20 Years of David Bellamy Gold. The Orchards park gained it’s 20th consecutive award for conservation. We were also awarded the Woodlands Conservation, Going Green Together and the Bee Friendly park. Comments included “I am pleased that you continue to have such a strong commitment to all things environmental” “The pitch size is very generous which allows the residents plenty of space to flex their green fingers” “There is a great variety of shrubs and plants in the gardens which provide an additional habitat for wildlife” “The woodland and meadow paths allow residents to have easy access around the site and is unsurprisingly, very popular”
Category: Park News
New trees
26 tree saplings have been planted around the perimeter of the field to continue our commitment to the environment. These include a grove of native beech trees which have been kindly donated, and in a few years will provide a habit for butterflies and birds. Other trees planted include hazels, larch and spindles.
Environmental and Charitable work
The park continued its environmental and charitable work, recycling thousands of green milk bottle tops helping local charities, planting more trees, and bee friendly plants in our gardens. We continued to raise money for LIVES (Lincolnshire Integrated Voluntary Emergency Service) through the lottery and donations of rhubarb, fruit, tomatoes, flowering plants and books.
David Bellamy Gold Award
We have been awarded another Gold Award. David Bellamy wrote to say “it gives me great pleasure to let you know that your park has been awarded a Gold David Bellamy Conservation Award for 2018/19, I’d like to take this opportunity to say “thankyou” for all the hard work you’ve put in. The residents have lovely gardens with a wide range of flowers, trees and shrubs.” This year as part of the external assessment we were awarded the Wildflower Habitat Badge.
Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
As per recommendation from Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, we organised a local farmer to cut and bail the meadow. The purpose of this is to reduce the nutrients on the meadow, which then encourages more wildflowers the following year. Eighteen large bales of top quality hay have been made.
Hedgehog Hotels
We have built 5 Hedgehog hotels from recycled materials we had on the park. They have been given to residents to provide accommodation to our spiky friends.
David Bellamy Gold Conservation Award
The Orchards Park has won another year of the David Bellamy Gold Conservation Award, making 18 consecutive years. The Park is independently visited and assessed each year to establish whether it is to be awarded Gold. It is the consistent efforts of everyone on the park that helps achieve the award through gardens, comments and pictures. David Bellamy commented “Let me take this opportunity to thank you and your team for all the hard work you have put in to make your park a real haven for wildlife and to go the extra mile to ensure that it is sustainable and a good neighbour to the local community. I am delighted that your residents thoroughly enjoyed making bird boxes and I look forward to hearing how successful they are! Of all the wonderful projects you’ve put in place, I am particularly impressed by your wildflower banks; they sound amazing. Let me finish by saying “congratulations” once again on your achievement”
Safe place to Live
The Orchards Park is within North Kesteven District Council area, and it has retained its title as the safest place to live in England and Wales for a fourth year running. Figures for the 12 months up to last April show that as a proportion of population size, there were fewer crimes committed in the area than anywhere else in the country
ANOTHER LIVES DONATION
We have raised a further £1000 for LIVES (Lincolnshire Intergrated Voluntary Emergency Services) with the ongoing support and help of the residents. This brings the total donated by the park and residents to £13,000. We asked residents to choose what the £1000 goes to • LIVES Ruskington new Responders Training • LIVES medic “covert blue lights” fitted to a car • Training to provide advanced care by Senior Medics The votes were cast and the majority of replies favoured the further £1000 being spent on training for six more First Responders who are local to the Ruskington area. An afternoon tea party was held in March to introduce the new responders and a senior member of LIVES gave us a talk on “What happens after an emergency call is made?”
Birds Nests
The Residents have been very busy making a total of 24 bird boxes ready for a variety of birds who will hopefully make them their home this spring. Everyone said they enjoyed making the nest boxes and these were available to anyone who wanted one for their garden. Spare boxes have been distributed around the adjoining meadow. A group photo was taken of the box builders and this in turn had been featured, with a write-up in the Park Homes Magazine for March. LIVES (Lincolnshire Integrated Voluntary Emergency Service) The votes have been cast and the majority of replies favoured the further £1000, raised for LIVES, being spent on training for six more First Responders who are local to the Ruskington area. An afternoon tea party is scheduled for March to introduce the new responders. A senior member of LIVES will also give us a talk on “What happens after an emergency call is made?”