Supporting conservation by volunteers

Grant of £4,500 awarded in 2023

Oxford Conservation Volunteers (OCV) have been engaged in the practical conservation, improvement and restoration of the natural environment of many of Oxfordshire’s special sites for 45 years. The purpose of their work is the long-term creation, restoration and maintenance of local natural habitats, improving biodiversity and sustainability. They achieve this through day-long volunteer work parties every Sunday of the year, and some Saturdays, at nature reserves around the county using their expertise and experience built up over the years, tools and enthusiastic volunteer labour.

We know how passionate OCV are about nature conservation, the natural habitat, sustainability and biodiversity. Their volunteers are all ages, come from all backgrounds and work with great commitment on all tasks. They get involved with a range of projects including traditional activities like hedge laying, coppicing, pollarding, scything, and conserving grassland by scrub clearance. They also know how to construct fences using posts and wire or rails, improve footpaths with steps and revetments, build boardwalks, create new hedges by tree planting, build and repair stones walls, carry out pond work, and maintain fens and reed beds. Volunteers will contribute to all such tasks, according to their inclination and ability, and they are a hardy bunch, going out in all weathers to tackle tough assignments and do a good job.

So, when OCV applied for a grant to buy new tools, we were delighted to help.

Garsington is getting greener

Grant of £4,290 awarded in 2023

Led by an environmental sub-group of the Parish Council, the Garsington Gets Greener project aims to create, enhance or restore areas of natural woodland within the village, improve biodiversity and create nature corridors for wildlife. 

 A grant of £4,290 from TOE’s Local Environment Fund, awarded in July 2023, is paying for over 1,000 trees and hedge plants plus water butts, the associated stakes and guards to ensure the new planting establishes well.  All the labour is being provided by volunteers from the village and the work is being phased over two planting seasons. 

 Now half way through the delivery phase, this project is proving to be very popular.  Last winter a group of 10-15 volunteers from Garsington’s Green Gym did all the preparation for and planting of the hedging.  So far, about 15 people have agreed to be Tree Adopters, helping to plant new trees and then taking on responsibility for their maintenance, including watering, monitoring for disease/damage etc.  The grant holder believes this large number of enthusiastic volunteers has worked well saying “It is often the case in village activities that it is the same old people doing the work.  Not the case here, I guess because the project is popular and the exposure at the Village Fete and regular updates on the village Facebook page, Garsington Greatness.”  She added, “We feel the Adopt-a-Tree scheme has been excellent and may well help other tree-planting projects.”

Hinksey Trail regeneration

Three grants since 2020 totalling £21,622

During the first Covid lockdown many people discovered lovely places close to home and the Hinksey Heights Nature Trail on the west side of Oxford was one of these previously little-known gems. The nature trail winds along a wooden valley through which a stream flows, bordered by a rare alkaline fen making it a hotspot for wildlife.

At the start, the team of volunteers aimed to relieve winter flooding on parts of the trail and replace sections of dilapidated boardwalk. Thanks to the grants from TOE and other sources including crowd-funding, much of this has been successfully completed. Although the team are following a policy of gradual replacement of unnecessary boardwalk stretches with sustainable surface treatments, significant lengths of path across wetland areas will need to be traversed via boardwalk sections.    

Grants fund the materials and all the practical work is carried out by the volunteers. They believe the key to their success has been ensuring that all volunteers are updated in real time with images of the work that has been completed, enabling everyone to share the achievements of individual work parties.  

They also recommend that all local groups build in social time to a work-party day (ie a drink and chips in the pub afterwards!) to build volunteer cohesion and loyalty to the project.

Our visit to the trail in April 2024

In April 2024, we took a trip to Hinkey Heights to check in on the progress of the boardwalk restoration, as well as the nature regeneration taking pace in the beautiful surrounding woodlands and waterways.

A volunteer, Mark, kindly gave us a tour of the trail. He shared that the volunteers had used the grants to buy new, more durable material for the boardwalks to ensure accessibility and safety for all who wish to enjoy its hidden magic. This durable material also ensures that the boardwalks won’t need replacing again for a considerable amount of time, limiting the use of resources.

Mark also explained how volunteers are working to restore large areas of alkaline fen; a distinctive habitat with a short, open structure made up of low-growing grasses, rushes and sedges, and a diversity of wetland wildflowers, growing over mats of colourful mosses. This vegetation greatly aids in absorbing excess water, and therefore acts as an excellent natural flood defence system. This is greatly needed in this part of Oxfordshire, which is particularly prone to flooding. Read more about this here.

Thank you to Hinksey Heights Nature Trail for having us!

A biodiversity boost for Island Pond Wood

Two grants totalling £18,390 awarded in 2022 and 2023

A grant from TOE is helping the Friends of Island Pond Wood to enhance the biodiversity of Island Pond Wood, a community woodland site in Launton, near Bicester.

The grant has funded capital works including pond creation, woodland thinning and grassland enhancement to provide opportunities for not only wildlife, but community engagement and education.

The grant holder told us “The funding that TOE provided has been fundamental in achieving our habitat management plans for the Island Pond Wood. The process has been well signposted, with great support throughout from Rachel and the team. We are already seeing the positive outcomes of the project – an established wildlife pond, thinned woodland with a newly developing understory and regenerated hedgerows bustling with life.”

The Friends are looking ahead to the next 20 years of management to secure a place of solace and nature-based wellbeing for present and future residents. With development on the increase locally, the value of green spaces like Island Pond Wood is more important than ever.

Enhancing The Playclose, Blewbury

Two grants totalling £9,038, awarded in 2022 and 2023

The Playclose is an attractive area of about an acre in the centre of Blewbury village, with a chalk stream running along two sides and two footpaths crossing it. There is no vehicular access - the area is approached by four footpaths to the north, east, south and west.  Used by the whole community, The Playclose is an important right of way connecting all sides of the village, is accessible 24 hours a day by footpaths. Being central to the village, an estimated 100 people pass through the Playclose daily as it connects the church, the school, the village hall, the pubs and many other aspects of village life.  

Two grants from TOE have funded important enhancements - the boundary hedge has been laid and existing narrow footpaths have been sensitively widened to 1m to increase accessibility especially for wheelchairs and pushchairs, ensuring this special part of the village is in the best condition to provide access and enjoyment now and for generations to come.

P3 - People, Plants, Pollinators

Grant of £6,565 awarded in 2022

The P3 project has permanently enriched four of the entrances to Headington Hill Park in Oxford by introducing a wide variety of flowering plants in style and scale with their surroundings. The plants were selected to attract pollinators and with bird and insect life in mind – berries, seed heads, winter cover, leaf litter – and the need for only minimal after-care.

Much of the new planting was done by children from the local schools, East Oxford Primary School and Magdalen College School, as well as the 10th Oxford Beavers, Cubs and Scouts.

The volunteer ranger from the Friends of Headington Hill Park who is leading the P3 project told us “Many members of the public have expressed huge enthusiasm, encouragement and interest, always grateful, and leading to plenty of lively exchanges.  The project is proving fantastic!”

Standlake Nature Recovery project

Grant of £1,220 awarded in 2021

Seed Dispersal

This project has increased biodiversity within the village of Standlake by creating a wildflower network, installing nest boxes and habitat for birds, bats and bees and providing opportunities for residents to engage with nature in their local area through events and volunteering.

The project was delivered by 15 volunteers from the Lower Windrush Valley Project.  Over a year, they prepared the wildflower bank, scarifying it before broadcasting seed by hand; grew on plug plants over winter before planting them in the spring; and received wildflower ID training to enable them to survey the area in June.  In addition, bird, bat and insect boxes were erected.  The bird boxes were monitored and nestlings ringed in May.  In August, the wildflower area was cut and the arisings removed. 

All projects have highs and lows and this was no exception. The grant holder reported that scarifying the wildflower bank had been much harder work than anticipated, so took longer than expected, requiring additional volunteer work parties.  However, the team has been very pleased with the success of the bird nest boxes installed at the church, recreation ground and school. Three different species nested in the seven boxes in the first year, 16 young ringed and 10 young fledged.

Upton Nature Garden

Grant of £3,624 awarded in 2021. Total project cost £7,374

This community project has transformed a disused playpark by Upton village hall into a wildlife haven planted with native bulbs, perennials, shrubs, hedges and trees. 

The community group aimed to improve biodiversity by providing new habitat and to create a space where villagers could relax and observe (or study) wildlife.  They also wanted to give villagers a focus for volunteering to build their sense of community and encourage activity to counter the effects of climate change. 

Over the course of the project, they have observed target species such as bees and a mistle thrush in the nature garden.  They are seeing garden visitors walking through the pathways and exploring the habitats like the insect hotel.  Both adults and children are asking questions about the site and what they find there which is consistent with the group’s objective to create a space for observing wildlife. 

 Photos of volunteers getting stuck in and muddy are online.

Bridge Street Garden, Banbury

Two grants, in 2021 and 2023, totalling £13,560

Using their grants from TOE, Banbury CAG have built nine new hexagonal raised beds in the Bridge Street Community Food Forest.

Eight of the new beds have been planted with pollinator-friendly shrubs and one is a wildlife pond. As well as acting as a focus for knowledge and inspiration to encourage others to make their own wildlife havens in gardens, allotments, planters and window boxes across the town, the garden provides a wildlife friendly oasis in the middle of town, making a real difference to the local natural environment.

Although the group originally planned to make the raised beds from scaffold planks, TOE recommended they use boards made from recycled plastic for their durability and greater longevity, and increased the grant award accordingly.

The garden is located right in the heart of Banbury, very close to the train station, right next to two busy bridges, and a hectic junction. The design of the community garden is modular so that new raised beds can be constructed as and when funds become available.

Winter update

Thank you to Banbury CAG for sending us an update on their community project. They are working on their wildlife-friendly pond in harsh conditions!

We love hearing from our grant-holders who are devoted to Oxfordshire’s environment. Here’s what Banbury CAG has said about their work in December, 2022:

Thank you so much to the 21 brave community volunteers who helped us with our wildlife-friendly pond on Sunday, despite the snow and icy conditions. 

We will invite you to add more native plants to the pond later in the spring. This was just the start! 

This project has been possible thanks to a Trust For Oxfordshire’s Environment grant with funding from Grundon Waste Management Ltd through the Landfill Communities Fund. 

Thank you also to Wild Banbury for their advice and practical support.

Emmer Green Recreation Ground hedge restoration

Two grants totalling £2,936 awarded in 2021 and 2023

This project restored a sadly neglected hedge along a busy boundary of this popular recreation ground.

There was not a ‘one size fits all’ option so different sections of the hedge were restored in different ways. The hedge was not suited to hedge-laying but sections which were thriving were retained while other stretches were replaced. A mix of native hedge plants were used to rejuvenate the hedge including hawthorn, blackthorn, field maple, holly and guelder rose - mainly whips but some more established container grown plants. New mesh fencing was installed to secure the park and protect the new plants until the hedge matures.

The first phase of the project in 2021 was very popular and 26 local volunteers were involved, working 160 hours over the four days of preparation and planting. Since then, a team of volunteers have been regularly watering, each responsible for a section, providing vital after care during the 2022 drought. Although there can be risks associated with urban projects, in this case the location in the centre of the community has helped.

In the second phase, the gaps in the hedge along Kidmore End Road will be filled during the autumn/winter of 2023.

Barracks Lane Community Garden

Three grants in 2020, 2022 and 2023 totalling £11,815

Built on the site of some abandoned garages, the wonderful Barracks Lane Community Garden shows how much joy a productive garden with vegetables, fruit and flowers brings to the local community who love this East Oxford oasis.  

To hear about how the garden started, the wide range of activities they now offer and the versatility of the garden, reaching and engaging with the community in many different ways, listen to this podcast, presented by Dr Caroline Wood from the University of Oxford.

Bee Healthy

£500-£1,000 for each Bee Healthy garden

Thanks to TOE grants, six amazing gardens have been created at local NHS sites, designed to be havens for both bumblebees and people. Each site now hosts a wealth of pollinator-friendly and nectar-rich plants, such as lavender and hyssop, providing much needed habitat.

The Bee Healthy gardens are doing well and are much appreciated, as demonstrated by feedback from the Summertown Health Centre during the coronavirus lockdown. “The bee garden is really coming alive, and is a source of great enjoyment every morning when we come into the surgery. Lots of people have commented on the flowers appearing. Especially in these strange times, it provides a nice distraction and a reminder of the natural world, oblivious to it all.”

Three of the gardens were part of our ‘Bee Healthy Project’, part-funded by the Postcode Local Trust and Smiths of Bletchington. Our thanks to them and also to Craig Blackwell, the inspiration behind this project, to Roselle Chapman and Ann Berkeley at Wild Oxfordshire, and to the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare.

If this case study has inspired you to replicate this fabulous project, download the Bee Healthy Project Guide for more information and apply for a grant.

West Lockinge Community Garden

Grant for £530 awarded in 2019 (with additional funding from the charity Parkinsons.Me )

An existing community garden has been improved by the creation of a new pond surrounded by nectar-rich plants, with adjacent “bug hotel”.  A wildlife area has been landscaped and planted, the project has installed bat boxes, bug hotels, bird feeders and nest boxes.  Trees have been planted along a wooded walk, whilst footpaths have been improved. 

The community garden has been made more accessible and welcoming for both the local community and wildlife, and volunteers now have regular workdays. 

Biodiversity in the garden has improved, with sightings of more birds, frogs and small mammals (including a weasel).  

Cuttlebrook Footbridge

Grant of £5,000, awarded in 2013

Thame’s Cuttlebrook Nature Reserve provides a valuable green space in the town, somewhere for local people to enjoy and wildlife to thrive. 

The grant from TOE funded the materials for a sturdy new footbridge, designed and built by local volunteers, which is accessible to all and improves links with local rights of way. 

South Chilterns Path Maintenance Volunteers

The Chiltern Society’s group of South Chilterns Path Maintenance Volunteers (SCPMV) is a well-supported volunteer group which improves local rights of way in parishes in the South Oxfordshire part of the Chilterns National Landscape (formerly known as the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty).

Over the years, the SCPMV has replaced over 400 stiles with gates making access to the countryside easier. TOE has funded more than 75% of these via applications submitted by the volunteers on behalf of The Chiltern Society. Typically each grant replaces about 10 stiles to create stile-free circular walks close to a village. The routes invariably pass a pub so walkers can stop for refreshments on the way, or build up an appetite for a meal afterwards.

The volunteers also undertake scrub clearance when rights of way become overgrown on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council. Wanting to reduce their carbon footprint, the volunteers are updating their equipment and TOE has also provided funding for battery operated brushcutters.

We know a lot of time goes into preparing the grant applications submitted by the group who often need permission from several neighbouring landowners. The Grant Panel consider their applications to be excellent as SCPMV projects demonstrate partnership work involving contributions from the landowners, Oxfordshire County Council’s Public Rights of Way team and often the Parish Council.

TOE believes that community groups like the South Chilterns Path Maintenance Volunteers play a vital role in keeping rights of way open and accessible.  Projects delivered by the SCPMVs are good value for money as the only costs are for materials as the work is undertaken by their skilled team of volunteers.  

West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Group

Five grants since 2018 from the TVERC Recorders’ Fund totalling £6,763

Established in 2016, the West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Project monitors farmland bird populations and is helping to turn around the declines of key farmland bird species in West Oxfordshire (Tree Sparrows, Skylarks, Yellowhammers and Corn Buntings). This effort includes using bird ringing surveys, nest recording and observational surveys to monitor the status of farmland bird populations and reporting back to farmers and landowners with ideas for how the habitat and management can be improved. The number of landowners and farmers they work with has grown from three in 2016 to over 20 now.

The TOE grants awarded have funded ringing and survey equipment for the volunteers involved with this group. Equipment includes mist nets and poles, and, most recently, a contribution towards a thermal imaging camera.

Thermal imaging now allows the volunteers to conduct surveys of species that are difficult to monitor accurately during the day. For instance, Snipe, Jack Snipe, Woodcock, Skylarks and Corn Buntings remain incredibly well hidden in low vegetation until flushed at close proximity making it difficult to conduct daytime observational counts without causing a degree of disturbance to the birds. However, thermal camera can pick up the heat from such species when hiding and foraging in low vegetation thus allowing them to be counted from a distance without causing birds to flush from their foraging or roosting sites. This also applies to observational counts at night where using torches can cause disturbance to roosting or foraging.

The West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Group told us that

“The TVERC Recorders’ Fund grant has been fundamental in the setting up and development of the West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Project.

Without the funds provided by TOE, we would not have been able to conduct the extensive bird survey work we currently undertake over a large part of Oxfordshire. Thanks to the survey equipment funded through the funding from TOE we have been able to gain an incredible insight into the health of our farmland bird populations and discover fascinating behaviours of a many of our fastest-declining farmland birds.

The main aim of this survey work has been to provide farmers and landowners with real time data on the state of their farmland birds and, thereby, help inform conservation efforts at a farm, local and regional scale.

There is always more work that can be done but, so far, with the funding and support from TOE, we have made great steps in involving farmers and landowners more closely in conservation efforts of farmland birds in Oxfordshire. As a result, we are beginning to see positive signs of increases in the farmland bird populations at many of our study sites.”

Heritage Community Orchard, Deddington

Grant of £2,167 awarded in 2021

The Community Orchard at Clifton near Deddington is one of a dozen orchard projects funded through TOE’s Local Environment Fund.

Volunteers from Deddington Environment Network have planted 15 heritage fruit and nut trees and hundreds of spring bulbs on a site donated by the Deddington Parish Council. Watch this short video filmed during the community planting day in October 2021.

As well as the trees themselves, the grant awarded to Deddington Parish Council included training to equip the volunteers with the knowledge and skills to care for the trees as they grow.

Hinksey Heights Fen Restoration

Two grants totalling £15,890 awarded in 2018 and 2020

The Freshwater Habitats Trust is working with volunteers to carry out a large multi-year, multi-site project to restore rare fen habitat in Oxfordshire.   

Three principal tasks have been undertaken at Hinksey Heights (west of Oxford) since the project started in 2018: baseline assessment survey (of habitats, water quality, vegetation and invertebrates); volunteers have been trained in how to use scythes, fen plant identification and monitoring; and crucial habitat management.  As part of the management at this site, there has been regular clearance of vegetation including willow scrub, bramble, reeds and tall herbs.  Once cut, the areas are then scythed and raked regularly to emulate traditional management. 

A dam has been built of timber and brushwood to enlarge the fen and typical fen species previously not present (including marsh lousewort, parsley water dropwort and bog pimpernel) have been introduced to promote fen habitat. Repeat vegetation surveys have demonstrated the positive impact of the work so far. 

Work at the site has been undertaken by skilled contractors working with a dedicated team of volunteers who attend regular monthly workdays.

Rycote Meadow, Thame

Two grants totalling £1,483 awarded in 2021 and 2024

Volunteers from Thame Green Living are delivering this ambitious project to enhance Rycote Meadow for wildlife, with advice and practical help from the Cuttlebrook Conservation Volunteers and 21st Century Thame.  .

After two years of detailed preparation, the first phase of work was completed in November 2021 when over 30 volunteers from the local community, including the Mayor and a couple of councillors from Thame Town Council, planted 29 trees and a new hedge of 700 whips (about 120m of double-width hedge) on the western perimeter of this riverside meadow, next to the Cuttlebrook Nature Reserve. 

During 2024, the next phase of this conservation project will be to dig of a scrape to provide a variety of wetland habitats enabling new species to establish.  The work will be undertaken by volunteers advised by River Thame Conservation Trust.

When the scrape is finished, the second grant awarded by TOE will contribute towards the cost of a hard-wearing and accessible footpath which will be fenced to protect flora and wildlife and will include a section of boardwalk across a part susceptible to flooding.  This will give the general public access across the meadow while restricting access to the precious grassland by people and dogs thereby protecting its special wildlife.

This fascinating project to promote biodiversity and protect a valuable nature corridor began with some ground tidying and preparation before selective planting. This had been preceded by an expert assessment of wildlife, birds, and established plants already present in the meadow. Ultimately the project will incorporate a pleasant footpath connection from Thame Meadows to and from the Town Centre, providing a tranquil location for all to enjoy the river and meadow location. The project will be phased over the next 24 months with access gate, ramp and path. Whilst work is progressing the organisations involved will share the latest news via www.thamegreenliving.org.uk  website and social media so please watch for developments. The site will not be open to the public until all this work is completed, and we’d request anyone interested simply to watch from the roadside to ensure there is minimal disturbance to the highly sensitive water meadow.
 
If you would like to become involved in the next stages of the project, please contact Charles Boundy of Thame Green Living or Andrea Oughton at Thame Town Council.

Saving the Lady orchid

Grant of £2,590 awarded in 2021. Total project cost £4,432

Lady Orchid is one of our rarest orchids: outside its Kentish stronghold, the species is known from just three native colonies, totalling 32 plants since 2010.  A colony of plants was discovered in Oxfordshire in 1961 and represents one of the most northerly in Europe.  By 2019, just five plants survived at this secret location, though none was ‘strong’ enough to flower.  As a species of well illuminated woodland, the lack of management here was deemed the problem. 

With the landowner’s permission, a small team of dedicated botanists have undertaken appropriate habitat management and carried out hand pollination of flowers to ensure good seed set and revive the population.  The TOE grant addressed the remaining problem – predation by rabbits and deer – by erecting a deer fence to project the orchids during the population’s recovery phase. 

As a result, the number of Lady Orchid plants continues to grow and the success of this project has helped unlock a grant of £51,000 from Natural England for further works at this and other Lady Orchid sites in England.