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Digging in for a greener garden

8:15am Wednesday 14th May 2008

Volunteering can be life-changing. Not only do those who put themselves forward to help with different activities learn new skills and make new friends, they often end up changing jobs, even lifestyles.

Across the country, around one in ten volunteers choose to give time to help the environment.

Various groups, such as the Friends of Heaton Graveyard, above, give people the chance to do this - one being the national environmental volunteering campaign run by CSV (Community Service Volunteers) Action Earth, the UK's largest volunteering charity. Last year more than 15,500 people took part in 750 CSV Action Earth projects in the UK - a number of them in Bradford - giving more than 300,000 volunteering hours, planting more than 4,000 trees, collecting almost 7,000 sacks of litter, cleaning 7,000 metres of riverbed and improving 2,000 acres of land.

Volunteering is not only good for the environment, but is good for your health too. Research has shown that more than 60 per cent of people volunteering in environmental and conservation projects claim it helped them combat stress.



One spring morning in an Oxenhope churchyard, members of the local community got together.

Armed with spades, hoes, forks and all manner of gardening equipment, they tackled an overgrown area, clearing brambles and other invasive plants.

"This large area has been completely taken over by plants," says Bryony Partridge, co-ordinator of the project, which began 16 months ago. "There is ivy, bracken and self-seeded sycamores and brambles smothering everything.

"We are replanting the area with native species which are particularly friendly to birds, bees and butterflies - trees and hedge plants such as hawthorn, elder and dogwood.

"Other little self-seeded trees such as holly will be left, or replanted if they're growing in a vulnerable area."

The churchyard, surrounding Christ Church on Colne Road, sits on two levels. The volunteers planted a hedge of native species to separate the two. "There will be an arch going from one to the other, with steps down," says Bryony. The long-term project to clear the area is pulling together sections of the community who may otherwise never meet.

"We have a lovely mix of volunteers, from young children who come along with their parents, to people in their sixties. Everyone who comes seems to thoroughly enjoy all the activities."

The event - which aims to improve access and enjoyment of the churchyard while also retaining a wildlife haven - was a success, and is to be repeated as work goes on. It is one of a series of environmental activities across the Bradford district involving CSV Action Earth.

This year, the environmental volunteering campaign began in March and is running until July 31. The organisation links with local companies to give grants for environmental projects. Appeals for volunteers is made on the CSV website.

For the second year running, Bradford-based Morrisons is supporting the campaign, giving grants to 900 voluntary groups across the country to help kick start community projects.

"More than one in ten volunteers choose to give time to help the environment," says a Morrisons spokesman. "We think CSV Action Earth offers an opportunity to support big ideas by local people keen to make changes for the better where they live."

At Christ Church in Oakworth, last year's £50 grant helped enormously, paying for hedging plants. This year, they are hopeful of further funds, which will be equally useful.

"It is a church project. We have a lot of expenditure on the upkeep of the building, so there isn't a lot of cash left - grants like these are very useful. It is a large area, and our manpower is limited, so we do a little at a time."

They were alerted to CSV Action Earth by staff at the Forest of Bradford, who have helped, as has the local Scout group. "We always need volunteers to help, and the CSV website is a great way of letting people know what is happening."

Events on the website are listed in alphabetical order with clear, concise details of projects taking place each month. The information includes when the event is happening, what it is about, what to bring and wear, and what will be provided. There is also information on wheelchair access and the number of volunteers needed. Contact telephone numbers for those running the projects are also provided.

Mike Williams, director of CSV Environment, says: "Helping the environment can seem like a monumental task, but volunteering in you local community, whether collecting litter, planting trees or clearing up an untidy area is something we can all do.

"We believe that local people are best placed to decide what needs doing in their area and thanks to the Morrisons grants they can now do something about it."

CSV Action Earth has also been involved in the launch of a nature and history trail at Heaton Graveyard in Highgate, Heaton.

For the past year, members of the friends of Heaton Graveyard Community Project have been working on a nature/history trail through the formerly overgrown site, linking up with the village and woodland area.

This year, they launched the project at an open day, with talks, guided walks and refreshments. The event, in April, was launched by former Lord Mayor of Bradford Stanley King.

Volunteers will prepare the site, arrange planting and greet visitors,' says the entry on the CSV website. Other work included helping to put up bat and bird boxes and clearing rubbish."

"This is the third year we have registered with CSV," says Margaret Gray, volunteer contact with Friends of Heaton Graveyard Project. "The grants are extremely useful, and it is beneficial to be on the website."

She added that recruiting volunteers can be difficult, so any publicity is helpful. "People tend not to volunteer as readily as they have done in the past. They have so many commitments. It is difficult to get people to come out on a Saturday morning, but anyone looking at the Action Earth website is looking to be an environmental volunteer, so it's a good place to be if we want people to come along."

Other schemes that have taken place across the Bradford district include a recycling project at People First, a centre for adults with learning difficulties in Keighley, bat boxes in woodland areas in Bradford, a compost scheme at Cullingworth Primary School and Operation Come Back Robin', an activity organised by Low Moor Primary School to encourage robins and other wildlife back to the area after shrub clearance.

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