of our hard graft!

Week one

Our first week was largely focused on groundwork. We weeded much of the area surrounding the pond and laid down nutrient-rich compost for planting. We then planted native wildflowers and plants around the pond and wetland area that will establish into a rich natural habitat.

Week two

Our second visit was a lovely hot day where we created a couple of rocky and sandy habitats for small insects and critters. We also continued planting beautiful native plants in the area surrounding the pond, focusing on a sunny banked area.

Week three

On our third visit the weather was not as kind to us as we worked in sodden downpours to create our stunning bug hotel installation! We quickly found a benefit of all that rain however, as it transformed the hard dirt into soft clay - perfect for sculpting our habitat! Our woodworking skills were also put to the test with the beginning of the dipping platform construction.

Week four

Our last day on site! It was a final rush of trying to get everything completed and we had a super productive day. Some of us spent the day weaving, bending, and twisting willow in order to create a beautiful living archway and ‘fedge’ to separate the pond from a nearby path. The rest of the group continued the hard work on constructing the dipping platform and were very close to finishing the base when the day came to a close.

Just go for it!

We loved every day we spent working together, as a team, to create something we could feel truly proud of. The pond will serve as a new habitat for wildlife to flourish, as well as an educational tool for the school and community groups who visit the site. This project fits in perfectly with our mission at Ecosurety to create change for good within our community that goes beyond the work we do every day in compliance.

I urge anyone who has an opportunity to embark on a project like this, on whatever scale possible, in your current jobs or personal life, to just go for it! When I proposed this project to our board late last year I couldn’t have predicted the scale of the positive impact for our team, connecting us to an incredible charity within our community, and the benefit it would bring to the natural landscape of our city. The rewarding relationship with our local wildlife Trust continues, with moth trapping nights and dragon boat racing (sponsor our rowing team here!!)!

If you’re ever in the Bristol area, please feel free to stop by Feed Bristol to check out the fruits of our labour. You can also find out more about the project on our change for good page, including video interviews and time-lapse footage.

 

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