Langdyke currently own or manage land for seven nature reserves across the John Clare Countryside. We launched, in early spring, an exciting new project as part of the John Clare Countryside vision. You can help us to give nature a helping hand by creating a wildlife area in your garden. We’re campaigning to create an eighth reserve … and you can take part. This Community Nature Reserve – will be made up from a whole range of established and newly created wildlife gardening plots with the aim being to bring people together across the local community to promote wildlife friendly gardening, to give nature a chance to recover and to make it easy for everyone to get involved. Taking part is not difficult; it could be as simple as letting the grass grow in one area, putting up a bird box, planting some pollinator friendly plants or leaving a pile of wood for hedgehogs and other wildlife to live in. It doesn’t even have to be a garden – you could install a window box or put up a bird table.

If you would like to get involved just take a look at your garden. If you already have a wildlife friendly area and are already doing lots to help wildlife, that’s brilliant, it would be great to have that included in the reserve. If not, why not consider what you could do and start to plan what you would like to include in the area you pledge. Then measure the area and pledge it to our new wildlife gardening community as a little piece of our eighth reserve. There is no cost to you and your garden will still be your own, this has got nothing to do with ownership, you are simply choosing to support the project for as long as you wish. By pledging you are simply agreeing to manage your plot for the benefit of wildlife. This can be done in so many different ways and lots of ideas are already available on the Langdyke website and in short introductory youtube videos to various topics that will continue to be posted on line throughout the year. When you make your pledge you will receive a confirmation email welcoming you, this will have a certificate you can print off to show your friends and some extra information about the project. You should also start to feel rather excited about the fact that you now have a nature reserve right outside your window!

You can help by sharing information about the project on social media and good old-fashioned word of mouth. The more of us involved the better the outcome will be, and you get to experience the same warm feeling you got when you pledged all over again, knowing you are not only a steward of your own plot but also a champion for nature.

If you would like to make a pledge or find out more just visit our website at www.langdyke.org.uk. There you can find out all you need to know, additional sources of advice and updated news about other exciting projects Langdyke are undertaking in the area. Our Facebook page Langdyke Countryside Trust also can keep you up to date on what is happening and what is being seen in the John Clare Countryside.
At the time of writing this we have had 73 pledges totalling 12,850 square metres and are 24% of the way to our next target of a reserve the size of Queensgate. So please help us reach this milestone this spring.