Dear friend,
Thank you to all of you who voted for us but we are sad to share that we didn’t win the Severn Trent Award for our Growing Wild project. This would have significantly increased our support for wildlife on-site and the number of people we could have involved in our Urban Nature activity. We will continue to seek additional funding to support these ambitions.
PS. If you’d like to receive news like this in your inbox each month, join our mailing list here.
Recruiting trustees
We’re recruiting to our Board of Trustees here at STAA due to existing trustees standing down this Summer. Could you help shape our projects at St Ann’s Allotments and our impact and contribution to the local community?
STAA is committed to building a Board of Trustees that reflects the diversity and expertise of the great communities we work with and we would be particularly interested in candidates with knowledge and understanding of community development. Applications are welcome from all ages and backgrounds. Whether you are an experienced Trustee or want to take your first step at Board level get in touch – we’d love to talk to you.
There’s more information on our website here. Please email holly@staa-allotments.org.uk for an application form.
Closing date for applications: Thursday 19th May at 12:00 noon.
Spring workshops
“I absolutely loved the full experience, the wreath making tutorial was brilliant the tutor was very professional, knowledgeable and gave us the confidence to produce a beautiful wreath. Absolutely fantastic event brought love to my soul and heart, lifted my spirit. Loved it so much I didn’t want it to end. Will definitely be back soon.”– Feedback from Spring wreath making participant
Floral expert immersion daySaturday 28 May, 10:00-16:00, £80Experience the absolute joy of flower arranging at its very best. Uncover useful floristry techniques and create three stunning displays to take home. Tickets include a two-course vegan lunch made by Nourish Me Wild.Garden essentials 1: Compost and soil fertilitySaturday 28 May, 10:00-12:00, £25Bring along a jar of soil from home to test, and learn how to improve your soil fertility with homemade liquid plant feeds and green manure.Build your own worm farmSaturday 11 June, 13:30-15:30, £30Come and make a worm farm from recycled materials and learn about the power of worm farming to transform our organic waste into the world’s finest fertiliser, healing our soils and helping our garden to thrive.
On the Orchard
The Community Orchard runs free events for all ages every month.
Community Open Day, Saturday 28 May, 12:00-15:00New Shoots for ages 0-4, every Tuesday 09:30-11:00 in term timeAfter School for ages 8-12, every Wednesday 15:45-17:00
Volunteering
Anyone is welcome to join our volunteer sessions:Tuesdays at the Nursery, 10:00-14:00Wednesdays at Oliver’s, 10:00-14:00
Suitable for all abilities and levels of experience, tools provided. Just dress for the weather! 🌦️
If you have any questions about volunteering, please contact Lucy at volunteering@staa-allotments.org.uk or visit our website.
On the blog
Last month on the blog, Lucy wrote about the urban importance of our wildest garden, and how it provides opportunities for people and wildlife. Find out more our wildest garden project here: https://staa-allotments.org.uk/news
If you’d like to write a blog, get in touch at info@staa-allotments.org.uk
“When people go to Urban Nature, they enter another world, one filled with dedication and focus and uniqueness, telling a particular story or emphasising a particular angle of the site, with different views and perspectives. Urban Nature does this by plunging people into a greater wildness, a warren of paths going deeper and deeper, and further and further away, or perhaps closer and closer to something else — a kind of “wildness” most people simply won’t have experienced before.”
Guided heritage tours
Our tours continue twice per month on the second Saturday and last Wednesday until October.
The guided walk begins at the Visitor’s Centre and takes you on a 90-minute tour around the oldest and largest detached Victorian pleasure garden in the world, stopping at features of importance and interest during its 700-year history. We’ll share the story of how the allotments started, their use as Victorian pleasure gardens, and how the site is used today.
Book now – limited spaces available.
Dawn chorus
Last weekend, a few committed folk woke up very early for the chance to experience the natural wonder of the dawn chorus on St Ann’s Allotments.
The birds we mostly heard were blackbird, robin, song thrush, chiffchaff, wren, and green woodpecker. Below is a short clip – turn your sound on.
