A c ce ss t o Nat u r e I p s w ich
Evaluation Report
2 A c ce ss t o Nat u r e I p s w ich
Introduction The HABITAT project, which became known as “a2nipswich,� was created to meet the need for a means of creating opportunities for people from diverse and hard-to-reach backgrounds to access the natural world. The aim was that by offering a range of non-traditional activities we could reach a wider audience than traditional conservation volunteering organisations, work to bring those people into a position of understanding and valuing the natural world and their local green spaces and, ultimately, to leave a legacy of volunteers to continuing caring for those spaces. The project started on 1st March 2010 with the Project Coordinator starting in post at the end of May 2010 and the Project Officer in June 2010. The project was led by CSV, in partnership with The Greenways Countryside Project, a conservation organisation that works with volunteers to manage green spaces in and around Ipswich. The project ran a wide variety of activities designed to encourage people of all backgrounds
to get involved. Photography walks to bonfire parties, bug hunts to filming projects. With no specific target groups, we targeted residential areas around our key sites, to reach a cross section of the community and engage them in the green space on their doorstep. We also worked with partner organisations to increase the number and range of people we could reach. The sites, chosen for their diverse mix of nearby residents, were Alderman Canal; River Gipping; a piece of land on Triangle Estate; green space and access to countryside at Whitton; Stoke Park Wood; and a few key sites within Belstead Brook Park. The project was originally funded 75% by the Access to Nature Grant, with 15% cash match funding from the Haven Gateway grant via Greenways, and 10% in-kind match funding through volunteer hours. It was successful in securing additional match funding, increasing the total project cost and thereby reducing the Access to Nature percentage contribution to 64%
(same actual cash amount). The volunteer hours come from a combination of CSV and Greenways volunteers contributing to core services, and project volunteers supporting project delivery. As a result of the increased match funding, the project was able to employ two additional parttime staff in 2012 to help deliver the fun and educational activities, and to coordinate the ever increasing number of project volunteers. The project aimed to contribute to all Five Access to Nature Outcomes through its combination of engagement activities, learning and training activities, and site improvement works. The project was highly successful, meeting all of its Outcome SMART Targets and in most cases exceeding them. However, it had a number of challenges and there are many lessons that can be learned from our experience.
Contents Introduction
2
Contents
3
How the project was evaluated
4
Outcome 1: People of all ages will have a greater awareness of their natural environment.
5
Outcome 2: People will show skill development and an increase in their knowledge about their natural environment
8
Outcome 3: The accessibility of 8 sites will be improved and this will result in an increase in visitor numbers to the sites
11
Outcome 4: Residents of the local communities will report that they feel more motivated to access and care for their local natural spaces
13
Outcome 5: Volunteers, actively involved in the project, will indicate a willingness to continue the project when the A2N funding ends
16
How successful has the project been in reaching its target beneficiaries?
18
What has been learnt about the methods used to deliver the project?
20
How well has the project been managed?
21
What has been learnt about the level of resources needed to deliver the project?
22
What effect have internal or external changes had on the management and delivery of the project?
22
Conclusions and Sustainability Plan
23
Example Action Plan for the Triangle Garden
24
Example Activity
25
Thank you
26
3
4 How we evaluated the project We used a number of methods to gather information and feedback about the project including: Partner organisations – focus group led by Icarus, one to one conversations, online survey, email responses, film Volunteers – one to one conversations, written responses to questions, focus group in 2012, online survey, film Participants/beneficiaries – conversations at events and activities, feedback forms over the course of numerous events and activities, online survey in 2012 and 2013 Project and employing organisation staff – one to one conversations and written feedback Site visitors – on-site visitor surveys and number counts. Additionally this report uses relevant material and information from the Interim Report produced in July 2012, including an online participant survey with 48 responses and 227 event/activity feedback forms (on advice from Icarus we stopped using those particular forms after the Interim Report). It also draws on our quarterly progress reports.
Outcome 1:
}YES! The whole family - from age 6 to 42 years old experienced areas of the county and wildlife we had not experienced before.~
People of all ages will have a greater awareness of their natural environment. }Access to Nature has really opened up my eyes to some of the wildlfe in areas close to home. i.e. within biking distance!~ Summary We have reached and exceeded all of the SMART targets of this Outcome. By running a vast range of activity that appeals to all backgrounds and ages we have been able to directly engage approximately two thousand people in activities that raise their awareness of both their local natural spaces and the natural world more widely. Our radio show disseminates information about the work of the project, local green spaces and organisations, and wider issues relating to nature and the environment, and has a wide listenership. The same work is done through our newsletter (printed and online), website, facebook page and twitter feed which, between them, reach hundreds of people. Overview of how we met our SMART targets for this Outcome: v 20,000 roadshow audiences We worked toward this by putting on our own roadshow events, and by taking our roadshow to other events including Music in the Park, May Day Festival, Indian Summer Mela, and many others, reaching an estimated audience of more than 40,000 by Year 2 of the project.
We bought a big marquee and created colourful display materials, developed interactive activities to draw people in, and giveaway bags to reinforce the message. Activities such as ‘make a potato head’ attracted kids, giving us a chance to talk to the parents. Giveaway bags contained a packet of wildflower/sunflower seeds, compost, pot, marker stick, growing instructions. We made sure our information wouldn’t be immediately discarded by putting it on the seed packet with the growing instructions. In the bag
we also put flyers about upcoming events/ activities. Thus the giveaways served a dual purpose of introducing people to a hands-on nature-based activity, and raising awareness of our project.
fm in September 2010 and have broadcast over 140 live shows. Estimates of FM listener figures based on ICR survey, combined with statistics on web listeners, indicate a quarterly reach of around 14-15,000 listeners. We have had frequent interviews on BBC Radio Suffolk breakfast shows, which have a reach of 91,000, which were often repeated on news programmes throughout the day.
The give away bag idea came from one of our volunteers, who then spent hours preparing hundreds of the giveaways. We got many contact details at these events, and were often contacted at a later date by people who had taken a giveaway bag. v 50,000 website hits This figure was reached in Quarter 6 (Jul-Sept 2011), and is currently at around 362,419. We also monitor the number of individual ‘visitors’ which we feel is a more meaningful number, and this has shown to rise every quarter, with the current total at about 60,185. v 50,000 radio listeners We started our weekly radio show on ICR
5
6 }I have had a long standing interest in natural history, but never been that involved with others who had similar interest. A2N gave me the “excuse” to get involved and share my interest and take part in some of the events that were organised, including nature walks and even a trip to Minsmere. Previous to A2N I had already been involved in conservation work, but A2N ensured I felt a part of the community.~
Our weekly show combined with the Radio Suffolk reach meant we exceeded this target quite early on in the project. The radio show has a regular listenership many of whom contact the show and interact with us, and attend the events and activities that we promote.
}An example would be looking for signs of water voles down a not terrible attractive stretch of Bourne Brook (just downstream of the sewage works). We saw water vole footprints and a kingfisher to boot.~
swich’s a2nirthip day Party
There isn’t a separate target for a newsletter, but we decided early on in that it would be a useful tool ent! Free ev 10am – 1pm for spreading the word about what we do as well as keeping in touch with people already engaged with v 15,500 poster/flyer us. We recruited some amazing distributed design volunteers who created a We created flyers which beautiful and professional looking we delivered door to d oun n gr eatio Recr n publication. As well as being door in our areas of a m Aldewrich ips designed by volunteers, all of the work. We also created photography and articles are contributed by and distributed flyers and project volunteers. It is so good that, when we posters for every event and activity that we started putting it online, one of the people on our did, so this target was met very early on. By mailing list said he would be prepared to pay for it Quarter 10 we had distributed somewhere in order to keep receiving a printed version. around 36,000, and stopped keeping count. gardeners, Biodiversity Officers to outdoor swimmers.
2nd B
2012 23rd June Saturday
10am. from rting ities sta n activ ervatio at cons 11am d walks r guide ur hand start from more! op s Try yo sh g on ou rk itie i pin s, and Gip r wo activ safar e craft River s in ou Other beast e l and photo il, natur a minin Cana campfir ldlife ture tra Go on Alderma ok it on a take wi ds, na of to ar n co ife d Lear wildl e postc d – an r the natur ld foo ing wi lud Discove for ities inc aging Go for er activ lun ch ! of oth ee Loads th a fr ing wi Finish Han
gfo
rd
Roa
d
A107
Civic
1
Driv
e
ces
n
Roa
Prin
d
rma
Roa
Alde
an
Stre
tm
et
Por
d
Our guests have ranged from RSPB wardens to Buglife scientists, amateur birdwatchers to wildlife
}My daughter has loved some of the wildlife events. A stand out for both of us, would be the first night walk. It was absolutely magical and we are still talking about it 18 months later. (Quite something when she is only 7).~
activities. This includes people who have interacted with us and given us their details at roadshow events, people who have attended one of our events or activities, people who have become volunteers, pupils at schools we have worked with and community groups we have worked with.
We continue to use them as they have proved an effective way to reach people and promote our work.
v 1120 people directly engaged We have directly engaged with approximately 1942 people through our events and
}We did health walks around various locations in Ipswich I certainly did not know existed and neither did our client groups. We also had the men’s trip to a forest outside Ipswich which the group found fun and gained a lot of knowledge of outdoor survival etc. I attended an event at the community garden and there was a member of the a2nipswich project showing how to build something simple out of wood that was enjoyed very much by the children including my son. This kind of opportunity is being lost in our fast developing towns and cities and this project provided an opportunity to get back to basics and really enjoy the natural beauty around us that we take for granted.~ Bangladeshi Support Centre
Case Study
}I have been out and done things that I would never have done otherwise. I would never have gone out at night or the forest walk as we did with Jon Tyler. I would never have done deadhedging or bird walks.~
}I have enjoyed meeting the A2N team, and all the lovely people who come along to the events and take part with such enthusiasm. It is really good to see the children out and about being fascinated by the bugs and bats and flowers and learning about them. Oh, and the campfire cooked goodies!~
}Involvement with a2nipswich has given our members an opportunity to become involved in community based activities on nature themes.~ Peter Mower and 32nd Ipswich Scout Group, Beavers and Cubs
}I have been to greenspaces I would not have been before and tried activities I had never done before, as has my daughter.~
}I’m Clare Page and I film events for Access to Nature then edit them to make films for the website and Youtube channel. I also do an occasional bit of photography. I have been volunteering about a year, from about April 2012. I started volunteering during a break from work to look after my son. I wanted to use my film experience and to make sure there weren’t any huge gaps on my CV. I definitely feel like I have a greater awareness of the local environment now. Despite having lived here all
my life, there are some places around Ipswich which I didn’t know about and I will certainly be visiting them again. It has also made me aware of the effort that goes into maintaining these areas. As an example, I never realised the extent of the Belstead Brook area and all that was behind the fence on the A14! I’ve learnt a lot just by being at events and listening as I filmed. I have to admit, I wasn’t really too bothered about the nature aspect of the project when I first started, however having seen how beautiful, calm and quiet some of the areas can be, I would be more inclined to help protect any special areas if threatened. I do also try to get out more and visit natural places now as well.
I hope to continue with the Friends group or the wildlife group in my local area when A2N ends. I will definitely continue with volunteering in some form because I have enjoyed meeting new people, learning and relearning various skills and mostly, I have enjoyed working and just being outdoors. That’s what will stay with me the most; I like not being cooped up inside and actually being out doing something!~
}I have discovered areas such as Spring Wood that I wouldn’t otherwise have visited. But more importantly smaller green spaces within the town that I would not have known about like the triangle garden.~
7
8 Outcome 2: People will show skill development and an increase in their knowledge about their natural environment
}Especially awareness of town centre wildlife.~ Most of the activities and events that we have run contained an element of learning. There are very few activities that we do that are purely “fun” without imparting any information about the natural world or new skills. CSV has long experience of embedding learning and skill development in informal or unusual activities in order to reach those who would not respond to more traditional teaching settings, and we have continued this with great success. We have exceeded the SMART target (below) for people involved with new learning opportunities, and our work with Gusford Primary School has been a big contributor to this. Additionally, we can see from feedback at events and activities, and from our survey results, that people are coming away from our activities with increased knowledge and skills. v 500 people involved in new learning opportunities, demonstrating skills development and personal progression We reached this figure in Quarter 5. Because of it being a high figure, we ensured that we built an element of learning into as many of our activities as possible, and because our activities were successful in drawing an audience we found we very quickly met the target in the end. Activities that were marketed as a fun way to get outdoors all involved learning a skill (eg making a bird box) or learning about the natural world (eg fungi i.d.). Our numbers increased dramatically as a result of our partnership with Gusford School, where we worked with all of
their classes providing nature based learning sessions in class. Our final figure for this target is around 1700. In an online survey in 2012 we asked the question “Do you feel you have gained knowledge or learned skills with us” and almost half of respondents (n:20) answered “A lot”, with more than half (n:26) answering “A little”. Of the 227 feedback forms received at events and activities in years 1 and 2, over 77% agreed that they had learned something new at the event/activity. Feedback from participants demonstrates the level of learning people have received without feeling they are on a ‘formal’ training course – people have learned skills such as coppicing and building wildlife habitats whilst enjoying a social activity. At the same time, we can see that people who have experienced the }I have certainly gained some more skill. A good example was the bird song walk in Spring Wood with James Davidson. I greatly improved my recognition of bird song.~
}I have learnt deadhedging, foraging and cooking, lighting fires without matches, identifying birds and birdsong. My grandson was able to go out with owl-ringers as a result of our connection with the project and learnt about monitoring and ringing owls.~
natural world with us consider themselves to have “learned” things such as observing and engaging with the natural world and “heightening senses”, and that it is enjoyable to do these activities in a group setting – fantastic outcomes!
}I have also learnt that I enjoy being involved in such events as they are free and fun to be involved with.~
}I have learned to observe, walk, & engage with natural environments, feeling textures and heightening senses.~
}I have learned how to make Insect Hotels, Bat Boxes and Bird Boxes. The wild flower survey led by Jonathan was particularly helpful for plant identification. The Night Walk was really informative and exciting and unlike anything I had done before!~
}I enjoyed learning about what the birdsong was on the early morning walks with James.~
Our second SMART target was: v 60 people attend training and development programmes This aimed to put volunteers on training courses that they would get genuine benefit from, and would go on to use within the arena of conservation and community work, such as with a Friends Group or continuing volunteering with us or Greenways, and on into the future. This turned out to be harder than we had anticipated; it seemed that of the committed volunteers, many felt no need or inclination for further training, whilst of the less committed individuals who we were trying to develop, not many seemed to find it an appealing option.
Having said that, by Quarter 11 we had achieved the target, and went on to exceed it. Current figure is about 80 and continuing to rise in the final few weeks of the project. Every element of volunteer work on the project has had training opportunities associated with it. We have had conservation volunteers doing chainsaw and brushcutter courses. We have put people on film making and wildlife photography courses, bird and butterfly identification and leading guided walks, first aid, green woodworking, food hygiene, event management, volunteer management, photoshop and indesign, and much more.
9
10 }So far I have attended training in First Aid at Work, Basic Life Support and Use of Automated External Defibrillator (AED, Outdoor & Wild Country Emergency First Aid and Basic Life Support Award, Managing Volunteers, and Fit for Fundraising. These courses have all been excellent, and have been wonderful additions to my CV to help further myself in my career. I also think First Aid training is something really important to have as it could help save someones life. These course will all also help enable me to have more skills in order to help me set up and run Alderman park Friends Group.”
The wide range of learning and training opportunities we have supported means that we leave behind a vast pool of skills that can contribute toward all elements of future work from planning and management to carrying out practical conservation, from running family events and guided walks to photographing work or making a newsletter about it.
}Food hygiene was also excellent and I have used knowledge in preparing food for A2N events.~ }Leading Guided Walks was excellent and there are a few tips that I learnt.~
Feedback from the volunteers who have attended training courses demonstrates that they did come away having learned useful skills and will use them in the future:
}Dragonfly & Damselfly course was superb. I knew very little about the subject but now am much improved and I have been able to use the knowledge since both on walks also for my own interest to add these to birds and butterflies that I can look out for!~
}The Child Safeguarding was a good course. It was a subject I’d not really thought about before but was certainly very important and needs consideration at all times when volunteering and although doesn’t come up that often I need to know it.~
}I have been on two courses so far at Flatford Mill, Ecology Conservation Surveying and Recording of British amphibians as well as the British reptile course. Theses courses are something I would not have known about before a2n put me in touch, I also would not have been able to afford them myself. Both courses have given me a comprehensive insight into amphibians and reptiles as well as broader understanding of conservation techniques used in the habitats around me. The courses also showed me the impact some of the volunteering I had done with a2n and Greenways had. The first project I worked on with a2n was the Martlesham mega bash, when on the reptiles course the site we had cleared of gorse was the site we found adders as well as lizards. It was lovely to see the work full circle and see the difference we had made. All of the work with a2n and Greenways as well as the courses have given me a greater understanding of the environmental sector. This knowledge will give me a great advantage when I begin my degree in October in Ecology.~
Outcome 3: The accessibility of 8 sites will be improved and an increase in visitor numbers to the sites
All of the SMART targets for this outcome were included on the basis of being planned work for the Haven Gateway funding that was used as match for this project. v 2,000 metres of path improved v Directional signage installed on river path and BBP v Three information boards installed v An average of 50% increase in visitors following major improvements Major physical works took place on a number of our sites within the first 1½ years of the project, meeting all of the SMART targets for this Outcome. These works were carried out by dozens of volunteers from within our partner The Greenways Project as well as Ipswich Wildlife Group, CSV and our own project volunteers.
Case Study I am Charles Matthews, and I have been volunteering with A2N for almost 2 years now. I have been working on the design of this will result in the newsletter, and have also been doing some side stuff like conservation with the Greenways Countryside Project. I started volunteering for A2N because I wanted to expand on my Graphic Design by working on a project like this with other people. As time has gone by working on the newsletter, I have definitely noticed a dramatic increase in In addition to the original targets, further major my abilities from when I started, and the opportunity has definitely been improvement works took place on these sites through great fun. the Haven Gateway match funding. Not only pathways I have designed pages for the newsletter from summer 2011 to the but boardwalks were built by volunteers. Furthermore, most recent one. 3 footbridges were built – 2 at Alderman Canal and 1 I have also been doing conservation work with Greenways, so I’ve at Ellenbrook, enhancing accessibility, and at Alderman been working hard and making a physical difference in the appearance addressing resident concerns about safety by creating of the areas A2N covers such as Belstead Brook and the Ipswich additional routes from the footpath to the other side of the Countryside as well as well as making sure the articles about them canal. look good in the newsletter. After doing this, I definitely feel I know more about Ipswich and Informal and anecdotal feedback has confirmed that these its greener areas – it’s been eye-opening, and I definitely feel like changes have been welcomed by residents and visitors to the the project has taught me more about the environment and our impact on it. I have grown to enjoy the outdoors more, and think sites and have been felt to make them more user-friendly and twice about my actions when in natural environments. If anything accessible, safe and welcoming. has changed, it would probably be how conscious I am of my litter/recycling! In tandem with the physical improvements, work such as liaising The project has been great fun, and in an ideal between local residents and police to address issues of world, I’d like to be doing this kind of thing as antisocial behaviour add to the feeling of increased safety my full time job – the working environment and accessibility, in particular at Alderman Canal. has introduced me to like-minded people, and has developed on my skills socially and The increase in visitor numbers was a hard target technically. both to achieve and to prove. 50% is a really high target. Given our other priorities, we didn’t have the time and manpower to do the kind of comprehensive study needed to ascertain visitor numbers over time and measure change.
11
12 Case Study Hi my name is Katie Parker and I’ve been volunteering for A2N since October 2012, assisting with various events. I started volunteering to develop my work experience in running events but also because I enjoy being in the outdoors. I helped to arrange donations for the Clean up Awards Night, I’ve helped with the running of various one off events such as the Bonfire Party, and currently I’m taking ownership of running the End of Project Party. I’m fairly new to the Ipswich area and only really knew of Holywells and Christchurch Park prior to my involvement with A2N. Since I’ve begun volunteering I’ve also discovered Alderman Park, Stoke Park and Belstead Brook areas which I had never ventured into before. I’ve been given lots of training opportunities which has been great to develop new skills such as First Aid, and through spending time with Jon at various events, I’ve started noticing a lot more fungi then I used to when walking around! I’m helping to re-establish the Alderman Park Friends Group, assisting in running community events and helping Ann to run the conservation side of things. After Access to Nature has come to an end, I will continue volunteering by helping to run the Alderman Park Friends Group.
of them?” and we had very positive responses including: }gives confidence~ }easier to walk down pathways~ }peaceful, safer~ }vast improvement~ }feel safer walking (2 bridges)~ }pleasurable~ }like the noticeboard and signposts~
Our partners commented that it is difficult to know how many people of the people that attend the events then go back on their own to visit the sites. Anecdotally, partners say they have heard about people that have gone back but it is difficult to measure this. Springwood now sees large numbers of people going through the woods. Signage and leaflets and events have helped. “Definitely more activity and more people on all of the sites”. However, we did get out and do some surveying and based on that data that, of 56 site visitors, we extrapolate a total increase across sites of 40%. People were asked how long they had been coming to the sites and if it was after the work, then they were counted as ‘new’ visitors. We also asked further questions to get an idea of how people use the sites, and the impact of our work. One question we asked was “Why did you first start visiting the site” and 2 people specifically cited the improvement works to the site as their reason. Further, we asked the question “Have you noticed/were you aware of the improvement works to the site – what do you think
We asked what people’s reasons were for visiting the site: walking the dog, passing through, and bringing children were all popular reasons but the reason with the highest number of responses (14) was “Enjoy nature and pleasant surroundings”. Feedback from partners that we asked about this was more mixed, taking into consideration the bigger picture. }You cannot gauge on visitor numbers alone and I suspect visitor numbers will not change dramatically despite great efforts of A2N. There is a national health crisis in our children. There is a mountain to climb to reverse years of inactivity and fear of the great outdoors. And it doesn’t help when the reaction of any adult to children congregating outdoors is to immediately suspect anti-social behaviour. Adults should be encouraging children outdoors, providing safe & supervised activities to start, and then let them explore together like they always did.~ Mark Ling Broomhill Trust
}If accessibility has improved, I’m not sure how much is down to Greenways and how much is a2nipswich. Access to funding and increased volunteer numbers has certainly helped and sites like Spring and Millennium Woods are more heavily used than before the start of a2nipswich.~ Ray Sidaway – Ipswich Wildlife Group
Outcome 4: Residents of the local communities will report that they feel more motivated to access and care for their local natural spaces
This Outcome had an interesting selection of targets, two that are more about site improvements, and one about volunteer involvement which relates more obviously to the actual Outcome – and which was harder to achieve. The habitat features and wildlife improvements were carried out by volunteer work parties over the project lifetime.
}Definitely - we are inspired by the groups we came along to and it has rekindled a love of nature and to seek out more remote natural spots near our home as well as futher afield. ~
to wildlife improvements at 20 sites across Ipswich including our own key sites.
v 40 Wildlife habitat features built This was achieved through a combination of large scale habitats such as otter holt and stag beetle piles, and smaller ones such as bird boxes, bat boxes, dormouse boxes, and bug boxes built by our participants. Many of these were used on sites, while some of the boxes were taken home by participants to encourage wildlife within their own gardens. v Wildlife improvements to 20 sites This was always a slightly random figure, given that we have between 5-8 sites (depending on which bit of the bid you refer to) that we officially work on. However, through our involvement with Greenways’ work at other sites around the town, and our widely spread volunteers, we have contributed
13
14
v 150 volunteers regularly involved This figure is a tricky one to pin down, under the restrictions of the reporting systems. We can only count ‘new’ people, which makes it hard to record regularity. After some experimentation we decided to use the criteria of either someone coming to us and registering with the intention to become a regular volunteer, or someone who started more casually but has participated at least once a month for 3 months. There is no facility to record with Natural England how many become inactive and because we can only record ‘new’ each quarter, the figure becomes slightly meaningless. For our own purposes we monitored attendance and would mark ‘inactive’ any volunteer who hadn’t participated for 6 months or, of course, if they }Yes, I really enjoying working outside and through this organisation it gives you the opportunity to help as you know what is going on. Also seeing the enthusiasm of others, and the volunteers, does rub off on you!~
generally a lengthy and difficult process, especially amongst communities that don’t have a habit of volunteering or engaging with services. It involves, amongst other things, establishing relationships and a rapport with individuals, developing trust, nurturing their interest without making demands, until a stage is reached where they begin to feel some appeal in the idea of giving their own time and energy to the cause. This needs an investment of staff time and must be consistent and ongoing to be successful; sporadic contacts or a series of disconnected one-offs is not enough to establish a relationship. Even with our new staff, we did have this level of resourcing across all our sites.
contacted us to say the did not want to be active any more. Using the Natural England reporting system, we reached the target figure of 150 at the beginning of Quarter 11. On our own records, we currently have 113 volunteers classed as ‘active’. Recruitment of volunteers from amongst the local residents of sites, particularly those who are generally disengaged to start with, is a time consuming and difficult task. We have many good and dedicated volunteers who have come to us through a variety of routes, including residents and former participants. We also have beneficiaries who frequently participate in our
events and activities but haven’t take the step into volunteering. Turning people from one-off beneficiaries of an activity into regularly involved volunteers is
At Belstead Brook Park, where there is an established group that has been working for many years, there is a greater resident involvement, but still limited and taking a great deal of work to maintain and to recruit to. The FoBBP has a large membership with about 10-15 who come out on a regular basis. They provide a focal point for any new resident that does have an interest in getting involved. In areas where this kind of community action is weaker, such as Alderman and the Triangle, resident involvement is much lower and is limited to odd individuals rather than any cohesive force. In these areas there are probably about 20-30 residents, including young people, who come along on a regular or semiregular basis to activities and conservation work (a higher number attend other activities such as kids and family fun/educational) and, from amongst these only 2-3 prepared to take any kind of more involved role.
Case Study and “5” No. Reasons given were mostly to do with time limitations and demands of family and work. Interestingly some feedback directly demonstrates the range of viewpoints, both equally valid, from within our participants:
Hi, my name is Anthony and I contribute towards the design of the Access to Nature Newsletter. I have now been involved with the project for about 16 months. I was out of work when I started volunteering and being given the opportunity to use my skills was a very positive thing to do. As well as being involved in the production of the magazine I have helped out with some conservation work at Alderman Canal, Spring Wood Day
Viewpoint 1: “The fact that A2N endorsed the litter picking has given me additional validation of my tendency to pick up cans and bottles etc as I walk around town. I realised a while ago that you either accept the need to tidy up for others who cannot be bothered, A2N showed I was not alone in this.”
In 2013 an increased push toward creating a Friends of Alderman Canal group generated interest, and meetings were held. Leadership and drive continues to be the main challenge – while many people are interested in taking part in activities, few people have the desire to take on the responsibility of management. This is where continued funding of organisations who can provide the necessary infrastructure is vital. In our online survey in 2012 we asked “Do you feel more motivated to care for local green spaces as a result of a2nipswich?” and about 69% (32) respondents answered “A lot”, with 15 saying “A Little”. We went on to ask “Would you consider taking on a role that helped our work to continue after the project comes to an end, such as joining a Friends of group for your local natural space?” and to this we had 24 responded “Yes”, 17 “Maybe”
Viewpoint 2: “would if I had more time but unfortunately I don’t. I am also put off by other people’s attitudes, leaving litter and dog poo as I do not see why I should have to clear up their mess.” The fact is that Viewpoint 2 is most likely the prevalent one amongst the general population, and it is hard to argue against.
2012 and at the birthday party at Alderman Recreation Ground. Working with the project has given me a greater awareness of nature in the local environment. I attended a bird watching session at Spring Wood and I was very interested to learn not only about the visitors we get at that time of year, but also about the large newt colony and the endangered tree dormouse which lives in the woods. When you realise that there is such a thriving natural ecology right on your doorstep it motivates you to take a greater interest in its preservation. Volunteering and working on this project has been a very positive experience. I have met some great people, learnt a lot of things and realised nature really is just on your doorstep. I would be very happy to offer my skills to any similar project. }I am more motivated towards the positive results of group activity and about greening the urban landscape.~ that do care for the local green spaces have parents who already had a social/environmental awareness and concern – and even more sorry to report they are in the minority. There would The reserved response toward this outcome from need to be a much lengthier program – even a some partners supports this perspective, such as movement.” However, another teacher said “Yes from the Broomhill Pool Trust: “Not necessarily. the children were definitely more aware of how Many mature people will always leave it to they can look after the environment and this will someone else. The change has to be at youth have led to a discussion with parents.” level” and Ipswich Wildlife Group: “This is very difficult. People will attend events and find them Despite these challenges, we have achieved the interesting and enjoyable, but may not want to targets for this Outcome and the feedback that we return or get any more involved in their area.” receive from those individuals who are involved with us is overwhelmingly positive. A teacher from Gusford School commented “I’d like to think so... However in reality the children
15
16 Outcome 5: Volunteers, actively involved in the project, will indicate a willingness to continue the project when the A2N funding ends }I was already quite motivated and shall carry on. But I am aware now that if I wanted to join a group such as FOBB or IWG I could join them.~ This Outcome posed similar challenges to Outcome 4, however we successfully met all of our targets as detailed below: v Two dedicated project staff employed Achieved, plus 2 part time staff recruited as a result of increased match funding v 60 individuals engaged deeply with the project This figure effectively relates to the same people who are the regular volunteers, and so was achieved and exceeded. The same issues apply which is that people come and go and even the most committed individual may experience a change of circumstances that stops them being able to volunteer. Even on the basis that in reality all those registered are rarely all fully active at the same time, we can confidently say that the figure of 60 can be considered fully achieved at the end of the project.
resourcing issues, and so will be limited in the amount of time they can give to maintaining what we have started. v Support existing ‘Friends of’ groups and create new groups v Throughout the life of the project, Steve has supported the FoBBP by planning and organising committee meetings, organising and facilitating the regular work parties, and working with the members on ways to increase their membership and raise profile. We have created a Friends of Alderman Canal group, which has 5 or 6 committed members who are keen to continue meeting after the project ends, with support from Greenways and other agencies. v This kind of result is much harder to achieve in Triangle and Whitton, due to the other limitations we have faced in getting work off the ground there. Continuation of activities that we have started will be in the hands of existing agencies that we have worked with such as Residents Association and Community Development Workers. They, of course, have their own workloads and priorities and
v Four long-term action plans to cover the main sites v We have produced straightforward userfriendly action plans, that focus on tangible and realistic steps that the volunteers can do themselves with support from Greenways and other agencies, such as a season-by-season guide to appropriate tasks, activities and events to run, and meetings schedule. These have been handed to the Friends Groups, and to individuals who have expressed an interest in remaining involved in the sites we worked on, and are attached as appendices to this report. Feedback from participants is encouraging and shows that there is a desire to keep a level of involvement and that many people are involved
}yes, tho’ I found the a2nipswich updates informative & encouraging/welcoming.~
}I’m certainly considering it. I volunteered as a photographer, so would look for something like that again.~
}We will continue to look after the area around our headquarters. [next door to Stoke Park Wood] Hopefully, these types of activity will continue in some form in order that our young members will still be able to get involved.~ Peter Mower and 32nd Ipswich Scout Group,
}When A2N is over I will continue to be involved with Greenways, IWG, the megabashes and SWT.~ or plan to get involved, with the groups that will continue to operate, such as the Friends Groups and Ipswich Wildlife Group. The main obstacle mentioned is time. Many of our regular volunteers have enjoyed their experience with us and are keen to be able to continue their volunteer work, with the support of organisations such as Greenways or CSV. Feedback from partners again takes in more of the bigger picture. Partners at our focus group commented that in terms of giving people new one-off opportunities to access the outdoors through events, the project has attracted a very wide audience. The challenge has been to convert this from a one off pleasurable experience to a regular commitment to maintain local green spaces. The Greenways Project said “We’ve tried as hard as anyone could but for all sorts of reasons people don’t want to take the leap and
be a volunteer. It would take more time to find a large body of people to do this and three years probably isn’t enough time.” However, Ray Sidaway of Ipswich Wildlife Group felt “sure the project has succeeded in this. There are a number of a2n volunteers who are now Greenways regulars and show no signs of giving up.” Partners who work with hard to reach communities are aware of the difficulty of keeping people engaged and motivated to do volunteer roles even at the best of times and particularly once the supporting infrastructure is taken away. }I would love to be involved in more Community Conservation. As a vicar, I have planned community projects, often with enthused people. However, in Stoke, these have a nasty habit of crashing and failure, because of a lack of on going commitment. it is not just church, the children’s uniformed groups , local residents association suffer also. projects look great in the planning, but the truth is that they are less attractive after a few goes. Thanks for all you and the groups have done. Much more than you think.~ Mark Morgan, Vicar at Stoke Park church (next door to Stoke Park Wood)
}Not necessarily. Volunteers are motivated by a genuine desire to improve things. Yet there is always a tipping point at which goodwill runs out, and that point is when volunteers do not believe their efforts or works are recognized, supported (and in some case partially funded by those with the actually responsibility for the asset).~ Mark Ling Broomhill Trust
}I think a2nipswich have delivered really well in all the eight areas. However, to expect residents to carry on when funding ends is extremely naive. It’s unrealistic. Having worked with communities for the past eight years I’m well aware that if some support does not remain the enthusiasm fades. Unless you identify very strong characters who are very focused on keeping things going (no easy task) then motivation will cease. In the current climate communities seem to have an unwillingness to sustain things on their own, mainly due to their own busy lives. It’s short sighted to deliver something for three years then discontinue… three years is a very small window of time in the ever transient communities of Ipswich.~ Val Peacock – Community Development Worker
17
18 Case Study Hi, I’m Lesley Nye and I do anything from helping to organise events, leafleting, litter picking and helping out at events....usually doing the refreshments! I first got involved because Access to Nature was doing an event at Alderman Park, which is opposite where I live. I went along to see what it was about and thought that I could be of some help to the project. Since being involved with A2N, I have become a first aider (St Johns Ambulance), learnt more about the environment, nature and people. I’ve done creative writing for the newsletter and I am now starting a computer course but mostly, I’ve learnt a lot about myself. My son and I took part in the Ipswich Clean Up litter picking competition and won a prize for recycling the most glass. Now that we have the right equipment, I’m definitely more motivated to care for the Alderman area and we regularly litter pick there. I’ve also been in touch with the police about issues of anti-social behaviour in the park. I’ve really enjoyed being out in the fresh air, meeting all different sorts of people and getting involved in whatever is happening, so I’m keen to be involved in the Friends of Alderman group after A2N finishes.
How successful has the project been in reaching its target beneficiaries? We’ve employed a vast range of methods to try to reach our target beneficiaries, with varying degrees of success. We started out trying to publicise the project by delivering flyers to houses around sites, followed up with visits. It quickly became apparent that this was far too time consuming. However, it was a good way to meet people, particularly given we were trying to reach people who weren’t already active in community groups or similar. With the same objective in mind, we hoped to take our roadshow to local supermarket forecourts, but none would permit that. The next step was introductory roadshow events on the sites, to allow residents to find out more about us. These were advertised with flyer deliveries to houses and posters around sites. These events were successful, particularly the Alderman Canal one which had about 100 attendees. Many people who became regular participants and volunteers first met us at one of these events. From there, regular activities on the sites proved a good way to get people involved. These included conservation work parties, to introduce people to the work of looking after the sites, and wider activities aimed to attract people not already interested in conservation or nature. We offered kids activities, photography workshops, bonfire parties, foraging expeditions, and much more. These activities became the cornerstone of our project and we continued them throughout the project lifetime, building a good reputation as providers of high quality enjoyable activities for all ages. The majority of the people that we have directly engaged with have come to us through one of these. The events and activities themselves have been promoted through high quality flyers and posters
which we continue to deliver door to door and display on the relevant site. Later on in the project, as we built relationships with schools we were able to save time by sending flyers home with the pupils, thus reaching hundreds of families at a time. This approach had the benefit of reaching many families who would live near to the school and hence the site, and also that crosssection of the community rather than any one particular social group. This approach was enhanced in the Belstead Brook Park area by our work with Gusford School. We found that there was a far higher number of families attending events from Gusford than from other schools, as a direct result of the children having had a good experience with us in school. Following our work with Gusford, other schools approached us to ask us to work with them – again, the obstacle of time resources prevented this from following through but it was very clear that there would be a market for this kind of project focussed purely on school engagement. Working with the schools and with other community groups was a good way to reach ‘captive audiences’ by working with something that is already in place rather than having to attract people to something new. Our work with the Bangladeshi Support Centre and Kerala Supplementary School in particular was very successful and would have been repeated more if we had the resources. We found that members of BME communities did not respond to our general invites via flyers and posters on site, but did enjoy our activities when they accessed them through their existing group. We hoped that this would lead to group members attending other public activities as individuals and families, but this didn’t happen. However, we felt that with more time and resources to continue building those relationships that could potentially have been an outcome. As it was, we delivered experiences that took the group members to places they hadn’t been, taught them about the natural world, and connected them with nature in a fun way, thereby hitting many of our targets.
In the end it seemed that combining the approaches of site-focussed activities promoted to residents, and working with schools and community groups to reach a greater range of people, was the best approach for our resources. We discussed this issue with organisations that worked with us, and got interesting feedback. Groundforce (a police community project that we partnered with on a number of activities) has successfully engaged young people – and has worked very well. Young people do seem to enjoy this and they are discovering new local spaces that are on their doorstep. The interesting element of this project was always the engagement element – i.e. reaching out to people that wouldn’t normally access the outdoors. Generally there is a feeling that the events have been hugely successful at giving people first-time experiences of their local outdoors. “When you talk to people they say ‘I only live in those houses over there and yet I’ve never been here before’. We partnered the Police with their Groundforce project, that helped to build up relationships with the young people and the families. “It’s a great way of breaking down barriers between the police and the community and it also gets children doing positive activities outdoors such as planting... “We are working with young people from some estates who have never gone beyond their own estate. I will never forget the look on the children’s faces when they saw two people on horses – it was as if they were looking at dinosaurs.”
All of the work delivered by Access to Nature across the Ipswich wards has been totally invaluable for the way it has engaged residents – people and agencies have been sad to see the project come to an end. I think everything possible was done to engage with the right target audience…engaging with members of the public is no easy task – Access to Nature did extremely well in encouraging involvement. Val Peacock – Community Development Worker I would also like to add that the project and staff were very flexible which was very important for our community group who find it difficult to work with organisations who are rigid in their make up particularly around time and dates. it is not always easy working with a group like ours if the organisation is not flexible however this project made it look very easy and as staff here at BSC we felt welcome. Bangladeshi Support Centre
Case Study My name is Richard Wendt and I have been designing posters and generally helping with publicity material for a couple of years. I started volunteering because I wanted to get involved in projects which directly affect the community I live in. My first involvement came with the Access to Nature newsletter, which I helped put together and then moved on to designing posters for A2N’s events. Ipswich in some ways is spoilt for ‘green areas’. But the project has brought into focus just how important it is for us to care for these places of pleasure and I feel I have a greater awareness of my natural environment as a result of this.
The main new skill I will take away with me, is to work as part of a team where the objectives are for the good of the community and not status or financial gain. Now I have far more knowledge of my local environment, I intend to use them within my work. Maybe taking photographs. Continued involvement I feel is very important and I will offer my services where ever possible, so I will continue to feel like I am putting something back into the local community. I have been lucky enough to meet a lovely group of people with a similar interest in nature and conservation and professionally, to be given the opportunity to produce posters with themes which I wouldn’t ordinarily have been able to design via a more conventional route.
19
20 What has been learnt about the methods used to deliver the project? The first delivery challenge was always in how to reach our audience, and the methods used to do that, and the successes and challenges, are detailed in the previous section. To deliver the physical site works, we worked closely with The Greenways Project, who had secured the Haven Gateway match funding, and other organisations including Ipswich Wildlife Group, CSV and the SAM Project and Friends of Belstead Brook Park. The funding paid for the materials and the hire of contractors to do some elements of the work that could not be performed by volunteers, such as path re-surfacing. Every other element of the improvement works was undertaken by volunteer work parties, and was highly successful. Every element of the improvement works was achieved, and then additional work, such as the three bridges and the boardwalks, were also carried out – all by volunteers under the guidance and supervision of the Greenways Project. The awareness raising and learning elements of the project was delivered through a number of methods. As detailed under Outcomes 1 and 2, we employed a vast array of events and activities in order to reach as wide an audience as possible, attracting people with an event that looked enjoyable and using it to introduce the natural world generally or specific elements. This was highly successful and the feedback we have received from all participants shows that people have come away from our activities having had an enjoyable experience, and learned something new. The illustrative evidence of this can also be seen
under Outcomes 1 and 2. Having hired ‘outdoor educator’ Jon Tyler on many occasions to deliver work that was consistently highly rated, we were able to use the increased match funding in Year 2 to employ him on a part time basis, and this increased our ability to deliver these outcomes. To deliver the more formal training targets, we used a number of methods with varying degrees of success, as discussed under Outcome 2. Initially we hoped that it would, in itself, be a hook to encourage people to volunteer and we advertised volunteer roles with the attached training opportunities highlighted as a benefit. However, there was very slow uptake of this. Another approach used was to monitor local training courses and anything that looked interesting and relevant would be promoted to volunteers and regular beneficiaries as an opportunity. This had a mixed response, depending on the course. Toward the end of the project, as we have pushed training opportunities more forcefully and targeted them at volunteers who are heavily involved and keen to continue, we had a greater take up as these people were able to see a direct benefit in the courses. It took a lot longer than we had anticipated to get to this stage, we had expected it to be happening by the start of Year 2 but in fact it was closer to the end of Year 3. Overall we felt that most of our methods were successful, but where we struggled was delivering them consistently across all the sites we needed to work on, with the level of resources that we had. As detailed in Outcomes 4 and 5, we were unable to work as intensively as we felt we needed to in order to do the necessary groundwork and build the relationships to create a strong and sustainable community involvement in the project. Feedback from some partner organisations backs up this assessment, with a Community Development Worker commenting: “The
difficulties involved in delivering any project like this are those involving over expectation (trying to deliver projects across a wide demographic/ geographic area is unrealistic. Although Access to nature did a great job with their wide remit, a much more intense, thorough and successfully rewarding job could have been achieved by focusing on a hotspot. Resources should never be stretched when trying to delivering bespoke work.” However, other organisations cast a different light on it, such as the Police, who felt that If you narrow the areas too much, it can become very claustrophobic and doesn’t allow for crossfertilisation across sites. This is very important for some young people who rarely leave their estate. Similarly, Greenways and the Ipswich Wildlife Group felt that this approach does allow for a wide coverage and meant that the project could ‘touch’ a high number of people. The next stage would be then to do more of the activities that offer real potential to build engagement and develop ownership. It also gives volunteers more opportunities to develop different skills on different sites. Ray Sidaway of Ipswich Wildlife Group said “I don’t think the number of sites was detrimental; certainly having just 1 site wouldn’t have been so productive.” It was also felt by partners that the media element of the project was very successful in increasing our reach because introduced different opportunities for volunteers to get involved if they don’t want to go out and do practical work. “It’s highlighted how there are other roles out there for people interested in greenspaces.” More than one partner commented on the difficulty of having targets that are too prescriptive and don’t allow for flexibility in delivery. It was commented that it’s “important to build in an element of opportunitism so that there is scope to develop new projects with new
partners – the work on the Triangle estate is an example of this. This is very important for work like this – you can’t be too prescriptive about what you will do as you need to allow the process of engagement to lead you in different directions.” In a similar vein, Mark Ling of the Broomhill Pool Trust commented that “I would have liked A2N to take on more of a Franchise role in Ipswich. There are other friends of parks in Ipswich who would benefit from having a pooled resource and sharing of ideas. We asked A2N to include Broomhill Park (Ipswich’s only natural woodland) into the fold, but you were not structured in a way that could include new locations... We could have done with your input here; and equally perhaps our blueprint for Community Payback works could help you at A2N sites?”
Case Study
I got involved in the Access To Nature radio show on Ipswich Community Radio after being invited on the show as a guest. This was to talk about my role at Suffolk County Council as the Countryside Access Development Manager. This role focuses on developing and promoting access to the countryside. Through my work I have become very familiar with Suffolk’s landscape and some of the issues in its countryside regarding the environment and public access. With a strong interest of the countryside, the invitation to help present the show was very welcome. This is done as a volunteer, although it does provide opportunities to promote some of my work, such as the Suffolk Walking Festival and new walking/outdoor guides. Being involved with A2N has taught me many new skills including preparing a radio show, interview techniques and presenting skills. I received training from CSV/ICR on radio presenting and editing, and over the past 2 years have gained valuable experience working in the media, which I have been able to carry over into my work. This has also included networking; gaining valuable new contacts through meeting guests on the show. The A2N Show has provided a unique opportunity to work on radio and the whole experience has been very rewarding - the countryside is a great passion of mine and being able to communicate that has been very enjoyable. I aim to continue presenting at ICR beyond the end of the A2N Project, and am currently discussing the opportunity to present a new show on great days out in Suffolk from June 2013. David Falk
How well has the project been managed? Overall the project has been managed effectively, in that it has met and exceeded all of its Targets and Outcomes, and run to budget. It has received consistently positive feedback from beneficiaries, volunteers and partners. Internally, the amount of work needed to deliver the targets and outcomes meant the Project Coordinator had to be more hands-on with the delivery than would normally be the case, heavily involved in all aspects of planning, organising and delivery of events and activities and doing the majority of volunteer recruitment, coordination and support. This has meant that planning, monitoring and evaluation, reporting, relationship building and networking, managing finances, and other management duties, were hard to keep up with. We worked on creating a solution to this by negotiating a movement of funds as a result of the additional match funding, allowing the recruitment of two part-time staff to work on deliver of activities and coordination of volunteers, and this went a long way to improving the situation. CSV regional Manager, Bruce MacGregor, commented “It has been a struggle to manage the diverse range of project activity and balancing this with the administrative side. As with most applications ambitious targets are included in the early stages but the reality is it takes a lot of time and hard work to deliver these effectively.” This was echoed by Val Peacock, Community Development Worker, who said “Trying to do too much across too big an area has been difficult.” Partner organisations have commented on other
areas of management that have worked well. They commented that the targets were very ambitious and they have been exceeded. There has been a strong emphasis on monitoring and recording and this has been handled very well. Another successful element of the management of the project has been building its reputation through publicity and event delivery. Partners commented that the project has been sufficiently long to build a reputation and this reputation has been very good. The radio programme, the events, the leaflets etc are all of a very high quality : “they produce really good stuff”. It’s very well branded – people know ‘Access to Nature’. An example was given of a Cllr who arranged for a small donation for some litter picking equipment once he heard it was for ‘Access to Nature’ . Partnership working has been very important – Police, Children’s Centres, Wildlife groups, Community Radio, etc. Partly it is about having access to partner organisations who support this kind of work, for example Steve from the Police Service was prepared to get involved because he appreciated the value of the work. Groundforce was then recognised by the Police Service as a very positive initiative and received an award. “It’s looked on as a success.”
21
22 What has been learnt about the level of resources needed to deliver the project? The funding for the capital improvement works came through the match funding and was more than enough for the work that was specified in the original bid. The result of this was that, by match funding a greater proportion of the capital project costs, we were able to reallocate funds and use them to recruit a part time Volunteer Coordinator and a part time Education and Activities Officer. This made a huge difference to the work we were able to do. Having a good budget identified for training was important. It meant that it wasn’t an afterthought and couldn’t be squeezed out by other priorities, but was there to be used with the very clear purpose of building people’s skills and leaving them feeling empowered to continue work after the project end. Our partners generally agreed that our most valuable resource is the people time on the project. “This grant has really focused on people and this is its greatest strength.” It makes it distinct from other grants. Generally there is a feeling that the resourcing has been adequate. Internally, it has felt more of a struggle, whilst there were sufficient funds to deliver the project but it would have been easier with either more staff resources or a tighter focus. As discussed in previous sections, building relationships with longer term regular interactions was difficult when trying to spread too few people across too many sites. While we did make great achievements, we were always aware of more that could have been done with more staff time. Just maintaining regular communication, let alone planning and delivering activities, is very time consuming. Add to that the aim of creating regular volunteers from amongst those individuals reached, and more resources are needed. We could do the fun activities that raise awareness,
disseminate information, and increase knowledge and skills across all of these sites. Or we could work on engaging hard to reach individuals living around one particular site and support them to a position of volunteering. But trying to do both of these things, across all of our sites, is just too much for what amounts to fewer than 3 staff. Bruce MacGregor commented that “more staff would have made the meeting of the targets easier and with hindsight at least another member of staff would/should have been incorporated in the original application”, while Val Peacock felt that “resources seemed to be fine, but, the wide aim and ambitious coverage geographically had its impact at times on staff. For example, when we sometimes needed the input of ATN they would be elsewhere in town (where they may not have been needed as much, but being target led had to be there) so, by that token and couldn’t commit to visiting other parts of the town that could have benefited from the service” Volunteers were another key resource of the project, being involved in every element of our work. They presented the radio show, designed the newsletter, made films, took photos, did the conservation work, supported our work in schools, led guided walks, worked on all elements of events and activities, helped behind the scenes with planning and preparation. They were, in every respect, the lifeblood of the project. However, recruiting, managing and supporting this number of volunteers is a full time job in itself and until 2012 there was no allocated staff member to do this. Even after the recruitment of a Volunteer Coordinator, made possible by the extra match funding, two days per week was not enough time to do this job and she was always overworked.
What effect have internal or external changes had on the management and delivery of the project? Change in amount of match funding has had a massive positive impact. Increased Haven Gateway funding covered £19,000 of the capital site improvement works that we would otherwise have claimed Access to Nature funding for. Not only did this increase the amount of improvement works on the sites, such as the bridges and boardwalks, but in doing so, the money that was freed up was used for recruiting two new part-time posts which increased our delivery capacity. Changes at CSV nationally have had an impact locally, mainly financially, for example the introduction of a Full Cost Recovery policy that was not in place at the start of the grant, and redundancies leading to increased overheads due to the nature of the apportionment system. The impact of this has been not only on the project budget, but also creating additional hours of work for the Project Coordinator.
In Conclusion a2nipswich achieved every one of its Outcomes and SMART targets, and exceeded many of them. In the 3 years we’ve been going we’ve run over 160 events and activities. That averages out at more than one per week.
Case Study people to keep coming back, and to become volunteers. It would be easier to manage a project that focussed solely on either awareness-raising and learning through fun activities OR working intensively with a group/community on developing trained volunteers.
More than 70 volunteers have undertaken training and development.
Partnership is key and should be built in from the outset. Our delivery partner was the Greenways Project, so we worked closely with their staff and volunteers, accessed their sites and equipment, and benefited from their expertise. It would have been beneficial to have other key partners from the start for the community engagement elements. This would have meant less time and resources spent trying to identify and reach our audience and more available for actually working with them. However, we know that other organisations are all struggling with resourcing, so there needs to be a clear purpose/benefit to them – and funding.
We’ve run upwards of 50 conservation work parties, supported many Greenways conservation activities including megabashes, and contributed to major site improvements including 3 footbridges, and more than 2,000 metres of paths and boardwalks.
A project focussing on attracting a wide selection of general public, rather than working with a specific group, would benefit from greater flexibility of sites to work on, allowing it to respond to expressions of interest as raised by partners’ feedback.
We have recruited more than 150 regular volunteers, with 113 currently registered as active.
Outdoor events are very valuable, and have been key to our success, but they take a huge amount of time to plan and deliver, which must be taken into consideration from the start. It’s also important to be aware that while volunteers can increase capacity they are not a ‘free’ resource as they must be supported and managed properly which is very time consuming in itself, and having a volunteer coordinator is vital.
We’ve broadcast over 140 live radio shows, produced 10 newsletters, and have a mailing list of 400 people who receive news about events, activities and volunteering. We’ve directly engaged with nearly 2,000 people through our roadshows, events and activities, and provided learning opportunities to over 1,500 people, including 364 schoolchildren.
We’ve supported the Friends of Belstead Brook Park, created a Friends of Alderman Canal, and worked with community groups and residents associations in Stoke Park, Whitton and on the Triangle estate. What have we learned – and how is it useful? There is a big market for the fun learning activities for all ages. This has been the most successful route to attracting new people to take part. The difficult bit is getting those
Our biggest lesson has been that almost without fail people have loved our project, and are really sad to see it come to an end. There is definitely a market for nature-based
Hi, I’m Tomasz, I’m 16 and I have been a volunteer with Access to Nature for 6 months, since I came to the UK from Poland. I mainly do conservation in parks, but not only this! I have started volunteering to get experience for jobs and also to meet other people and help them in this work. Also, contact with English helps me with my ESOL classes. I have done a lot of different things like green area conservation, improving the paths, making parks look good, The Big Garden Birdwatch, dead-hedging, hedgecutting, tree planting, workshop activities and conservation crafts. My knowledge of the natural world has really improved since I started volunteering and I have started Horticulture course at Suffolk New College inspired by Access to Nature. I am on Level 1 and I am going to start next level from September. I am really enjoying this course and I think it was a good step. I am very happy helping with nature. Experience from caring for my local green area will be helpful in my studies and in the future. I have also become a volunteer for the Greenways project for the last 5 months, so I will carry on with this when A2N finishes. I like working with people from all different groups. What I have enjoyed the most are all the events run by Access to Nature.
23
24
Roa d
Kel ly
Ke
ad
ey
ad
Ro
ad
on
nd
Lo
Ro
West Ipswich.
Summer • Good time to view meadow flowers and perennials.
in oad sR en ick
Ongoing Spring • Good time to view snow drops, crocuses and daffodils, and blossom on cherry plum tree (back right). • Plant wild flower seeds. • Prune (new) plum tree. • Plant additional shrubs and perennials, including tall perennials near front wall.
Ro
mb
Do
lly
•
ield
erf
pp
Co
d
Need one or more people who will keep an eye on the garden and remove rubbish when dumped – throughout the year. (Consider options to reduce rubbish – would it helped to have a sign on the fence identifying that it is a wildlife garden?)
Prune cherry tree (if not broken). Throughout Fi nd JX growing th e 20 , IP g a rd e n o n K el l y R o ad season: trim grass, remove weeds (including brambles but leaving brambles at back), pull out ivy from ground. oa
In addition, many of the activities that we introduced, and that have been so popular and effective in drawing in new people, will
Our final legacy is the creation of an online resource that will be openly accessible to all. This will contain “how-to” event and activity guides, site-specific action plans, (example included) case studies of pieces of work, a library of resources including useful organisations and potential sources of funding, and other tools that can be of use to existing Friends Groups as well as other organisations wanting to do similar work in the future. A few examples of these resources follow on the next page. This resource will be available at the a2nipswich website for the immediate future.
Essential Remove rubbish dumped during the winter, including car tyres (fly-tipping). Identify one or more people to hold keys for the garden.
•
sR
The Greenways Project will continue to work with conservation volunteers. With the Greenways Project we developed a “conservation leader” volunteer role, with suitable levels of training to lead groups and take on responsibility under guidance – this will increase the Greenways Project’s capacity to work with greater numbers of volunteers, while building the skills of those volunteer leaders.
In addition, many organisations that we have worked with, such as schools and specific community groups, have expressed interest in being involved in future similar projects and could be approached for partnership – this is an important strengthening element in any funding bid and highly important in reaching the key audience that the project wishes to work with.
Possible groups • Triangle Residents Association • Mums & Tots • Making Tracks • Brownies
Al
n ke Dic
The Friends of Belstead Brook Park has been supported by the project and is ready to continue running itself with the support of the Greenways Project. The fledgling Friends of Alderman Canal will need support and guidance, but has a core group of volunteers committed to keeping it going.
Organisations wishing to run projects similar to a2nipswich will be able to work with The Greenways Project, Ipswich Wildlife Group and the Friends Groups, as well as CSV. Whilst lacking the resources to continue the a2nipswich project without dedicated funding, their experience and knowledge will be readily available to anyone seeking advice and guidance, as well as being potential partners to any funded project.
Pickwick Road
Film volunteers will continue to work with Ipswich Community TV, and to make their skills available to Friends Groups and other organisations. The radio team intend to continue broadcasting the weekly show, sharing and spreading nature information and news, and providing a voice to local organisations and groups. Many of our events, activities, photography and film volunteers have expressed interest in continuing to use their skills to benefit Greenways and the Friends Groups.
tween London Roa da d be nd ate itu D s s
d
The legacy of the project is in the pool of trained and motivated volunteers we leave behind.
Action Plan for the Triangle Wildlife Garden Es tat ei
Look to the future – Sustainability Plan
be continued by Greenways and others. Large family events such as bonfire parties, and nature based learning activities such as guided walks and woodland crafts, can be supported by the experienced volunteers that we have left behind, so continuing to attract and engage new people into the future.
re? The Trian Whe gle
outdoor activities, but there must be infrastructure to support the work – and that means funding.
Ro
ad
Crane Hall
4
21
A1
Autumn • Plant more bulbs. • Winter • Prune apple tree(s). • Prune shrubs, including buddleia. • Coppice dogwood (Feb or Mar) every one to three years. • Plant more hedge plants along left-hand side, including hazel, hawthorn and guelder rose. Optional Items Remove shrub directly in line with the gate to make access easier. Remove one or two of the tall silver birch trees in the centre (suggest retain at least one). Cut back cherry plum branches that overhang the path, to reduce fruit falling on the path. Cut down sycamore from behind cherry plum tree.
r e m Sum
Case Study
ASmceltlyivPeritfumiee s
I’m Ria, a 20 year old who works with children at a pre-school. I’ve mainly taken part in the A2N children’s activities as that’s where I feel as though I am most useful. I’ve been volunteering for about two years.
y
kemsle o l f y b
grass freshly cut smells, from ng scents to ith w e iv al e stro orld is ants produc an ever! e natural w summer, th pungent wild garlic. Pl er, they are smellier th During the mm e to su kl e uc th ys ng ne ri and sweet ho d other insects and du an attract bees
sm thingeslly !!!
What to do:
l smells.
more unusua
: What you need
1
d mortar me A pestle an g your perfu jar for storin jam A jug or Water gs! Smelly thin
ur garden or Hunt around your things like smelly things, local park for smelly trees, like pine strong smelling trees
4
sh u r c
2
me. y?! perfu r nast your e… o Bottle smell nic it Does
Crush up the pet als with a pestle and and leaves mortar to squeeze out the smells
3
I’ve learnt about insects, not sure it’s helped me to
Add som e water an d water yo u put in, the stronger the perfum e
Now, I feel a lot more motivated. I never really understood or cared for nature before - I admired it but that was about it! But now I’m more interested in it and protecting it. I’ve enjoyed helping others to get involved with nature even if it means them just enjoying and making the most out of what they have locally. I’ve been thinking of more activities to do with the children since I think it’s always good to educate the little ones when trying to educate a community!
sh!
berry & cherry
!
s!
ese potion
th on’t drink
D Warning:
warm up to them more however! Spiders will always be creepy things with 8 legs to me! I like bees more though and I’ve learnt more nature activities to do with children. It’s helpful since the natural work can really support children in their learning!
ma
e rose & pin
& grassberry black
!
moss & mint
!!!
When I was looking for work the Jobcentre recommended that I came to A2N. I needed more childcare related things on my C.V. and volunteering was more accessible than a job given my limited experience. I wasn’t sure at first, but I gave it a go anyway. I’m really glad I did as it helped me get the job I have now. It gave me more experience with children, showed that I’m dedicated enough to work in my own time and gave me references that I really needed. I don’t get as much time (and energy!) to volunteer as I work a lot now, but that’s also a positive thing for me. I still volunteer as much as I can.
es.org.uk
tectiv w.naturede eas, visit ww ! on For more id t ge u yo how Let us know
25
26 Thank you to the staff and volunteers of CSV Ipswich Media Clubhouse, where we made our home for the last 3 years, and to Giles at Natural England. Thank you to James, Peter and the volunteers of the Greenways Countryside Project, whose enthusiasm and legwork keep Ipswich the green and pleasant town that it is. Thank you to ICR for giving us a show, and letting us keep it! And thank you to all the organisations who have worked with us and had fun in the sun, and sometimes the rain and snow. Massive thank you to Steve, Jon and Flo for going over and above the call of duty at all times and delivering a fantastic project.
Finally, the biggest thank you of all goes to our outstanding team of volunteers. This whole project has been made possible by the energy, creativity and sheer hard work of our fabulous volunteers. They did all the conservation work, supported our events and activities, led guided walks, presented the radio show, put up marquees, spent hours filling little bags with compost, took photos, wrote articles for the newsletter, designed our posters, planted trees, collected litter, made films, designed our newsletter, carried out surveys, worked with us in schools, made bird boxes, and did the washing up! If we listed everything that volunteers have done on this project we’d need another 20 pages. We wish we could name you all but there isn’t room. You know who you are and each and every one of you is a superstar.
T hank you.
Credits: Report Design: Anthony King and Charles Matthews Poster Design: Richard Wendt
27