Want to know what ecological things are going on locally over the next couple of months? Well have no fear, we’ve got just the thing!:

February 2024
⑰	Park Hill Monthly Garden Work Party | Sat 17th Feb, 10am – 12pm| Park Hill Recreation Ground (OX5 2DA) – Come and muck in with other volunteers as we maintain and enrich this community green space and Harvest@Home project!
March 2024
②	St Mary’s Fields Work Party | Sat 2nd Mar, 10am-12pm | St Mary’s carpark (OX52AZ) – Join the team of volunteers working on some spring tasks to encourage nature and monitor river quality. Also enjoy a well-earned slice of Julia or Rosie’s homemade cake at half time!
⑥	Kidlington Gardening Society Talk | Weds 6th Mar, 7.30pm | Exeter Hall, small hall (OX5 1AB)  – Come along and hear from this month’s guest speaker. More info here!
⑦	KEG Meeting | Thurs 7th Mar, 1pm | Exeter Hall, small hall (OX5 1AB) – Join representatives of different local eco groups and enthusiasts to connect, communicate and collaborate.
⑯	Park Hill Monthly Garden Work Party | Sat 16th Mar, 10am – 12pm| Park Hill Recreation Ground (OX5 2DA) – Come and muck in with other volunteers as we maintain and enrich this community green space and Harvest@Home project!
㉓	Earth Hour and Nature Walk | Sat 23 March, 8.30pm-9.30pm | Park Hill Recreation Ground (OX5 2DA) – Wild Kidlington (and others around the globe) are encouraging us to switch off all our lights for this hour, and may host a nature walk over St Mary’s Fields like they did last year, culminating with a hot chocolate round a fire pit! Watch this space for more info nearer the time.
㉖	Bio Blitz / City Nature Challenge | 26th – 29th Mar | Everywhere! – Join the epic, global mission to record as much wildlife as possible to help conservation efforts. No expertise needed, simply download the iNaturalist app and start recording your nature sightings no matter how big or small! Recording species at Park Hill Copse and St Mary’s Field will also greatly hep and contribute to local conservation efforts in Kidlington.
April 2024
③	Kidlington Gardening Society Talk | Weds 3rd Apr, 7.30pm | Exeter Hall, small hall (OX5 1AB)  – Come along and hear from this month’s guest speaker. More info here!
④	KEG Meeting | Thurs 4th Apr, 1pm | Exeter Hall, small hall (OX5 1AB) – Join representatives of different local eco groups and enthusiasts to connect, communicate and collaborate.
⑥	St Mary’s Fields Work Party | Sat 6th Apr, 10am-12pm | St Mary’s carpark (OX52AZ) – Join the team of volunteers working on some spring tasks to encourage nature and monitor river quality. Also enjoy a well-earned slice of Julia or Rosie’s homemade cake at half time!
⑳	Park Hill Monthly Garden Work Party | Sat 20th Apr, 10am – 12pm| Park Hill Recreation Ground (OX5 2DA) – Come and muck in with other volunteers as we maintain and enrich this community green space and Harvest@Home project!

Local Eco News

Some headlines since the last update…

St Mary’s Fields Conservation Group – met for their first work party of the year on the 3rd Feb and had their largest crop of eager volunteers yet – four wheelbarrows were a-trundling, saws a-sawing, and secateurs a-secating (?) as the team woodchipped paths, coppiced hazel, planted trees, cut back blackthorn and bramble, and cleared the butterfly ride.

The Kidlington Eco Group (that’s us!) met on Jan 11th and Feb 1st to dream and scheme a little for the year ahead. As well as our ongoing collaborations we discerned three special projects for the year corresonding to three of the areas in our Thame Green Living inspired strategy: green, red, and blue.

GREEN – Nature-friendly gardens. We are hoping to encourage and resource people in Kidlington to develop the wild credentials of their garden. As part of this Wild Kidlington project we hope to facilitate a gardens open day in June.

BLUE – Big Water Week. We’re looking into how we can develop our response to water quality in our river and streams and support the Canal & Riverside Trust in the launch of their Kidlington Towpath Taskforce.

RED – Winter Project – We want to help households In Kidlington towards heating their homes in a way that doesn’t overheat the planet. The thermal cameras will be out and about, helping Kidlingtonians to spot those pesky but pluggable heat leaks and helping people to find simple but effective ways to save both money and the environment!

Watch this space as these ideas continue develop in the coming weeks. If you’d like to get involved with these or our more regular partner activities do please get in touch!

If you have any local eco news or events to feed in to our next monthly digest please email: kidlingtonecogroup@gmail.com

Our next KEG meeting is on Thurs 1st Feb, from 1pm @ Exeter Hall (in the small hall). We’ll be developing a our plans for 2024. All welcome!