HYNDBURN’S NATURE RESERVES

This project is improving biodiversity and community involvement at Hyndburn's Nature Reserves!

Join us as we carry out conservation work and site improvements at Hyndburn's nature reserves: Peel Park & the Coppice LNR, Woodnook Vale LNR, and Jackhouse nature reserve.

The project is offering activities for all to enjoy including, guided nature walks, species surveys, habitat creation, and more!

Get involved!

From November 2024 to April 2027, join us for weekly volunteer sessions at Hyndburn's nature reserves. Come along and get involved with a range of conservation activities, learn new skills, meet people, keep fit and help wildlife.  To find out more email robert.gabryszak@prospectsfoundation.org.uk, telephone 01254 230348 (ext. 208) or call into the Prospects Foundation Environment Centre at 54 Broadway, Accrington.

As well as the weekly sessions, we will be holding walks, events and training opportunities, please take a look at our events calendar to find out more.

2025 overview

• The project assisted with the revival of the 'Friends of Arden Hall & The Coppice' community group. The group has accrued 20 members and ran several independent volunteer sessions, removing Himalayan Balsam, sowing Yellow Rattle seeds, and running litter picks. The group has also helped to support meadow restoration at the site by securing funding for 2025's tractor cut & collect in September. The group is now supporting a bid to improve the site's play area.
• Workshops crafting wreathes, willow hearts, cordage, and bramble baskets were held throughout the year.
• Peel Park & the Coppice LNR hosted a foraging walk ran by Danielle Kay, in collaboration with our Outdoor Learning project.
• Woodnook Vale LNR and Jackhouse nature reserve hosted dawn chorus walks, lead by amazing local expert, Dave Bickerton. Over 20 attendees showed up bright and early to revel in these educational walks.
• Meadow restoration was a huge focus of Robert's last project, Peel Park Pollinators, and we have continued to improve and restore meadows across Hyndburn's reserves. In autumn 2025, over 1.5ha of meadow was cut and collected. Volunteers helped by marshalling during tractor cuts and even by scything some smaller areas of meadow! You can read more about all the cuts done in this blog post.
• Himalayan Balsam is a highly invasive and non-native plant which spreads rapidly and easily dominates damp habitats where it can severely decrease biodiversity. The project ran over a dozen volunteer sessions across spring and summer to push the species back and, thanks to the hard efforts of volunteers, have managed to fully remove it from some areas such as Pleck Meadow.
• The 15ha of heathland on top of Peel Park & the Coppice LNR is a mammoth amount of habitat to maintain and restore, but our volunteers worked hard to clear invading bramble and birch, planting heath species (sundew, violets, Bog Cranberry, & Cross-leaved Heath,) and removing non-native species (Montbretia & Rhododendron.)
• Paths and meadows at Jackhouse are being encroached by willow and birch, so volunteers worked to fell the small trees using hand tools. The resulting brash, along with some felled diseased Ash courtesy of the council, was used to create a dead hedge which will benefit fungi & invertebrates, as well as provide a function to site users. The hedge is an ongoing project and will be added to for years to come.
• We worked with schools (Peel Park Primary, Woodnook Primary, and St Christopher's Secondary) to do activities like seed sowing, wildflower planting, scavenger hunts, rush removal, wreath making, moth recording, and pond dipping!
• We took part in the City Nature Challenge by hosting a 24 hour Bio-blitz at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR, recording over 150 species! The blitz included a bat walk, moth morning, butterfly & wildflower transect, tree ID walk, and a pond dip!
• Project Officer Robert appeared at and helped with events throughout the year:
  •  Cath Thom Leisure Centre Opening - making natural cordage bracelets from harvested rush.
  • Sustainability Learning Conference 2025 - engaging with attending school children through environmental quizzes.
  • EcoFest 2025 - PROSPECTS' own mega environmental celebration in Accrington town centre.
  • Let's Move Hyndburn's Milnshaw Park event - bug hunts with attendees.

Project partners and funding

The Prospects Foundation is receiving funding for this conservation project which will run for 18 months. The project is being funded by the Windfall Fund and Hyndburn Borough Council.

December 2025 Update: Funding has been awarded by the Green Community Grants Programme, funded by Postcode Green Trust. As a result the project is able to run for an additional 12 months. A huge thank you to the players of People's Postcode Lottery for making this important work possible.