Nourish your wild side

We’re doing more to connect local people with local nature.

Lifelong Learning

We could all do with feeding our wild side. Our exciting new adult Lifelong Learning programme offers the opportunity to do exactly that through wildlife-related workshops, walks and talks, arts and crafts, heritage skills, and wellbeing sessions. Events take place across all five of our education centres and make use of our lovely facilities in peaceful surroundings. There’s something for everyone, so keep an eye on what’s being scheduled at bbowt.org.uk/events where you can filter by courses ‘suitable for adults’. Here are a few examples of what’s coming up.

Adult Pond Dipping

Join us at College Lake for an adult beginner’s workshop and fall in love with the wonderful creatures that live in our pond! Thurs 6 Apr.

Find out Fridays

Enjoy a nature stroll around College Lake Nature Reserve and find out more about the plants and animals encountered along the way. Fri 14 Apr.

Adult Workshop: Stick to Bread

Take the journey from foraging for fuel to baking your own bread on the campfire at the Sutton Courtenay Environmental Education Centre. Sat 15 Apr.

Botanical Illustration for Adults

All-day workshop at Woolley Firs. Join us for a day of botanical inspiration, delving into the anatomy of plants and brushing up on your drawing skills. Weds 19 Apr.

Steve Gozdz photography courses

Coming soon in Berkshire and Oxfordshire.

#teamWILDER

Discover more ways to get closer to nature. Join in at bbowt.org.uk/team-wilder

Nextdoor Nature

Our Nextdoor Nature project is helping green-fingered residents in Reading connect with nature and turn more areas of their town wild through a network of new natural spaces.

Neighbours in Southcote have been busy planting bee-friendly flowers and herbs in Coronation Square to boost local wildlife and bring their community together. Further plans are in the pipeline and the group hopes to complete a total of eight to ten similar projects with support, training and expert advice from BBOWT.

One of those involved is local postmaster and café owner Nahulasalingam Abiram: “This is a nice area with a massive multicultural community, and we want to build that community. We’re already growing, but this summer when we see the flowers it will really have that ‘wow factor’ –everyone will smile and it will create a great impression.”

As well as Coronation Square, BBOWT is working with

Newtown Community Garden’s ‘rewilding’ project on the other side of town as part of the National Lottery Heritage Fund-supported project. This spring Nextdoor Nature is also expanding to Slough as we look forward to working with ladies from the Ujala Foundation, a charitable Muslim organisation based at Manor Park Pavilion.

Find out more Nextdoor Nature is bringing communities together to help nature flourish where they live and work. To find out more about the project, or if you are interested in getting help with your community nature project, visit bbowt.org.uk/ nextdoor-nature-projects