First Ever Weekend Project in the UK!!

(In the picture: our volunteers behind the hedge)

I think it is safe to say that on the weekend of April 18^th twelve Concordia volunteers had a lot of fun! We had never run a weekend project before so it was very much an experiment to see if it would work…it did. We arrived at the RSPCA Mallydams Wood at about 4pm on Friday. The woods were absolutely beautiful with bluebells covering the floor, birds singing in the trees, and the accommodation was amazing – we were sleeping in beds!!!

After an introduction from the host, a talk by Concordia and a delicious dinner we kicked off the weekend in true Concordia style, silly games and a few beers before heading off to bed - in beds!!

Saturday was spent in the woods clearing Rhododendron to create a path that was to lead to the back of a new bird watching hide. The cut Rhododendron was then used to create a dead hedge running adjacent to the front of the hide so people could approach it without scaring the birds. The task was perfect as; it took a day to complete, we could see what we had achieved and was a lot of fun. We finished at around 4pm and took the opportunity to chill out while dinner was being cooked before heading out to go badger watching. We were promised the badgers would come but sadly the badgers had other ideas and ran off when they realised we were waiting for them – can’t have everything I guess. So we decided to play them at their own game and went off to have a camp fire instead!

Sunday morning was spent removing birch saplings and re-potting them for the RSPCA to sell on their open day in the summer - a great way to encourage people to plant a tree and also raise a bit of cash for the wildlife centre.

Then all too soon it was lunch and home time with new friends made and email addresses swapped. All in all a great weekend. See the photos at http://www.concordia-iye.org.uk/gallery.shtml

(Helen Pheasey, Concordia UK Programme Co-ordinator)

Weekend projects…Would you like to be involved?

We have another weekend project coming up from 26^th – 28^th June at The Green Centre in Brighton – no beds this time I am afraid but a great way to stay involved with Concordia without having to commit to 2 weeks. Check out the website or email helenpheasey@concordia-iye.org.uk for more info.