environment

As you walk down Lymington high street, you'd be forgiven for not noticing the work that Solent Youth Action's vinvolved project volunteers have been doing over the past three months.

That's because they have been working tirelessly in the gardens of the United Reformed Church to clear what can only be described as the Jumanji jungle in preparation for it to become a community garden, complete with sensory garden, labyrinth, allotments, and play area.

Hidden behind the church near the basics bank hut, volunteers, church members and Elizabeth Lewis; a local councillor who has donated a whopping £500 to the project, have been clearing trees, saplings, brambles, weeds, nettles and the odd bone or two (yuck).

This project has been in the making for over a year now, and after dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, volunteers have been able to work on a project that they have had significant involvement in planning, and even more significant involvement demolishing (the various large trees, that is).

On 30th September 2010, Solent Youth Action will be running a Conservation Taster Day in Copythorne.

Are you interested in Conservation and Wildlife?

Do you want to work in a team?

Do you want to learn new skills?

Do you want to gain some work experience and give something back to your community through Volunteering?

Most importantly do you want to have some fun?

If the answer to any of the above questions is yes then we need you!

On 25th May 2010, a group of Take Action volunteers, took part in this years launch of the Annual Pumpkin Festival and were rewarded for their hard work, with a tour on board the Jubilee Sailing Trust's tall ship, Lord Nelson.

The volunteers have been helping out at the event for the last two years, and contribute their very own home-grow pumpkins, from the SYA allotment.

This year, they were amongst forty people at the Pumpkin Festival's main fundraising event, to be shown around the historic tall ship, moored at Southampton Docks

Five Solent Youth Action volunteers from across Hampshire got together last week and used their gardening skills to transform the Lee on the Solent Library garden from glum to glam!

The day started nice and early outside a sunny but very windy Lee-on-the-Solent Library in the ornamental garden. Volunteers were tasked with removing dead plants to make way for the new summer flowers. In the spirit of recycling, volunteers saved the bulbs that they dug up to reuse in the garden next spring.

Once the beds were cleared, we were allowed to get a bit creative and choose where each new plant would go. After finding the best places to plant everything, we gave the flowers a good watering and swept away all the debris.

As we were working, visitors to the library commented that our efforts had really brightened up the library front and should hopefully encourage more people to appreciate the garden and even come into the library.

After all the volunteers hard work in the garden we decided to set them their next task of helping Priddy's Hard Nature Reserve in Gosport with their willow problem.

The tree had overrun the site and so armed with our loppers we set about chopping as much of it down as possible.

Whilst we were chopping and dragging the willow branches around the reserve we were lucky enough to spot some unusual animals like lizards and birds of prey that call the Reserve their home.