Herefordshire charity 'delighted' to work alongside Hereford college to create new meadow to help nature
Herefordshire Meadows has been supporting Hereford College of Arts pupils who came up with the idea to make one on land out the front of their main campus building
A Herefordshire charity has teamed up with the county council and a higher education provider to help turn a public space into one which will be of benefit to nature.
Pupils at the Hereford College of Arts are working with Herefordshire Meadows to create a new wildflower meadow on the patch of land outside its main campus building.
The initiative has recently seen the students 'sow the seeds' on the Queen's Lawn, which will be managed by Herefordshire Council once it has all developed.
It's aiming to make it somewhere pollinators such as bumblebees and butterflies can use for food and as a habitat, while also helping improve air quality by filtering the pollutants.
Herefordshire Meadows' director Rory Johnson said it has been great watching how things have gathered pace to be at the point they're at now.
"We're really excited to be working with the Hereford College of Arts to transform the main lawn in front of their campus building into a nature-rich space right at the heart of the city.
"What's even more inspiring about this is that the initial idea was driven by the students themselves through that active sustainability group, so we're really delighted to be partnering with them."
He said the work is part of the charity's wider Meadow Connections project to bring nature closer to people across the county, which has been funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.
"We are working on sites in Ledbury, so we've created a meadow at Oatley's Meadow which is in the centre of Ledbury and are working with the Ledbury Community Hub there," Mr Johnson said.
"In Ross-on-Wye we've been working with the Ross Nature Recovery Group and the Ross Community Garden to transform Redwood Open Space into a new meadow.
"In Leominster we're working with the Larc Development Trust at their Pinsley Brook site, and the idea is to try and bring these nature-rich spaces into the main towns and cities."