Posted 14/04/2022

Beechwood Village residents represent their community on Backyard Nature trip to Liverpool

Last month, Swan’s Community Development Project Officer, Will Oldham, took two members of the Backyard Nature Green Youth Board to visit the Eco-Emeralds, a group of pupils from All Saints School in Liverpool who are the founding members of the Backyard Nature programme, along with Action Funder.

The Backyard Nature programme is an initiative encouraging families to connect with nature, explore wildlife and help the environment that is being implemented at our Laindon and Beechwood Village developments.

The two young people, who are residents at our Beechwood Village development in Basildon, Essex, were selected as Swan’s representatives for the Backyard Nature Green Youth Board. The Board is a national forum for young people interested in tackling environmental and wildlife issues, and which was created late last year as part of Swan’s work with a Consortium of nine other housing associations.

The consortium will deliver a programme of activities aimed at giving young people a voice and empowering them to act to tackle climate change and other environmental issues. This trip formed part of this work.   

Will and the two members of the BNGYB visited the Open Eye Gallery and met with representatives from the Scouse Flowerhouse, to take part in their movement of spreading wildflowers across the North of England.

Will said: “It was great for me to meet Sophie and Josie from Action Funder, who I have been working closely with, as well as the Community Development Officer from Clarion Housing (leaders of the Green Consortium), Anna, and the inspirational Head Teacher, teachers and Eco-Emeralds from All Saints school. Some really worthwhile connections were made over the duration of the trip.”

Following this successful event, the next Green Youth Board meeting is already in the planning stage.