Trail site 8

Red Kite Gibbs House Sheltered Housing and Kingsmead Recreation Ground -1st and 2nd August 2017

90 young people and adults attended our eighth and final two day conservation village led by our brilliant team of Chiltern Rangers Staff, Wycombe Youth Action Youth Workers, Dan Wilson (our local artist) and Gary and Scott from Highway Productions.
Beforehand Ranger Paul worked with the residents of Gibbs House to find out how they wanted their home improved. As you can see from the photographs, we had a lot of fun and did so much to improve the habitat, both for our special ‘secret river’ and residents.
Our Young People Volunteers were amazing and we achieved so much together, we:

• Thinned trees along the river and cut out a large willow that had fallen into the river, bringing light back and reducing flood risk
• Did a huge river clean litter pick with bags and bags of rubbish removed
• Cleared and gardened the river bank
• Made a fantastic film with Scott and Gary from Highway Productions
• Created large scale art installations with Dan Wilson’s guidance
• Made and painted 12 bird and bat boxes made
• Worked on an overgrown riverside area: dug out old fence, cleared of rubbish including old TVs, cut down bushes and nettles, built a compost area for residents who only have one small green bin for their large garden area.
• Braved very wet weather on the second day and had such a positive, fun, ‘can do’ attitude despite the conditions.
• Put on an extra session for an NCS group who couldn’t come on the days, 13 young people had a fantastic time on Thursday 3rd August helping to make a woodland path in one of our Nature Reserves.

As well as the main funders, we are also thankful to Marsh and Micklefield Big Local and Rivers and Wetlands Community Days who also supported these Trail Site days.

One of the aims of the project was to get younger and older people working  and having fun together. Keep an eye out on the events page on our website for further activities.