St. Nicholas Church (Swayfield) September 2011

The dry-stone wall bounding the footpath entrance to St. Nicholas Church had been slowly crumbling and falling for several years. Inevitably the cost seemed to be prohibitive and nothing was done.

However, mainly through the determination of Amanda Jenkins, the Parochial Church Council managed to secure a "Community Wildlife Grant" from County Council that, together with funds already raised and donated, enabled them to engage the services of Derek Barnett a dry-stone wall builder from .

Derek Barnett, ably assisted over a three-week period by John Schorah, Alison Bairsto, Richard Morgan, Mike Rowe and Graham Jenkins, completed the wall by 6th March.

After taking the existing wall apart, stone by stone, the team of volunteers separated the re-useable material from the rubbish. The majority of stone was reclaimed and used to rebuild. Around three tonne of new, similar stone was purchased to complete a small section of wall at the Church end and for a complete row of coping-stones to top the forty two metre length.

Although the work was physically demanding, involving a lot of lifting, carrying, shovelling and barrowing no injuries were sustained by the Team other than aching limbs and sore fingers. There were of course numerous coffee breaks, lots of cake and biscuits and plenty of good- humoured banter and laughs.

Throughout the project there were several visitors including Reverend Margaret Barton who gave her support and encouragement and Sarah, Landlady of “The Royal Oak”, who presented a donation of £253 towards the project from a recent “Race Night” event at the pub.

The wall will be "dedicated" by the Rev. Barton during the Church Service on Sunday 22nd April at 9-30am.

Nettleham Woodland Trust

Founded in 2006, the Nettleham Woodland Trust was formed with the long-term objective of providing the people of Nettleham and the neighbouring villages with a much-needed amenity for recreational purposes, including walking, bird watching, horse riding, cycling and education and at the same time encouraging a greater diversity and richer variety of wildlife in the local environment.

Nettleham Woodland Trust has gone from strength to strength and in 2009 began work to create Monks Wood. More than 20,000 trees have been planted in the woodland, which spreads across 35 acres in Ashing Lane Nature Reserve, Dunholme.

The Trust has received 3 Lincolnshire County Council Community Wildlife Grants of £500 each. The grants have been used to create a tree nursery which is accessible for wheel chairs, wildflower planting around a new pond and wildflower seed for woodland paths. In addition the Trust have received substantial funding from WREN, Lincolnshire Co-op and the lottery.

Lincoln Conservation Group

The Group was formed in 1994 and is affiliated to TCV (The Conservation Volunteers). They carry out practical nature conservation work in and around Lincoln, helping to conserve the natural history and biodiversity of the area, and having fun at the same time!

They are volunteers who come from all sorts of backgrounds and span all ages. The group meet twice a month undertaking a range of conservation activities such as coppicing, hedge laying, tree and hedge planting, woodland management, grassland management, dry stone walling, pond restoration and construction work. They work with a range of organisations such as Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, City of Lincoln Council, Lincolnshire County Council, Natural and the Forestry Commission.

The Lincoln Conservation Group has received 3 Lincolnshire County Council Community Wildlife Grants of £500 each. As it's completely a volunteer organisation running cost are minimal, but we have provided funding for tools, equipment and somewhere to store them.

FLINDERS FOUNDERS TEEN PARK WILDLIFE PROJECT

Flinders Founders is a community managed teen park in Donnington. The group applied for a Community Wildlife Grant following in Bloom judges' comments that the area lacked wildlife interest. Following a visit and advice from Lincolnshire County Council Environmental Services a plan was drawn up plant wildflowers, flowering shrubs, create insect garden and put up nest boxes. The grant application was successful and member of the group could begin work.

Teenagers started by clearing an area for a wildflower garden and sectioned it off with logs to provide an environment for insects and fungi then planted many bulbs. Over the winter they put down building sand, rubble and poor soil to try and make the soil better for wildflowers. In April they held a gardening day to plant wildflower seeds ready for the summer.

They also bought native trees and shrubs which were planted around the perimeter of the Teen Park. This included Cotoneaster, Buddlea, Dog wood, Dog roses, Wild roses and Viburnum. Members of Flinders Founders did all the work themselves - digging holes, composting and planting.

Along one side of the Teen Park cowslips and primula were planted.

Using the template provided by the RSPB the group bought and cut the wood for bird boxes. They then put them together having great fun at the same time.