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Prospects

Hyndburn's Community-Owned Environmental Charity

Hyndburn’s Nature Reserves

Butterfly Bank September 2025 Update

Posted on Posted in Hyndburn's Nature Reserves, News, Peel Park Pollinators at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR

Bank bursting with bees and butterflies!

From a patch of grass to a bank bursting with wildflowers, Pleck Meadow's butterfly bank has come a long way in just one year!
Constructed in September 2024, the bank was installed to support native wildflowers and basking invertebrates (primarily butterflies) as it heats up better with its low-nutrient limestone slopes. The bank had a rough start following seed sowing and plug planting in Spring 2025 as we had one of our driest springs ever! Despite this hardship, the bank sprang to life in late summer and some species have already become well-established such as Black Knapweed, Kidney Vetch, Wild Carrot, Yarrow, Self-heal, Ox-eye Daisy, Scarlet Pimpernel, Viper's Bugloss, Wild Basil, and more! This wide range of wildflowers will be supporting all sorts of insect life with their pollen and nectar.
Thank you to our Hyndburn's Nature Reserves volunteers who helped with seed sowing and weeding throughout the year, and to Peel Park Primary School who helped us with planting and sowing in the spring!
Soon, the bank will have its vegetation cut back and removed to mimic the natural process of herbivory to avoid nutrient build up. The perennial wildflowers will come back even better next year!
For more info about practical conservation ongoing at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR, please contact robert.gabryszak@prospectsfoundation.org.uk.

 

Before and After Construction
Black Knapweed
Peel Park Primary School Seed Sowing & Plug Planting
Ox-eye Daisy
Weeding with Volunteers

A big thank you to our funders for making this possible!

The bank's construction was possible due to funding from Lancashire Wildlife Trust (Lancashire Environmental Fund & National Highways) and the Windfall Fund.

Amphibian Update Pleck Meadow 2025

Posted on Posted in Hyndburn's Nature Reserves

Following the success of last years frogs, toads, and newts at Pleck Meadow’s Wetlands, we are excited again this year to see amphibian activity in the ponds.

PROSPECTS and volunteers are working hard to manage the ponds by reducing invasive weeds, preventing the establishment of Himalayan Balsam, removing litter, increasing wildflower species, and preventing overflows during severe weather.

How you can help amphibians at Pleck Meadow:

  1. Do not let dogs in any ponds as they can trample the spawn/tadpoles and also leech pesticides into the water from flea/tick treatments.
  2. Do not walk or wade in the ponds.
  3. Report non-native species.
  4. Do not litter.

Thank you for treating the wildlife ponds with respect.

Friends Of Arden Hall & the Coppice – March 2025 Meeting

Posted on Posted in Hyndburn's Nature Reserves, Pleck Meadow

As part of the new Hyndburn’s Nature Reserves project, PROSPECTS is looking to kickstart the return of the Friends of Arden Hall & the Coppice community group with the support of local project officer, Robert. The group has been responsible for a number of improvements at the site since its conception and will do so for many more years providing the continued support of the local community.

We are hoping to have an in-person meeting in March 2025 to discuss the future of the group and get activities up and running again.

If you have any interest in Peel Park & the Coppice LNR, please don’t hesitate to come along. Please contact robert.gabryszak@prospectsfoundation.org.uk, 01254 230348 or call in at 54 Broadway, Accrington, BB5 1EW to express your interest.

Furthermore please contact Robert if you have queries or want an update on the Friends Of group.

Oak Sapling Rescue Success! (January 2025)

Posted on Posted in Community TreeACTION, Hyndburn's Nature Reserves, News

An exciting week to be an oak sapling!

On Monday 20th, the TreeACTION Project teamed up with Hyndburn's Nature Reserves Project to rescue some small oak saplings at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR.
These little trees are planted accidentally by Jays when they forget the location of their acorn cache! As the heather is a vital habitat, they would eventually have been cut down. We dug up 60 oaks to give them a brighter future elsewhere in Hyndburn.
On Tuesday 21st, the smaller oaks were potted up at our Tree Nursery, allowing them to grow stronger before they’re planted next year.
Lastly, on Wednesday 22nd, 15 of the larger oaks found their new home at Harvey Street in Oswaldtwistle - a beautiful way to complete their journey in just three days!
A huge thank you to our incredible and hard-working volunteers 🌳
Oak Sapling Rescue at the Coppice
A freshly dug up Oak Sapling
A volunteer holding an Oak Sapling
Potting on the Oaks at our new Tree Nursery
Re-planting the larger Oaks at Harvey St

A big thank you to our funders for making this possible!

This work is possible due to funding from the Windfall Fund and Hyndburn Borough Council.

Climate Action & Me – A Community Workshop

Posted on Posted in Brookside, Community TreeACTION, Get Involved, Hyndburn's Nature Reserves, Hyndburns Woodlands, Memorial Park, Outdoor Learning

Concerned about climate change?

Join the PROSPECTS Foundation for a free, interactive workshop all about climate action. We will be busting common climate change myths, giving out top tips for having climate conversations, and discussing the very best ways that we can ALL take action.

Get your free tickets here: TICKETS

2024 Volunteer Christmas Celebration!

Posted on Posted in Brookside, Community TreeACTION, Hyndburn's Nature Reserves, Hyndburns Woodlands, Memorial Park, Outdoor Learning

Celebrating the festive season and our volunteers!

On Tuesday 17th December, PROSPECTS held a volunteer celebration at Accrington Cricket Club. Any volunteers who helped out in 2024 were welcome to attend.

We celebrated with sausage rolls, chocolate, and mince pies! (All with vegan options available)

Our Outdoor Learning Officer Sonja worked hard to construct a PROSPECTS quiz for everyone to take part in. Our Brookside Restoration Officer Alice was our quizmaster, she got everyone involved and working together to figure out the tricky questions such as locating where snowy photos of Hyndburn were taken and estimating volunteer sessions statistics like “how many trees were planted in 2024?” (it was 4487!)

Thank you again to all the hard work our volunteers put in to improve our local green spaces and promote sustainability across Hyndburn, you inspire us everyday.

Here’s to another year of environmental action!

Volunteers also got free brews at the bar.
Our Treasurer getting in the festive spirit!
Quiz!
Our Volunteers at the bar!
Digging into the buffet!
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