Ben Hall/2020VISION
We've had a fantastic 6 months meeting groups across Guildford and Woking to find out how they'd like to take action for nature within their local areas. We've pulled together a few more project highlights - there was too much to celebrate in just one blog!
If you haven't read Part 1 yet, you can catch up here:
Surrey Wildlife Trust collaborated with North West Guildford 2030 and lecturers from the University of Surrey to deliver a Festival of Social Science at King's College Guildford. Students explored different environmental issues within their local area and developed their own research proposals.
Surrey Wildlife Trust introduced students to the impacts of the biodiversity and climate crisis both globally and locally. We also suggested some key nature-based solutions which could influence students' research proposals.
Groups presented their proposals and research posters to a panel of Surrey Wildlife Trust representatives.
We’ve been working with St Clare’s Church to gather local support for their community wildlife garden project. We created event flyers and dropped them off at local houses and businesses, while volunteers at St Clare’s put flyers into individual food packages which were distributed via the church food bank.
We hosted a listening exercise at the church and invited the local community – over 20 community members attended!
During the event, community members created their own bug hotels, taking them home to place in their gardens and on their balconies! As a result of the activity, the church gained two new volunteers who are excited to develop the community garden for wildlife.
We have a long way to go, but I am confident that we have started something that will only grow; we are very grateful to have SWT alongside us for the journey.
- Adrian Watts, Community Garden Project Lead
Surrey Wildlife Trust hosted an in-depth listening exercise at Camberley Mosque, creating a platform for Surrey Minority Ethnic Forum's Muslim Women Eco Warriors group to express their feelings and opinions on the green spaces within their local area.
We were joined by the talented Sam Church, a Graphic Facilitator based in Bristol. Sam created a visual representation of the discussion in the moment, representing the feelings, opinions and ideas circulated by the group during the session in a creative way.
We asked the group a series of questions and they wrote their responses onto individual leaves, creating a tree made up of their thoughts and feelings. Each group member was given the space to speak openly and be listened to, creating a collaborative environment.
While the group shared their thoughts, feelings and ideas, Graphic Facilitator Sam Church created a visual representation of their contributions which he later turned into a graphic artwork (below).
Watch Surrey Minority Ethnic Forum's Muslim Women Eco Warriors group talk about their feelings surrounding nature in the below video!
We're looking forward to continuing our work with existing community groups in 2023, while forming new partnerships with different communities across Guildford and Woking!
Want to get involved? Submit your application here:
P.S. Visit our Nextdoor Nature Storymap to keep up to date with the latest project updates.
Email Community Officer Billie Pearce at billie.pearce@surreywt.org.uk to find out more.
