Webheath Community Group
If we look close enough, we can find opportunities to support wildlife anywhere. For Brad and Claire, this was a roadside gated patch of land in Webheath, Redditch. The space, whilst overlooked by some, became a site of interest for the pair. Regularly passing the site on walks, they noticed that it was unused and, therefore, a great place to enhance for wildlife. Brad and Claire, both concerned about habitat loss and biodiversity decline in the UK, decided that this was an opportunity to take action and to give back to nature.
Brad and Claire attended the Headless Cross Orchard apple day in October 2023 and met Yasmina, the Trust’s Nextdoor Nature officer. They discussed the potential of developing and managing the site for wildlife. Yaz directed them to a habitat management course and with this new knowledge, planning for the project began.
Through gaining interest from local residents and arranging meetings, Brad and Claire formed a group. As a community they have decided on what to do with the space and put plans in place. They are yet to make any practical changes to the site but by undertaking ecological survey and monitoring work they have identified a healthy population of newts, which is one of the target species for the group to support through more sensitive and rotational habitat management.
By studying architecture, you start to look at buildings differently. The same happens when you start managing space for nature. You look at wild spaces differently.
Despite the pair already being knowledgeable about wildlife, Brad and Claire feel that by running this community group, their skills and confidence have grown. It has opened their minds to what is possible in even the smallest spaces and as a result, they have started to find potential everywhere they go. With some support and encouragement from Yaz, they have been able to overcome challenges, such as organising group activities and gaining permissions from the local council. They are proud to have brought people together, increasing the general awareness of wildlife and conservation in Webheath as a result.
They hope to keep developing and monitoring the site and are excited to see how wildlife benefits from their work. They also aspire for the community group to become more diverse; they acknowledge that an interest in conservation and wildlife is stereotypically linked to older people and are keen to change this perception. As young people themselves, they are eager to recruit others similar in age and to share their enthusiasm for the natural world with them.
Go for a walk and keep your eyes open.
