There are fairies in our woodland

The Pitch

Problem statement

We are working to restore an ancient woodland which is situated in the centre of the village and which is owned by the village back to its former glory. After many years of neglect, a great amount of restoration has been carried out by volunteers and now we are focusing on specific areas and trying to encourage the local children and toddlers to care for the environment by making the woodland appealing and exciting for them so that they want to spend more time in it with their parents. At present, it is mostly the older children who visit frequently and we feel that the woodland is a place where children can let their imagination run riot if the proper stimulus can be introduced to them.

Solution

Within the wood we have converted a fallen tree in a giant's seat and nearby there is also a very large tree which is called the magic tree because it groans when the wind is in the NW. We want to turn these areas into a Fairies Grotto with a seating area and wild flowers on the banking near by to encourage bees, butterflies and birds. Next to the giant's seat we are installing a seating area where children can meet for woodland craft sessions as well as being able to listen to animal stories based on life within the wood and next to the magic tree we are planning to install fairy doors and objects relating to fairies with a small seating area for the children and seating for adults.

Why are we best placed to deliver?

We have an excellent team of volunteers working hard to restore all of the woodland and the villagers support the work being done and what we hope to achieve in the future. Since work began on the restoration project we have planted 400 new trees with the help of the local school children and nurseries and, where a child has been too young to go to nursery or school we have invited the parents to bring their toddlers and plant a tree with them in the hope that the child will look after their tree. We have ordered a further 400 trees for the children to plant in an endeavour to teach the children that they should look after the countryside. Each week we see an increase in numbers of visitors.

Focus Areas

Delivery plan

Budget breakdown

Beneficiaries

480 people

Expected impact

We are anticipating that this will be an area where the children will want to come and play with their friends and learn at the same time. The children who visit the wood have already demonstrated that they have a vivid imagination as nearly every day we see examples of their time spent in the wood, from building dens, painting pebbles, building bridges and small fairy houses from old wood, making patterns with wood and old pieces of pottery which comes to the surface on the footpaths and even bringing their own little fairy objects which they put around the magic tree, We know that it will be well used by the younger uniformed groups, the nursery and junior school, the out of school club, the toddler's group as well as the village children too young to go to school and the hundreds of visiting children who come to the village each month. Plans are being made already for Treasure hunts, Halloween celebrations, Christmas, Story Telling by actors, brass rubbing and birthday parties.

Project updates (0)