Wild Gardens Open Day Tomorrow!
Looking for a pleasant way to spend an hour or two tomorrow! We know just the thing!
Wildlife Gardens Open Day, Saturday 15th June, 11am-4pm
Explore various local gardens (8 in total) designed to attract and support local wildlife. From colourful flowers to buzzing bees, you’ll discover how to create your own wildlife sanctuary at home. All welcome. Come and get inspired!
Family friendly and all welcome! Can you find the cheeky ladybird rock in each garden?
Leaflets with maps will be available to pick up from Exeter Hall from Friday 14th June. If you can take an online copy of the map, please do so so we can save paper! 
Sign up via Eventbrite here / below to receive the digital map and garden descriptions.
Local Eco News
Some headlines since the last update…
Eco Fair at Lyne Rd Green – On a (thankfully!) sunny Saturday on the 11th May a number of eco enthusiasts and community organisations passionate about nature and encouraging biodiversity descended on Lyne Rd Green to showcase many of the great things going on in our local community.
- There was a seed and plant swap with Community Gardening
- Kidlington Abundance – with bottles of elderflower cordial
- The Woodland Trust – promoting volunteering at Stratfield Brake
- St Mary’s Fields Nature Reserve volunteers
- Wild Kidlington with hedgehog highway frames to give away and wildlife friendly gardening tips + family friendly activities
- KEG showcasing two new initiatives 1) The Canal towpath taskforce and 2) Draft Busters (see below!)
- Cherwell Collective’s pop up larder
- And a Nature Time family friendly spotter sheet activity on the green
It was lovely to connect and network a bit as well as soak up the sun. Keep your eye out for video footage taken at the event that will be released in the coming weeks!
Coming Up…
Want to know what ecological things are going on locally over the summer term?
Well here you go then!:
| June 2024 | |
| ❔ | Andy’s Bat Walk | Various Fridays, 8.30pm | Rendezvous point TBC on day by email (sign up below) – Back by popular demand Andy P, St Mary’s Field Nature Reserve Group and Wild Kidlington will be hosting a number of bat walks around the village on Friday evenings from 8.30pm. A short talk and Q&A is followed by an expedition to go track some down with bat detectors! These walks will be taking place roughly once a fortnight in the coming weeks – keep an eye out for more info and sign up opportunities via KEG’s facebook page here or our Eventbrite page. |
| ⑮ | Wild Gardens Open Day | Sat 15th Jun, 11am-4pm | Various locations in Kidlington – To mark the last Saturday of the “Big Green Week”. We’ll be inviting you to show off your wildlife friendly gardens. You’ll be able to sign up for your garden to be an ‘open garden’ and added to the map which others in the community can download and use to savour all the wonderful splashes of biodiversity our village has to offer! Watch this space for more info! |
| ⑯ | Combe Mill Environment Day | Sun 16th Jun, 10.30-4.30pm | Combe Mill, Blenheim Palace Sawmills, Combe, Witney OX29 8ET – Find out how you can reduce your energy bills, make your home warmer, make green energy, reduce waste and help the natural environment. Free Repair Cafe for your broken items. Mill museum ‘in-steam’, BBQ, riverside Tea Room. Fathers’ Day cream tea voucher for dads accompanied by a child. Free admission for under 16s. |
| ⑰ | Community Gardening | Mon 17th Jun, 10-11am | Ron Groves Play Park, OX5 1ES – All welcome as we tidy up the flowers and herbs in the planters. For more info contact growspace@kidlington-pc.gov.uk |
| ㉒ | Restore Nature Now! March & Rally | Sat 22nd June, all day! | Park Lane to Parliament Square – Join this peaceful march through London calling on UK politicians to show strong domestic and global nature and climate leadership by: 1. Giving a pay-rise for nature; 2. Making polluters pay; 3. Delivering more space for nature; 4. Putting a right to a healthy environment in law; 5. Ensuring fair and effective climate action. To travel down with those going from Kidlington by train email petertrowles@btinternet.com |
| ㉔ | Community Gardening | Mon 24th Jun, 10-11am | Lyne Road Green, OX5 1AE – All welcome as we tend to the planters together! For more info contact growspace@kidlington-pc.gov.uk |
| July 2024 | |
| ② | Swift Walk | Tues 2nd Jul, 8pm | Starting point TBC – Join us for a wildlife walk in the village to see swifts as part of Swift Awareness Week (29 June – 7 July). Starting with an introduction to these special birds, and then a gentle walk stopping at key nesting sites. In partnership with the Cherwell swift project. More details to follow. Keep an eye out for our eventbrite sign up page here. Please note: If weather is bad back up date will be Thurs 4th at 8pm. |
| ④ | KEG Meeting | Thurs 4th Jul, 1pm | Exeter Hall, small hall (OX5 1AB) – Join representatives of different local eco groups and enthusiasts to connect, communicate and collaborate. |
| ⑨ | Swift Walk | Tues 9th Jul, 8pm | Starting point TBC – Join us for a wildlife walk in the village to see swifts as part of Swift Awareness Week (29 June – 7 July). Starting with an introduction to these special birds, and then a gentle walk stopping at key nesting sites. In partnership with the Cherwell swift project. More details to follow. Keep an eye out for our eventbrite sign up page here. Please note: If weather is bad back up date will be Thurs 4th at 8pm. |
| ⑳ | Park Hill Monthly Garden Work Party | Sat 20th Jul, 10am – 12pm| Park Hill Recreation Ground (OX5 2DA) – Come and muck in with other volunteers as we maintain and enrich this community green space! For more info contact growspace@kidlington-pc.gov.uk |
| Wild Kidlington’s Green Lane @ Kidlington Gala Day | Sat 20th July, 11am-3pm | Exeter Hall & Close (OX5 1AB) – Come along to this free community fun day with all sorts of fun activities for all ages. While there check out Wild Kidlington’s ‘Green Lane’ with interactive stalls showcasing the work of community groups geared to ecological issues and encouraging biodiversity. | |
GREAT OPPORTUNITIES TO GET INVOLVED
1. DRAUGHTBUSTERS!
In the run up to the Autumn, KEG – with support from the Parish Council – is planning to set up a Draughtbusters project, inspired by similar projects elsewhere. Volunteer Draughtbusters will visit homes (identified through request or referral) and identify places where precious heat is being lost through draughts (e.g. letter boxes, window frame cavities, chimneys, door cracks etc). With the approval of the homeowner, and using simple techniques, they will then bust those drafts! We’ve recently been promised enough funding to get us off the ground and provide the tools and materials needed for our first year – this has come from the Low Carbon Hub and Cherwell District Council. We’re in particular need of:
- 4 x Draught Busters (2 pairs) – These will need to be people who could potentially be available in the daytime during the winter months (Sep-Mar) and have a bit of DIY savvy about them (though training would be provided).
- 1 x Administrator – Someone to organise the project and bookings.
2. KIDLINGTON CANAL TOWPATH TASK FORCE
At the end of April an intrepid group of KEG-ites met at Roundham Lock in Kidlington to conduct an initial tow path survey and litter pick. We were joined by Alex Higginbottom from the Canal & River Trust who are hoping to set up a Kidlington Towpath Taskforce in the coming months. We walked along the canal as far as the Woodstock Rd, surveying erosion and potential projects th e new taskforce could undertake. As we went we picked up litter: bottles, cans, wrappers, a traffic cone, car battery, bike tire, football and other such artefacts! We were rewarded by a lovely walk alongside the water, the first blush of Spring, and even the call of a cuckoo.
We identified several potential projects we could address with the help of the Canal & Rivers Trust – reversing bank erosion, filling gaps in hedgerows, cutting back encroaching vegetation. The idea is to meet once a month to blitz these projects as we seek to conserve, beautify and boost the biodiversity of this precious local resource.
BE IN TOUCH!
If either of these opportunities to volunteer (or if you have other skills and expertise you can offer) please let us know by emailing us at kidlingtonecogroup@gmail.com
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 5th July, from 1pm @ Exeter Hall (in the bar – because it’s election day!). All welcome!
Kidlington Eco Group 
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